tweeted, “WOMEN OF THE WORLD! We are being stripped of our rights over our bodies, our lives and even of our name! They don’t call us ‘women’ anymore; they call us ‘birthing people’ or ‘menstruators’, and even “people with vaginas”!
Don’t let them erase you! Every human on earth owes you!”That tweet prompted tens of thousands of replies. Many said Midler was falling for anti-trans arguments about the erasure of women.
Others highlighted the importance of using language that’s more inclusive of trans and non-binary people.Related: Bette Midler criticizes trans-friendly terms such as “birthing people”Yesterday, reacting to the furor, Midler tried to put her comments in a greater context.
As suspected, she confirmed that she had been reacting to an opinion piece in the New York Times. Written by Pamela Paul, that article criticized the use of terms such as “birthing people” and “menstruators”.Midler tweeted, “PEOPLE OF THE WORLD!