BFI appoint Munroe Bergdorf as keynote speaker for #womanwithacamera summit

They can fuck right off. Women are never asked to speak for trans women, but there have been multiple examples where they’ve been given roles speaking for women.

Munroe isn’t even in film. It’s fucking ridiculous

Has the BFI responded?

Yes the petition has done so well

Very pleased the petition has reached 1,089 signatures in just one daylight day which is above the 1k target.

I didn't see this thread straight away after checking back. Had real anxiety that it had been deleted! Quite out of character. Glad to see it's still here.

It would send a strong message if at a given signal near the beginning of the talk, all the women in the audience could stand, and walk out to the women's toilets. Thereby ensuring drama queens can't run into them crying.

'It's getting silly now but this and Ian Huntley might turn the tide.'

I really hope so. Have signed petition

Well, I for one will be quite interested to hear what Munroe has to say. Not interested enough to actually attend, but invested enough to want to hear her experiences of growing up a girl wanting to work in film, overcoming sexist behaviour and the norm that women don’t work behind the camera and what the future holds for women and girls post #Metoo.
As a person chosen to make the BFI look inclusive and in touch, I fully expect her speech to be ... thin, ill-informed and mostly all about herself and her own saga. She won’t have much to say about women’s experiences in general and I will be interested to see how BFI spin that.

Petition signed

Feminism needs to include everyone.

Sigh.

I wonder whose genius idea this was...'I know, let's pick someone who's not a filmaker or female!'
It's getting silly now but this and Ian Huntley might turn the tide.

Agree gendercritter
Apart from anything else Bergdorff is a hopeless speaker, really not very bright. So doesn’t even qualify on the brilliant speaker score.
So depressing, all the brilliant women out there, trampled into the dust.

I am really genuinely heartened to see the response on twitter. People are stepping forward to say how angry they are and how unfair it is.

There was a stage in my life many years ago when I was passionately interested in film. I wanted to be a director or an editor - particularly the latter actually. I spent some time working in the industry but walked away thinking it was just about impossible to be female and successful. Very very view females get to direct films. This is an appalling decision by the BFI. Especially after #metoo and Weinstein

Signed

What a relief it must be for the men to no longer have to treat women as equals. Discrimination against women in the name of equality is effing brilliant.

This! They have another of their species who will conform to their sexual entitlement demands

samanthastephens
Thread here discussing the event last night:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3269679-inconvenient-women-wntt

recording of the event can be watched:
www.facebook.com/DRradfem/videos/2157764721109127/

Okay - here is the link to the petition to sign - please share widely

www.ipetitions.com/petition/open-letter-to-the-bfi

Yes, women, boycott this event. Sad as I love the BFI.

I’ve signed the petition. Horrifying. Could they really not find a single woman involved in film to talk ? MB has no credentials at all for this talk, not on film, or on womanhood, or womanhood in relation to film.

@samanthastephens

At the 'Inconvenient Women' event in London. Someone suggested it and got a huge cheer. I don't know if it's being organized though.

Hey GeordieTerf, at what event last night? Thanks!

No woman would have got those opportunities so easily.

As someone who works in this area I would suggest that the open letter equally emphasises Bergdorf’s relative lack of experience. To me it’s just as offensive as her appropriation of feminism that her shoddy documentary received such attention, and is now being gilded by this keynote appearance.

'Lots of people speaking out on Twitter. They aren't holding back now'

That's really good to hear

'I have my disagreements with Germaine Greer - don't we all - but when she said "Women have very little idea of how much men hate them" she knew whereof she spoke.'

So true. I remember reading that quote years ago and thinking it was more than a bit hysterical, but she was absolutely spot on, and it gets proved on a daily basis at the moment.

At the top of the event program:

Feminism needs to include everyone. We welcome activist and model Munroe Bergdorf, who has recently debuted her documentary What Makes A Woman, which examines the changing world of gender and identity, to talk about what power means for sisterhood, feminism, culture and activism

Feminism does not need to include everyone. That's not feminism, the clue is in the name, FFS! Feminism is about women, not everyone.