Munroe Bergdorfas UN Advocate for ending VAGWG

I’d like to be a ‘participation mechanic’! What qualifications do you require and does it involve Castrol GTX and greasy overalls? It’s straight out of W1A

Some people are masters of self-promotion.

[redacted]

Can't say what I think about this on here..
So I'll put it in a letter and await the demise of womankind.

Shit....too late.

It's the Princess Di Effect. She hugged and AIDS victim and it did more to dispel popular prejudice than any amount of campaign words and pictures.

So we get Nicole Kidman, Anne Hathaway and Emma Watson to stand in a village full of Africans and the dough will flood in.

Well I suppose it had the effect of drawing attention to the campaign...

All driven by consultancies.

'backed by an influencer and participation mechanic' - is that code for 'stick in someone really controversial to make people talk about it? Such compassion and integrity.

I don't actually know who UN Women are, I think I'm not really inclined to find out more.

How are you going to eliminate FGM if you're not allowed to explain what female genitals are? Just point vaguely in the direction of the groin and go "that bit"?

Interesting merry. It looks like the whole campaign has been led by two connected media and brand development consultants - Firehaus (Bristol) and Blue 449. Like many charities it seems the whole focus of the campaign is PR driven and focused on celeb endorsements, rather than actual experience and expertise in the field.

www.thedrum.com/news/2019/12/03/un-women-uk-launch-drawaline-campaign-end-fgm

strange lack of PR re: this appointment today.

some excellent choices with well documented track records that are relevant to the role

Indeed. Which probably tells us everything we need to know about the nature of the role and what it’s priorities now are. Clue: not women and girls.

Was there nobody with a history of working to fight violence against women and girls in the whole of the UK who they could have called on instead? Because even focusing on just one issue, FGM for example, I can think of some excellent choices with well documented track records that are relevant to the role.

am I missing any?

There was the Labour LGBT+ advisory post that MB held for a day or something before flouncing because the fascist meanies insisted on bringing up MB's inconveniently batshit/offensive historical tweets...

I wonder when Bergdorf talks about 'ALL women' whether people who don't identify as female are excluded, as though FGM can be avoided as long as you don't have a feminine identity.

@ UNwomaning - I really want to see the response to that!

I can understand that some people want to include transwomen in a 'women's rights' campaign. Don't agree, but fine.

I cannot, absolutely cannot accept that this misogynistic, racist, homophobic person can be accepted in good faith as an ambassador of anything, let alone women's rights.

How many organisations have fired or dropped Bergdorf now? L'Oreal (racism), NSPCC (child protection issues) - am I missing any?

This calls for a letter of complaint.

I used the ‘contact us’ tab on their site to send the following - it was dashed off and I don’t know whether anything in it will transgress the guidelines but I just couldn’t hold myself back:

Hi there, I don’t understand why you are using the term ‘gender’ in your UNWomanUK campaign. Surely women are discriminated against, genitally mutilated, raped and forcibly impregnated, kidnapped, aborted as foetuses, forced into ‘marriages’ as children because of their SEX?! Your use of the word gender suggests they suffer all the above because they ‘present’ or ‘perform’ ‘femininity’ and the stereotyped ‘roles’ of womanhood, not because they simply ARE women. I was only alerted to this fact by a tweet from one of your new advocates Munroe Bergdorf. This is a person who has diverted and distracted from many campaigns and fora to push forth their belief that Transwomen are women rather than transwomen are transwomen (with the concomitant rights to not suffer discrimination or bullying because of their Trans-ness) How someone can stand there and talk about their chosen gender (with all visible ‘feminine’ cues created through surgical implants, cross-sex hormones, make-up, wigs and performed through lingerie, latex, heels, cuffs, collars etc...) with the implication that ‘woman’ is just an ‘identity’ that can be adopted or cast-off is so hugely insulting. Can you tell me why you are centring this idea in your campaign? It’s just so insensitive and I would love to hear your reasoning and explanation.

Cool. Cool, cool, cool.

What has Bergdorf said about this in her advocacy work? www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3758971-spanish-big-brother-films-contestant-being-raped-then-makes-her-watch-it

Seriously.

For women,

Trans = removal of healthy breast tissue.

In other cultures this is breast ironing.

It makes no difference as to whether they want it or not, it's the removal of healthy breast tissue to fit in / deal with gendered issues/ oppression. Some might say to avoid abuse by men.

How can a trans advocate stand for stopping FGM? Given fgm is about cultural gendered oppression due to biological sex.

Poles ...................apart

MB must have some very strong credentials hidden somewhere. Do they have a recent history of being very concerned about VAWG related to female biology, reproductive role and their sexed bodies?

Odd, that the overwhelming evidence on various public records points to them being highly unsuited to this role.

**

Ditto.

Indeed it is, Alice

Sorry, wrong screenshot there. That one was of course where Munroe calls someone a "hairy lesbian" with a "barren womb". Here they are telling women to shut up about their vaginas:

From the organisation's website.

UN Women is the only global organisation working to make gender equality a reality in every way: from grassroots programmes with the most vulnerable women and girls, to changing attitudes, and helping governments design gender-equal policy.

We are united for every woman. Because the gender equality movement starts with you.

It's very clear what their agenda is.

They have since changed the tweet, but yes the first one featured FGM. With Munroe Bergdorf. Who told women to stop talking about their vaginas.