Anti-FGM campaigner Hibo Wardere comes under attack

Ooh. Finaally. Finally.

The Spiegel writer has sort of apologised!

twitter.com/planet_eltern/status/1363896302233354240?s=19

"'Ich stelle in den Mittelpunkt meiner Arbeit jene Frauen und Mädchen sowie als weiblich gelesene Personen, die Opfer von Genitalverstümmelung werden können' wäre hingegen ein Beispiel für eine inklusive Ausdrucksweise."

I'm a native German speaker and I have no idea what she means with this, specifically with "sowie als weiblich gelesene Personen, die Opfer von Genitalverstümmelung werden können"
God, she waffles.

This thread from the German parenting expert is infuriating.

twitter.com/planet_eltern/status/1363198996307730434?s=19

Sigh. I mean the campaign about FGM.

Because if the aim is recasting socially acceptable language so that sex becomes irrelevant except as a private consumer choice as per crazed neoliberal fantasies/avatar use, FGM is a barrier to that.

Why can trans people never accept something isn’t about them.

No they are not the same.

I think there is a strand of truth in it - there is an element of equivalence between genital procedures on any child too young to consent- but I also strongly believe that denying the sex differences both in prevalence and consequences of FGM and male circumcision is wrong, and I say this as someone who had her son circumcised and regrets it completely.

This push has been around for a while on the more extremist fringes of the trans rights movement, but it recently seems to have gained legitimacy.

first time I've seen an actual attempt to undermine the term FGM itself though. I'm sure it won't be the last.

Wasn't this attempted (maybe even passed?) by the Green Party - when Amy C and David C were involved in shaping the constitution? They had a motion to delete F and advocated making it Person or some such?

The sad irony is that women and girls affected by this cannot just opt out of womanhood and prevent themselves going through such an ordeal.

The worst thing is that by insisting on "cis" for victims of FGM, they're actually saying that these victims have chosen, by their failure of privileged luxury enlightenment, to be mutilated. Utterly revolting.

I think you're right Tinsel

It's disgusting.

The sad irony is that women and girls affected by this cannot just opt out of womanhood and prevent themselves going through such an ordeal. I know it heartbreakingly happens here as well, but in many countries where it's extremely prevelent they don't subscribe to the notion of gender, and so to say 'its not inclusive' is actually bordering on evil. And to target someone who has done so much good to try and enhance the lives of many is so sad.

They claim to be speaking up for transmen, of course, that to connect FGM with women is transphobic becausegenitals aren't connected to sex. And it shows how far the constant push on language has gone, that 'female' is now being used in sentences like 'not everyone that has a vulva and clitoris is female'. That's the first time I've seen an actual attempt to undermine the term FGM itself though. I'm sure it won't be the last.

The problem with Hibo and Jana is that they show how utterly ludicrous the entire concept of gender identity and the whole language campaign is. That we once tried to have terms that were accurate but also positive, like neurodiversity, and this is the same as calling females men, or saying that not everyone who has a clitoris is female. Lies.

I'm just so bothered by this-there are many Somali women in my community and friend group, some of them have spoken honestly about trying to protect their daughters from FGM...this bullshit is the last thing they need as most are just trying to exist in a country that is vastly different than where they came from.

I'm seething with rage that an anti-FGM campaigner should be harassed like this - it's a shameful display of hubris from those who do and Somali women do not need this bizarre distraction from what is a very grave and serious issue. They deserve our protection and respect, not some word salad quibbling about language. Evil is the right word to describe anyone who would attack her and her work.

I wonder if the TRAs' anger comes partly from the fact every time Wardere and other FGM survivors speak up it pours cold water over the "most vulnerable people ever" claim that some trans women seem to revel in.

I think they want to be part of this just to appropriate the suffering of those girls and women. They want to force team with FGM survivors so they can obscure the fact that women are harmed because of their female bodies, not their "lady brains."

Hibo is saying no to them. This is one form of oppression they are not being allowed to revel in, and they don't know how to deal with that.

When I was younger and an over emotional sort, people used to hiss at me “this.is.not.about.you.” I feel we need a neon sign these days.

Won't someone think of the Sudanese transmen?!

FFS.
I’ve tried writing more but I can’t do it without getting deleted.
So I’ve bought Hibo’s book instead. And when I’ve read it I’ll be sharing it with others. Or better still, encouraging them to buy it.
If they want her to shut up for wrong think then she needs even more to be heard.

But I agree this is just awful. A great way transwomen could show they are in fact women, as they so deeply believe, is by getting the fuck on board with advocating for women's rights and things like FGM, but I guess that would be difficult for their egos as they aren't actually women. It's so difficult to argue with such nonsensery. Yes, I did make up a word but does it matter in this world we're living in where all sense and meaning seems to have gone out the window.

German, English and American feminists have allied to defend Hibo. Think I spotted a few French French feminists, too.

I'm so angry reading this I can barely type anything.

334bu, thanks for that link to Nora Imlau at twitter.com/planet_eltern/status/1362713672737583112

You're right, I would have thought this couldn't be true: The problem is not that she's centering women in her work and words. The problem is that she excludes trans women from it.

Er, how can I put this, Nora, how can I break it to you? FGM and transwomen? Can you see one reason why transwomen have not had their vulvas scraped away and their vaginas sewn up in childhood?

don't get me started on the men getting offended about women drawing attention to FGM

But you must admit Hibo is guilty of failing to put men at the centre of all her concerns.