Magdalen Berns is back!

[nolongerblue]

Hoorah!

“This is an activist? Fuck off.”

That was my favourite line, too.

Don’t think there’s much age difference between Ash and Magdalen is there ? Just M doesn’t do that silly , ironically Uber girly thing , thank the Lord. I’m laughing at her being called an “old feminist “ , surely she is in her twenties ?

Is she as annoying and narcissistic as Ash Sarkar?

Magdalen is actually in her 30s, (if the news article about the assault that was posted here before was correct) not that it makes any difference. Ash is a fully grown adult, despite her childish look and mannerism.

This "poor helpless little victim me" attitude is so common among trans activists and nb people. I feel concern about all the young girls who see these people as role models - not just because of the trans stuff/surgery but because they will learn the opposite of how to be an adult assertive woman.

Magdalen & Ash
twitter.com/MagdalenBerns/status/1004063580562575360

Magdalen Berns = truly the most privileged person on Youtube.

The only good thing about that exchange is that Ash admits that her vlogs are her bread and butter. She isn't making them out of the goodness of her heart - they are her income. I hope Gah's daughter reads those posts.

The basis of what Magdalen was pointing out was fantastic and people like Ash should really have a listen to the key message she was getting across

A grifter like Ash who isexploiting teens on the internet is hardly likely to listen to the key message when it undermines their fame and fortune.

Orchid Pretty sure by 'livelihood' Ash meant her customer service job, the job she uses to pay bills.

Having a lot of subscribers doesn't = making a lot of money on youtube, especially now that youtube is demonetising videos deemed 'not friendly to advertisers' (and a huge number of those videos are LGBT+ content). Even if it did, Ash doesn't have a lot of subscribers, she doesn't get a lot of views, not in the grand scheme of youtube.

Almost all the middle-sized or smaller youtubers rely on income from other jobs. There's a few who are able to do youtube full-time and support themselves but most of those channels have been around since the early days of youtube, or are managed by agencies.

Think what you like about Ash's beliefs, but there's a lot of personal attack (She can't help the way she sounds, for example) and a lot of misinformation (she isn't rolling in cash).

I was a similar age to Ash when I finally cut my hair and stopped wearing make-up and skirt suits because it was what my employer expected of women.

Ok, that was 15-20 years ago and I would hope that attitudes have changed but they probably haven't.

I wasn't one of those women who knew how to express their non-conformity from childhood. Well, in fact I was until I went to primary school and then I was taught how girls were meant to be and lost myself. It took me until my mid-twenties to throw that off.

I think the points that Magdalen makes are completely correct re. sexism but I don't think she's being very kind or understanding of the time it takes some of us to throw off the roles society places on us.

For me, it was discovering lesbians that did it, although there was a little flirtation with a trans identity too.

I don't buy the 'trans doesn't exist' argument. Clearly it does. I wanted to be a boy as a child but am not a trans adult. But some people are. I can't see why we can't accept that Ash is trans and isn't a lesbian trying to find herself. She might be but that isn't the path she's choosing to live at the moment.

I don't want young lesbians to be encouraged to mutilate their bodies or seek special dispensation from sexist rules whilst ignoring the impact of the sexist rules for everyone else. But I also don't want to dismiss someone's felt truth about themselves.

Maybe the answer is more education and awareness raising over what it is to be a lesbian? Buy some toaster ovens and go on a recruitment drive Give young kids some more positive role models to look up to who are espousing what it is to be themselves rather than being see to attack another identity?

I'm just musing aloud really. Something about this video didn't quite sit right with me.

(She can't help the way she sounds, for example) and a lot of misinformation (she isn't rolling in cash).

Yes she can. She may very well be manipulating the way she looks and sounds. It is easy enough to do.
"Roughly, a video creator will earn $2,000 for every million views. "And then YouTube takes 45 percent," the Times notes"

I found this rather heavy handed on Magdalen's part... not sure she needed to do a whole video slagging off someone else's video tbh. She could have made her point in about 30 seconds but it dragged on and on.

loops: socialblade.com/youtube/user/heythere005

cisters - it's not kind, it's brutal. It's brutal because Ash is encouraging girls to cut off their breasts. I'm just going to say that again in case it didn't sink in because a lot of people on this thread are being beguiled by the breathy voice and the cutesy presentation.

This person is encouraging teenager girls to cut off their breasts. She wants your daughters to mutilate themselves.

She isn't kind, she isn't benign.

It's brutal because Ash is encouraging girls to cut off their breasts. I'm just going to say that again in case it didn't sink in because a lot of people on this thread are being beguiled by the breathy voice and the cutesy presentation.

Seems like some people are falling for it, which is a bit worrying to see. This is not a harmless person. This is a person who is actively leading other young women into harm. The Judas Goat description was apt - if the cutesy presentation succeeds in convincing everyone that aw she's fragile we shouldn't criticize her too harshly then the end result is more girls having their breasts cut off.

if the cutesy presentation succeeds in convincing everyone that aw she's fragile we shouldn't criticize her too harshly then the end result is more girls having their breasts cut off

This.

Orchid ok, so Ash could be earning around £60k a year...or just under £4k. That's a significant difference in estimates,.

£4000 for a whole year.

£300 a month

Hardly Richie Rich is she?

bewilderness Ofc she could be putting it on, but unless she also puts it on in public IRL too (I mean it's definitely possible, but a lot of effort). It's just as likely that it's just her voice. I had a friend who had a really high-pitched breathy sounding voice, if you couldn't see her you'd assume she was a small child, it was just her voice.

And yes, assuming actual ad revenue works out as what is 'average'. Unfortunately it doesn't actually work like that, and it does require that the content is monetised (which means it must be deemed advertiser friendly). Youtube also makes it really hard for creators to discuss money openly, as it goes against the adsense terms of use.

If Ash were rolling in cash, do you think she'd keep her customer service job, working in America, the land of the non-existent employment laws?

The place where a significant number of states still allow employees to be fired for any reason at all.

We are lucky to live in the UK where there are regulations, and we still have a long way to go even here. But to get on someone's case because they live and work in the US and don't make a fuss about unfair work practices when they could literally be sacked for any reason at all is just blind to the real issues in that country.

Yeh you are right, and so is Magdalen, that Ash shouldn't have HAD to use her trans status to wear comfortable work clothes, and women in her workplace shouldn't have to wear skirts/dresses and heels.

But you can't expect someone with no rights (an employee) to change an entire work environment by themselves, and unions are often heavily discouraged or even expressly forbidden in American workplaces.

Someone for whom wearing a dress and heels causes dysphoria (which Ash experiences) has more of an immediate need to not wear the dress/heels than someone who just doesn't like wearing them. Ideally, neither person should be forced to be uncomfortable, but one is a recognised adjustment to enable mental wellbeing and allow that person to continue working.

I wish America would get some employment rights, it shocks me that employment contracts and sick-pay and disciplinary procedures are still optional in so many workplaces there. It's SO backwards.

We are lucky to live in the UK where there are regulations Not for long - see Brexit.

Also, where has Ash ever encouraged teenage girls to cut off their breasts? Or do you think that just because she wants to have her breasts removed (they cause dysphoria) that is enough to encourage teenage girls?

Please give teenagers some credit, they do have their own brains and are not sheep (or if not them, the doctors who assess trans children/teenagers).

Not all people who ID as non-binary experience dysphoria relating to body parts, and not all feel the need to bind/remove their breasts, or remove their penis, or pack. Ash choosing what to do for her own mental wellbeing, with her own body, is not her attempting to encourage others to do the same.

sleeping well yeh, but for the moment we are lucky, and we have a lot of unions who work hard for workers' rights. Hoping it won't be too much of a disaster after Brexit.

Someone for whom wearing a dress and heels causes dysphoria (which Ash experiences) has more of an immediate need to not wear the dress/heels than someone who just doesn't like wearing them. Ideally, neither person should be forced to be uncomfortable, but one is a recognised adjustment to enable mental wellbeing and allow that person to continue working.

You want to read that again and make sure you are saying the metal health of this one person is more important than the oppression of women as a class in the workplace?

Alternatively Ash could have not used her trans status (and she says she isn't a man - she's super speshul gender fluid or something) and just said that the uniform rules were stupid and sexist. Which was the whole point of Magdalen's video.

Ash is making money from her videos. In the last month, she made minimum £300. Max £5k. I suspect it's somewhere between the two. She makes a lot more money per hour than all her fangirls do in their minimum wage jobs, that's for sure.

thebewilderness Yes, I do think that someone who is having their health (mental or physical) negatively impacted by a job they have to do to survive is more important in the here and now than the oppression of an entire class of people.

In the long-term, no it is not more important (I'm one of those equality for everyone feminists). The final destination should be that everyone can choose whether to wear dresses/trousers/ties/shirts/jackets etc... to work regardless of their sex/gender. But in the short-term, people who are suffering more should get their needs met first.

I don't love wearing heels, but I am able to wear them without too much suffering, so I shouldn't be the priority when considering uniform requirements.

Orchid You suspect, but you don't know. None of us know. So it is disingenuous to state that she's got a load of money. She makes some money from youtube, clearly not enough to give up her day job, which she clearly doesn't love and doesn't bring her much joy.

I also doubt that she makes more per hour than someone working minimum wage, there's more to youtube than a 4 minute video. The planning time, the recording time, the editing time, the brand management time, most of that isn't paid. Views make money, and only if youtube deems your content acceptable to advertisers.

Someone for whom wearing a dress and heels causes dysphoria (which Ash experiences) has more of an immediate need to not wear the dress/heels than someone who just doesn't like wearing them.

Really difficult to quantify/verify the subjective experience in order to reach that conclusion though. How can you be sure?

I don't love wearing heels, but I am able to wear them without too much suffering, so I shouldn't be the priority when considering uniform requirements.

The fact that you're happy to defer to trans people in terms of your own rights and needs does not give you the right to do so on behalf of women as a group.

Your own personal consent certainly does not override the non-consent of all the other women who do not consent.