Magdalen Berns - for the newbies

[pombear]

A Sunday night ramble post, after reflecting this weekend on Magdalen's impact on so many of us here.

It struck me today that some new visitors to this part of Mumsnet will never have heard of Magdalen Berns. For me, her videos woke me up from my semi-dead feminist slumber!

Magdalen spoke her truth as a woman and a lesbian. She died last year from a brain tumour. Her voice is still important. So I thought it may be useful to bring her to the top of FWR board again this evening.

Some new readers/posters/lurkers will have landed here recently, maybe thanks to Maya, JK Rowling, Ricky Gervais, We Are Fair Cop, a conversation with a friend, reading an article somewhere or accidentally clicking a link within Mumsnet.

(Hello and welcome to this hell site! Your voices are so welcome, whatever your perspective. Debate and discussion is what many of us welcome, though you may find the board rules a bumpy ride to navigate!)

If you're new, there's a chance you haven't heard Magdalen's voice. So here you go:

What kind of fools do Transgender UK and Stonewall take us for?

Her many other videos are listed here
www.youtube.com/channel/UCvTTakI97sQ4SkMnsH8r0qQ/videos

Great idea to post this, op.

Thank you for posting this. She really is superb. It was this forum which introduced me to Magdalen Berns. A true feminist warrior. Gone far too soon.

I remember watching Magdalen Berns back before I'd cottoned on to the whole affair.

I thought her films were absolutely shocking, total wrongthink. And I found I couldn't actually disagree with a word of them. The start of a very uncomfortable voyage of realisation for me.

Wonderful woman.

Magdalen was amazing. Such a brave voice and one we must celebrate every day.

Still have no idea who this tweet was directed too, but I fecking love it nonetheless.

Gone but not forgotten

Stonewall UK: acceptance without exception - your fucking minds are so open your brains have fallen out
I miss her.

"I'd rather be rude than a fucking liar"

Legend.

She was a legend. Forever missed

I thought her films were absolutely shocking, total wrongthink. And I found I couldn't actually disagree with a word of them. The start of a very uncomfortable voyage of realisation for me.

This is exactly what happened to me. She was an amazing and brave woman of integrity.

Thanks OP. Such a great sense of humour in her vids.

Fuck off you wanker is still my favorite

Me too Littlbrowndog!

I watched all her videos over a couple of nights and felt like my brain had exploded. I regularly think about her, she really impacted me, not only through what she said, but through her bravery (that word gets bounded around too often, but in her case it is true) and integrity.

Watching that again it really strikes me how Alex has zero understanding of female socialisation.

Alex appears to genuinely believe that if women say something positive to Alex it must be because of our overwhelming sexual attraction to Alex, who is "channeling our inner lesbian."

Of course it's far more likely that we are shocked, embarrassed or frightened if we encounter Alex in the loo. We might make a comment like, "Nice lipstick," because we've had years of conditioning to put other people's feelings ahead of our own.

Thank you, op.

I miss her.

And yeah, why isn't Alex expanding the bandwidth of what it is to be male? Though I think perhaps he is and is in denial/so stupid he doesn't see it/himself for what he is. Not my words, but ... what a wanker!

Thanks Pombear.

You're right, Magdalen gives a riveting introduction to gender critical thinking.

As an old lesbian I was thrilled to discover her YouTube channel and realise that all was not lost, that there were brave, young, warrior women willing to stand up and fight back against overwhelming odds. On a par with anything we had in the 70's and 80's when we thought we were winning the war on women.

I almost envy the newcomers who haven't seen any of her videos yet. They have so much to look forward to.

Thank you for this!

Good idea, Pombear. Magdalen was - and still is - inspirational.

Mayomaynot she is, isn't she.

And I've learned so much recently about the rounded, interesting woman she was outside of this issue too.

Malcolm Clark from LGB Alliance posted a great thread about Riley Dennis yesterday. It's a great thread, and will probably reach people Magdalen didn't (cos - 'reasons'!) twitter.com/TwisterFilm/status/1221611696596365312

But one of Magdalen's original videos about Riley nailed it succinctly and visually - enjoy, anyone who hasn't watched it before:

Thank you for posting these - my first watch and she's great!

as others have said, Magdalen’s integrity and bravery was immense in her videos. In and of itself speaking out is amazing in this climate. Courage calls to courage.

but also

She was an amazing woman.

"I'd rather be rude than a fucking liar"
delighted me so much I spit coffee laughing.