Anti-FGM campaigner Hibo Wardere comes under attack

[JustTurtlesAllTheWayDown]

Again. I know Hibo has put out more than one video clarifying that her focus is on women and girls and on stopping FGM, but she did another one last night after being piled on and called a hater for not being 'inclusive' in her language.
mobile.twitter.com/HiboWardere/status/1362100744216866825
I am bloody angry about it this morning.
Hibo Wardere is a personal hero of mine for the amazing work she's done.
Attacking her for not focusing on other issues is the lowest of the low. The misogyny is rank.
(Also, if anyone hasn't got her book 'Cut' on their feminist book shelf, I really do recommend it. It's not an easy read but I found her journey incredibly inspiring).

[MoltenLasagne]

Self righteous evil is exactly what this is. Let the sunlight show these people for exactly what they are - not transactivists but anti-women activists.

[NotBadConsidering]

It’s not just sexist and racist, or detached from reality but it’s the epitome of the western privilege of gender identity and completely disgusting. That gender identity is somehow important when a little girls around the world are being held down and tortured. That somehow if that girl had played with trucks, worn “boys’ clothes”, expressed out loud that she was in fact a boy then she would have been left alone. That they would champion such an ideology above the realities of what happens to these girls...These people are vile.

[aweegc]

@NotBadConsidering

It’s not just sexist and racist, or detached from reality but it’s the epitome of the western privilege of gender identity and completely disgusting. That gender identity is somehow important when a little girls around the world are being held down and tortured. That somehow if that girl had played with trucks, worn “boys’ clothes”, expressed out loud that she was in fact a boy then she would have been left alone. That they would champion such an ideology above the realities of what happens to these girls...These people are vile.

The whole trans movement is a most horrific form of cultural colonialism. I know I'm not backing that up but I do t have the time or energy right now. Partly because what it means in reality is pretty much what we see on Hibo's Twitter as well as in a different way in NGO work in economically deprived countries.

I'm sorry Hibo is dealing with this shit. I'd LOVE woman's hour to have her back in to talk about that. Won't be holding my breath though.

[notyourhandmaid]

It's whataboutery of the highest order and it's disgusting. And racist AF.

[334bu]

The problem is not that she's centering women in her work and words. The problem is that she excludes trans women from it. 'I'm a woman. Get over it.' is what trans women say too. If everyone accepted that trans women are women just like cis women, no one would take issue.
( Extract from a tweet)
How can a female writer and journalist for a top German newspaper write such nonsense on Twitter about someone fighting against FGM It beggars belief!

[sourdoughismyreligion]

@334bu

*The problem is not that she's centering women in her work and words. The problem is that she excludes trans women from it. 'I'm a woman. Get over it.' is what trans women say too. If everyone accepted that trans women are women just like cis women, no one would take issue.*
( Extract from a tweet)
How can a female writer and journalist for a top German newspaper write such nonsense on Twitter about someone fighting against FGM It beggars belief!

Feeling jealous, upset and excluded because anti-FGM activism excludes transwomen has got to be one of the most deranged things I've ever seen.

[334bu]

twitter.com/planet_eltern/status/1362713672737583112

just in case somebody thinks that Tweet extract couldn't possibly be true

[HermitsLife]

Wow.... could they be more tone deaf?

Phallic drift, I like it, I'll have to remember that one. Describes it perfectly.

[Igneococcus]

She writes for the Spiegel, no wonder it's a pale shadow of what it once was.

[MistressoftheDarkSide]

I have no words.

Women aren't allowed words any more, not of their own.

This subject is so sensitive and important and one of the ultimate examples of abuse of women purely down to their biology.

Demanding that women who have experienced this modify their language to avoid offending people with no skin in the game whatsoever is doubling down on the abuse.

The people doing this are abusers.

[thinkingaboutLangCleg]

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.

[thinkingaboutLangCleg]

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?

[SunsetBeetch]

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

[PotholeParadies]

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

[FTMF30]

@Eowynthewarrior

I don’t see this happening in any other area of life apart from issues affecting women and girls. I don’t see people campaigning for a charity say for blind people to face an attack and pile on for not being inclusive of different needs. Or for a charity campaigning for prostrate cancer being attacked for not including ovarian cancer or skin cancer . Or for an football club being criticised for not including a reference to basketball in every match report they issue . Women and girls need campaigners about issues that affect them because of biology: likewise men. Likewise trans people . All have own needs

It happens ALOT when anyone dares to say "black lives matter"

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.

[Faffertea]

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.

[bourbonne]

Won't someone think of the Sudanese transmen?!

[ChakaDakotaRegina]

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.

[TheIncredibleBookEatingManchot]

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.

[Delphinium20]

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.

[PermanentTemporary]

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.

[Fluffien]

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.

[Ereshkigalangcleg]

I think you're right Tinsel

[TheElementsSong]

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.