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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Anti-FGM campaigner Hibo Wardere comes under attack

510 replies

JustTurtlesAllTheWayDown · 19/02/2021 08:20

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).

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BuntingEllacott · 23/02/2021 13:01

Some of my best friends are Christian evangelicals. Frankly I think the world would be poorer without Tim Vine's jokes.

PotholeParadies · 23/02/2021 13:14

Well, that's you disqualified from having a voice on women's rights then.

BuntingEllacott · 23/02/2021 13:21

And yet, I still speak...Wink

JustTurtlesAllTheWayDown · 23/02/2021 13:28

On the subject of the abuse Hibo was getting, can someone explain to me the moral difference in stance between "I would never criticise Hibo's language as she's an FGM survivor but I will publicly tell other people off for being transphobic if they defend her against people calling her transphobic!" and... criticising Hibo's language for being transphobic?

Nothing but semantics between the two. That's the problem with all this stuff. The moment you apply even the slightest critical analysis to it, it falls to pieces and to keep on defending it, to quote Lewis Carroll, you need to believe in six impossible things before breakfast.

OP posts:
lucylucky1977 · 23/02/2021 14:04

As someone says on that thread “If someone is talking about female genital mutilation and your first thought is 'that's transphobic' then you're a sociopath.”

DaisiesandButtercups · 23/02/2021 14:05

@BuntingEllacott

Well that's because that's true.

I recall posting about this on FWR a couple of years ago, around the time there were a slew of articles and blog posts from trabsactivists and people were desperately trying to dig into the trans arguments to make sense of them.

The problem is there is fundamental disconnect in how language is being used. You and I use it to make meaning clear, to communicate. The current identity movement use it to signal who is in and who is outside of the group. Which is quite ironic for a movement all about inclusion, but so much is.

You read it all from a starting assumption that language is being used to clarify. But what you are actually reading is a number of language cues that indicate whether someone is a true believer, or maybe one of the sacred caste. The language shifts all the time because that's how they stay aware of the heretics, and how they constantly keep each other a little off-kilter, and thus easier to manipulate.

I could use a short word to describe this sort of phenomenon but I'd get deleted for it, because they really don't like it being pointed out clearly (obviously, given what I've just explained about their use of language).

But the dynamics are very clear once you understand this basic disconnect.

All of which is to say, don't expect to make rational sense of it. That's not what their arguments are for. Your reaction simply means you are outside the group. A fact which should be an immense comfort.

This
7Days · 23/02/2021 14:11

Yup. It's a way so see how invested you are. If you dont make it your business to keep up with the terminology just how committed are you really?

PotholeParadies · 23/02/2021 14:27

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Quotes a deleted post.

PotholeParadies · 23/02/2021 14:52

Goodness.

Someone didn't like that. Under His Eye, alright.

Let me try that again.

I think a certain Christmassy person on MN is incredibly sharp and very astute.

And I would like to draw people's attention to this situation in Alabama, which might be why people on twitter keep engineering attacks on Hibo Wardere.

thepostmillennial.com/bill-to-ban-fgm-blocked-in-wyoming-by-radical-trans-activists

PotholeParadies · 23/02/2021 15:06

So to anyone who thinks they and Nora Imlau can be in solidarity with anything that calls itself a trans rights movement (plenty of trans people are entirely behind Hibo Wardere) and totally behind the work of FGM, have a look at that link?

Which would you centre in your work? Girls at risk of FGM in Wyoming, or would you ally with the people fighting against the bill?

CoffeeTeaChocolate · 23/02/2021 15:15

What did I miss?

Wasn’t there a similar issue in Idaho? That a bill banning FGM was opposed by trans right activists?

Why do these people want to stop a bill which prevents forced mutilation of female genitalia? I find it frightening and sinister in equal measure.

Anyone who wants a doctor to operate on their own, healthy genitalia, go ahead. But leave the children alone!!

PotholeParadies · 23/02/2021 15:18

I quoted a post from Saturday because it had made me think, and thus triggered the deletion of the post I quoted.

PotholeParadies · 23/02/2021 15:21

I think it would really great if Hibo Wardere got asked on to Woman's Hour.

This is a video of her explaining what happened, face to face.

CoffeeTeaChocolate · 23/02/2021 15:25

Would you mind PM me the gist of the post ?

I am interested in what triggers there are.

JosieJarker · 23/02/2021 15:56

That is heartbreaking.
Its interesting that Hibo talks about the fact that what happened damaged the mother daughter bond so badly, unsurprisingly, its dawning on me that seems to be a feature of misoginistic cultures.
Anyone criticising this brave amazing woman needs to be deeply ashamed of themselves.
Its low.

JosieJarker · 23/02/2021 16:02

All the people on the aromantic spectrum who are feeling oppressed, should be forced to watch that and then have a little rethink about what real oppression is, where it comes from and just how privileged they really are that the only thing they've got to feel oppressed about is aunty asking if they're dating anyone.

Ereshkigalangcleg · 23/02/2021 17:52

I quoted a post from Saturday because it had made me think, and thus triggered the deletion of the post I quoted.

I called it right when I went back to see what had been deleted. I also replied but didn't quote.

CoffeeTeaChocolate · 23/02/2021 17:56

reneejg.net/2017/08/mockery-of-fgm/

This is an interesting article about FGM. It talks about the social pressure on girls to be cut and how some even ask their mums to be cut without realising what they are asking for (pain, complications, infections, ruined seclude, etc, etc, etc). Apparently this social pressure and this almost indoctrination (everyone telling the girl how amazing and brave she is for asking to be cut) is something Hibo is fighting against as well.

The article makes the point that we are telling African “doctors” that they cannot perform FGM even if the girl asks for it as they don’t realise the consequences.

At the same time, trans activists are arguing that children under 18 are capable to ask for sex reassignment surgery.

CoffeeTeaChocolate · 23/02/2021 17:57

*Ruined sex life, not seclude

FionaMacCool · 23/02/2021 19:12

@PotholeParadies Thank you for that video, I hadn't seen her speak before.
That woman is unbreakable, because she tells the truth.

What you said @JosieJarker is very insightful... " what happened damaged the mother daughter bond ...... that seems to be a feature of misoginistic cultures ". Sad

CaveMum · 24/02/2021 08:23

I know there’s a separate thread started about this, but thought I’d drop in here to say that Hibo is selling a t-shirt to raise funds for her work.

The t-shirt bears the slogan “I’m a woman get over it” and costs £25. It is only on sale for 2 weeks.

www.mercht.com/c/i-am-a-woman

This is her tweet promoting the sale twitter.com/hibowardere/status/1364234543021117440?s=21

PotholeParadies · 29/03/2021 09:53

Just reviving this thread to let you know, firstly, that my t-shirt has arrived and it is beautifully soft. A real pleasure to wear.

Secondly, and more importantly, in response to popular demand, Hibo plans to relaunch the t-shirt campaign some time in the future. So watch this space for further news!

gardenbird48 · 29/03/2021 10:31

Hibo is such a star - I can't believe she gets grief about her campaign. I read her description of what happened to her - it is just mind boggling that anyone would want to stop her preventing this happening to other little girls!

I will look out for the t shirts - thanks Pothole

Tocktickclick · 29/03/2021 10:37

Thank you for posting this. I have just ordered her book 'Cut' as a small gesture of solidarity.

FifteenToes · 29/03/2021 10:48

This is so ridiculous. Surely FGM - along with things like pregnancy, cervical cancer etc. - is a prime example of exactly where it IS necessary to define women biologically. It developed, like most of the excesses of patriarchy, out of a desire to control the fertility of biological women. And you can't mutilate the clitoris of somebody who doesn't have one.

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