Milli Hill: I will not be silenced

[TheFleegleHasLanded]

I love Milli Hill’s work and know many other women on here do too. Check out her latest blog:

“But too many women have been silenced, and I don’t want to join them. There are conversations about women’s rights, women’s bodies, and the words we use to talk about women’s issues, which need to be had, but which have been made taboo in our current culture. And this is not healthy. Worse still, women like me have been used as an example to others of what happens to you if you raise questions. And others have seen these public draggings, and decided to keep quiet themselves. This kind of behaviour, in which dissidents are made a public example of in order to ensure compliance to dogma, does not have very good historical precedents. And yet it currently describes itself as ‘the right side of history’.”

www.millihill.co.uk/2021/07/10/i-will-not-be-silenced/

Bloody brilliant. I was just coming here to post the same thing.

Good for her.

Crybullies, the lot of them

That's a great, clear piece of writing. It's shocking that so many knowledgeable, experienced and committed women are being bullied in this way - by people who have achieved what?

Anyone reading this and saying women are not being silenced or attacked should take a hard look at themselves.

Can’t believe what I just read

We are under attack

Only women give birth, it's so ignorant to deny it... I can't understand how how this madness has taken a grip so quickly.

I am not pregnant and never will be again, nor am I a mother to a pre-teen girl due to start her periods.

But I've just ordered two of her books, How To Give Birth Like A Feminist, and My Period: Find Your Flow and Feel Proud Of Your Period on the strength of that blog post and it's content.

I hadn't heard of her before but I'll be looking out for her work now. Bloody good for her for not lying down and letting the bullies trample and discredit her.

Good for her in speaking out. A shame to see so many women in the birthing movement lacking in insight, empathy and ethics.

I’ll also buy her books.

I feel so sad and angry that she has been treated this way.

Good for her.

I was in a mother's group, where we had all got together for our first borns, then lots of babies after. Years later this shit happened and one of the group I had respected most, who was first a natural birther then a doula then qualified as a midwife because she rejoiced in the femaleness of it all, then fully bought into to this bullshit.

At the same time, one of the more vulnerable women had a new transgender bestie and was vicious about 'terfs' and there was no room for discussion. It had been about 15 years. I left. There was no other option.

I am shocked increasingly shocked by the number of on line chats that are broadcast about birth without the use of the word woman. Thank you Milli Hill for speaking up. What a shame that she was forced to close the Positive Birth Movement groups.

She’s fabulous. I’ve been watching her get braver and braver and it is so wonderful to see her drawing her boundaries and telling the bullies to fuck off.

This really devastated me. Milli has been so fearless in speaking up for women's rights in pregnancy and birth. She has worked so hard for us all. I was surprised when she shut down the PBM but now I understand why.
I hate that this war on women is consuming so much of our energy. We are losing so much from it.
I'm off to pre-order her next book which I'm sure will be brilliant.
Love and support to you Milli

How many more stories will we see before this is over? This is shocking to read. I hope she'll be able to move on from here and leave all the bullies in the dust.

Good for her. She is a hero.

I just came here to post this. I saw the original comments in November 2020 and feared for what was about to descend on her. I saw her comment on one of Jess De Wahl’s posts and felt heartened. I’m so glad she’s published her story. It has been painful to watch the birth world crumble.

I hope Milli sees this thread. I used to run a PBM group in the early days. It was really revolutionary. I am not in the least surprised that she's been attacked in this way: the birth world is VICIOUS. There are some truly lovely people (aka women) in there, but the desire to sh*t over someone to make yourself look better, or make (a bit) more money, or fill their already established boots is rampant. I mean really rampant. There were women chomping at the bit to attack Milli, basically because they wished they'd started the PBM themselves. And this was a few years ago!

I'm very excited to read her new book. However, there is a crossover between the women who look holistically at birth, and those who look holistically at girls getting periods. I know this because I've experienced what happens when in a group of women, many of whom were doulas, you suggest that boys don't get periods. It's f*cking ugly. She's not actually stepping out of the birthing world with this topic. I hope she has a big network of genuinely nice people around her.

I'm glad Milli has felt able to speak out about what's happened to her and incredibly sorry it has. I'm so fed up of women being piled on for staying the bleeding (pun intended) obvious, whilst being told they're the bully.

And I'm extremely disappointed by Birthrights. Extremely. If a legal charity working for those humans - women - who give birth, can't legally and biologically define women, plus want to shut women's voices down, ESPECIALLY Milli's, the future of childbirth is not looking like it'll be better when/if my daughter gets there.

Perhaps this is just another example of the backstabbing that goes on in the birthing world: Milli Hill was (is) a renowned name in the birthing world. She had goals that aligned with some of Birthrights'. Seeing a moment to neutralise her voice and claim her space for themselves, the charity took it. Total speculation on my part, but it fits a pattern I've seen.

I work in the birthing world and I agree about the back stabbing and viciousness....it's brutal. It's big business after all. I see a lot of fear amongst gender critical birth workers so this from Milli has warmed by cockles. There is so much to be a angry about in the world of birth, so much obstetric violence, so much racism. This is all such a distraction from the real fights.

Milli's voice is also being heard through The Sunday Times. Birthrights and The Association of Breastfeeding Mothers who also got a mention in her blog really need to reflect on what they are doing, especially in light of Maya Forstater's win. They are discriminating against women based on their sex.

Does anyone have any idea why this particular area is so “back stabbing and vicious[…]”? It seems similar to the world of publishing. I’d be interested in anyone’s insights.

But the article is awful. I know I ought to be used to the idea by now, but her comments are so mild and so rational that the reaction against them is astonishing in being so disproportionate. How do other women (and surely these must largely be other women) become so vicious? And so obsessed with something so utterly illogical. It’s terrifying. I find that it makes me want to back away, but at the same time I can see how important it is that those of us who agree with Milli have to stand beside her against this.

And of course then there’s the negativity. Her groups are gone, just at the time when women probably need them most. I hope when this passes, that she, or other women, feel able to take up the baton and start again.

Thanks for the Times share. It is such a relief to see the strange online politics of this laid out in plain English.

This is sad and sickening treatment. I don't know her work, but solidarity with Milli.

From the off, "birthing people are seen as 'the fragile sex'" is a mangling of language into complete meaninglessness. It's not 'inclusive' or 'kind', it just literally makes no sense.

Who are these people that not only refuse to see that, but attack anyone pointing this out as full of hate, someone to be destroyed? Someone with "dangerous opinions"? Its fucking offensive.

Milli has gone out of her way to intelligently explain her position, like JKR, stressing her support for trans/ NB people. Those after her will still claim she is denying their existence and should be hounded out of her work.

There's been lots of encouraging green shoots recently but this has really upset me. It's profoundly dishonest and stupid and the impact on women's services is very worrying indeed.

I read the story in the Times this morning and immediately ordered her two birthing books.

Milli if you are reading this then thank you so much for continuing to stand up for women and for woman centred care!

It is unfortunate that the PBM groups have closed. We are going to need local groups which are explicitly woman centred for pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding more than ever now with this assault on women coming from all directions. I totally understand why anyone being hounded and harassed in that way would feel she needed to do it though.

Thanks @ixqik for the share token.

And there it is, in plain, concise, unambiguous language. It makes total and perfect sense. How anyone could say any different is absolutely beyond me.

' I find it worrying that biology has somehow changed category from ‘science’ to ‘religion’ in this way. '

And yes, the similarity between the clear headed writing of both JKR and Milli.

Share token

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/f98fc8c4-e0ca-11eb-8372-0d41497c3283?shareToken=d536e03f8d61bbe4fe12712133c0a21c