Whoa, Nelly! The over-70 entertainer caused quite a ripple on social media when she posted this!
Bette Midler’s tweet quoted Yoko Ono from 49 years ago, ‘women are the n-word of the world.’ Apparently, the 72-year old Midler didn’t realize that the much-younger social media users were unaware of the reference.
As an earlier-wave feminist, Midler must not have realized how a privileged white woman tweeting about the oppression of women by using the imagery of the oppression of blacks just doesn’t sit well with the new intersectional crowd.
She was… schooled.
Feminists raked her over the coals for her tweet.
‘It’s time to retire that quote. It minimizes racism and is counterproductive to intersectional feminism. The shock value is in NO WAY worth the harm to Black people,’ one Twitter user wrote.
‘There is no reason to use this quote,’ another added. ‘Among MANY problems with it, it erases black women and this is unacceptable at any time, but especially now when we as white women are in such debt to black women and should be using our privilege to elevate, not eliminate, their voices.’
She attempted to defend herself, but good luck fighting against the outrage mob.
The origin of the quote was Yoko Ono, who then made a song of the same name with John Lennon in 1972, years after she made the shocking statement in an interview.
‘Woman Is the N****r of the World’ eventually became a song by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, from their 1972 album Some Time in New York City, three years after she coined the phrase in a Nova Magazine interview.
It also caused controversy when it was originally released, although the former Beatle tried to explain at the time their use of the n-word referred to any oppressed person.
Some defended Midler insisting she was not the originator of the quote, but they were drowned out.
Source: Daily Mail
Eventually, it was just too much for Midler, and she deleted the tweet and offered a half-hearted apology blaming the new Source Of All Things Wrong In The World™, the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation process.
Well, at least she was able to politicize her comments and make good with the intersectional feminists, right?
