Margaret Atwood has some explaining to do.
This morning, the 81-year-old Handmaid’s Tale author shared a transphobic op-ed by problematic journalist Rosie DiManno titled “Why can’t we say ‘woman’ anymore?”
Why can’t we say ‘woman’ anymore? https://t.co/ghcQDJgxWE via @torontostar
— Margaret E. Atwood (@MargaretAtwood) October 19, 2021
In the past, DiManno has mocked a male survivor of sexual assault for coming forward with his story and used derogatory terms to describe Black and Indigenous people. Just last year, she made headlines for stupidly hitting “reply all” on a company memo then sending 60 colleagues a racist email.
Why Atwood decided to share DiManno’s latest op-ed, in which she voices sympathy for transphobic author JK Rowling and rails against “trans activism run amok”, with her 2 million Twitter followers is anyone’s guess, but people are not happy about it.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
What makes the whole thing even weirder is that, just last year, Atwood spoke out against Rowling’s transphobic remarks and voiced her own support for the trans community.
“You can believe all you like that trans people aren’t people, but it happens not to be a fact,” she said in November while discussing her support for the LGBTQ community with The Times, the British daily. “It is not true that there are only two boxes.”
Here’s what they’re saying about the author’s latest tweet…
More pressing issue: when JK Rowling was being savagely attacked and maligned for asking precisely this question a year and a half ago, why didn’t you express solidarity with her, instead of doing the very opposite?
— Boring Liberal (@BoringLiberal) October 19, 2021
good news, we still can! big fan of your fiction on the dangers of enforcing extremely rigid bio-essentialist ideas about gender btw
— michael wave: gourd boy edition (@SzMarsupial) October 19, 2021
Please don’t give aid and comfort to transphobes.
— meli-boo! 👻 (@melico24) October 19, 2021
Jesus wtf.
You can say woman.
But ALSO it’s OK TO SAY PERSON.
ITS FINE
YOULL BE FINE JESUS CHRIST MAGGIE.— Concierge Marie (@CoadyQuilts) October 19, 2021
No one is banning the word “woman.” Many organizations are — rightly — opting for precise language when talking about things that have to do with biological traits rather than gender identity. It’s not an attack on womanhood to NOT equate gender with specific biology.
— Katie Mack (@AstroKatie) October 19, 2021
I’d have thought you would have understood this when a company called Gilead referred to women as “individuals who have receptive vaginal sex” pic.twitter.com/DfJuGxsBrS
— Women’s Voices (@WomenReadWomen) October 19, 2021
The idea that trans people are forcing cis women to to stop using the word woman exists to imply trans people are making irrational demands, and to dissuade trans people asking for inclusive language as an option, for fear of being dogpiled for “erasing the word woman”
— Laura Kate Dale (@LaurakBuzz) October 19, 2021
Why is this always directed at clear attempts to use inclusive language, and never at actual problems e.g. Republicans in America calling women “host bodies”?
— Anna 🏳️⚧️ (@EvolutionofAnna) October 19, 2021
‘woman’ is used 8 times in this very article, and ‘women’ 12. I’m not entirely convinced the premise here is corect. pic.twitter.com/Ptb71L3rqY
— Randeep (@randeep_93) October 19, 2021
Really disappointing to see you retweeting TERF rhetoric.
— Ana Mardoll (@AnaMardoll) October 19, 2021
Oh look you’re angry language is finally starting to include people like me.
Disappointed in you.
But not shocked.
I hear JKR is looking for friends. You can sit at her table.
— Ouaquaga on Chenango (@JnxOuaquaga) October 19, 2021
Welp, that’s an unfollow.
— Tabatha Southey (@TabathaSouthey) October 19, 2021
Earlier this month, author Joyce Carol Oates made a similar blunder when she launched an unprovoked assault on nonbinary people saying “they/them” pronouns are confusing and language is supposed to be about seeking clarity and blah, blah, blah. The 83-year-old later apologized.
No comment yet from Atwood, other than a few replies to angry followers telling them to “read Rosie’s piece” and insisting she’s “not a Terf” (the acronym for trans-exclusionary radical feminist).
For the record, we did read Rosie’s piece and she is, indeed, a TERF.
Graham Gremore is the Features Editor and a Staff Writer at Queerty. Follow him on Twitter @grahamgremore.
Ken A.
She’s 83. Respect your elders,
radiooutmike
Not when they say dipshit things.
Also, mind your elders, means your elders. Not mine or the old man down the street.
LumpyPillows
What dipshit thing did she say? I’m curious.
tallskin4
Interesting that queerty mods removed this comment
radiooutmike it’s annoying that dipshit comments like yours are allowed to sit untrammalled by the woke who moderate Queerty, but others of us who don’t use words like “dipshit” but who politely point out the absurdity of trying to cancel a well known author like margaret Atwood have our comments removed!
sfhairy
Wow, I respect Margaret Atwood even more.
Prax07
Oh BooHoo. Not Everyone on earth has to fall into lock step on everything the rainbow alphabet nazi squad want support/love/obedience for.
ciasteczek
I really think woke mob is running out of people to cancel
LumpyPillows
There are real and meaningful differences between a trans woman and a woman. These are facts, not opinions. Denying them make you no better than a “Trump Won” moron. Trying to cancel people who believe these facts, makes you and the people associated with you politically vulnerable. And, no, you do not have to agree with the lies (George Orwell was a god) to also support the rights of trans people. I support trans people, their rights to jobs, housing and health care. I do not, however, repeat the lie that a trans woman is a woman. Try and cancel me…you’ll find there are more people like me than you. Oh, and you may cost us the next election. Margaret Atwood +1.
LeBlevsez
Lumpy, there are real and meaningful differences between any two random people on the street, so your flaccid opinion isn’t much of an argument. What is apparent from your post is that you are frightened. Of being “cancelled.” Of being vulnerable. Those “more people” that are like you? A big chunk of them are the “Trump Won” morons you referred to. Another flaccid argument; one that will bite you on your lumpy ass if you choose to ally with said morons.
How magnanimous of you to allow “jobs, housing and healthcare” to others. You’re a peach. A frightened, bigoted peach.
Bonuscheque
Very well said. I completely agree. A trans woman is not a woman and a trans man is not a man. Everyone deserves top be treated with respect but this is getting insane.
Ronbo
Trans individuals are trans… literally. They are a uniquely beautiful blend of male and female. Queerty denigrates trans-women and trans-men by denying their history and facts.
LumpyPillows
LeB, you really aren’t smart enough to add value to the discussion. Thanks for trying, but you just don’t get it.
LumpyPillows
P.S. people living in the real world know that real trans people need jobs, health care and housing. Phony, left-wing radicals are the ones who think they need Chappelle cancelled. Seriously…so out of touch with reality you are mind numbing.
cliche guevara
Transphobia is largely rooted in misogyny. This is why people like yourself exclusively focus on transwomen. So … yeah you got transphobia and misogyny down. At this rebate you are going to have that bigotry bingo card filled out in no time.
Alex_S
Those people who accuse her of such nonsense don’t even know what they wouldn’t be who they are now without her writing.
GlobeTrotter
Never thought I’d see the day when America became a fascist society. Now we’re being commanded, under pain of loss of income and livelihood, to believe something that is demonstrably and factually not true. Baby Jesus, help us!
bbg372
99.5% of people with female reproductive anatomy are women. The .5% who are non-binary or transgender men, should understand that they are an exception to that rule.
Similarly, if one refers to the partners in a marriage as “husband and wife,” I understand that to mean “spouses,” and in my specific case, “husbands.” I was not excluded, because his language did not specifically included me.
However, reducing women to “people who menstruate” for the purposes of ensuring that non-binary and transgender men feel “included” is misogynistic. Their desire to be validated does not outweigh reducing women to their capacity to bleed.
Hank31
*100%
JohnnyBoy2
Apparently there is a confusion between sex and gender. If a female XX person is in the hospital to have a baby, then her sex status as a female is quite relevant. If a MTF trans woman wants to live as a woman, then fine. She deserves respect and honor, just like everyone else. But, she is not a genetic female. These are just plain facts.
Trans activists seem to want to blur the distinction between woman and female. I’ve read some saying that trans women are female. Just not true.
downtoearth
I’ve read this over about 5 times so far looking for what she said that was transphobic. Is it that she said ‘woman’? I’m part of the LGBT community and even I’ve never heard of such a thing. I’m extremely pro-trans but what am I missing? When I’m describing my mother to a stranger what terminology am I allowed to use? This is getting ridiculous and its not making our fight for equal rights and respect any easier.
Hank31
You should consider whether the “LGBT community” actually exists, or whether “LGBT” was invented and imposed on lesbian, gay and bisexual people for the purpose of transferring LGB wealth and political capital to trans activists.
LumpyPillows
You have a point, Hank. I was there when it was just LG. Then they started adding letters without asking if it made sense or if we agree. Adding B did nothing. Adding T actually set us back politically, derailing ENDA for example. Was it the right thing to do, championing T? At the time, I suggest, no. We should have cemented our gains in law before moving on to T. We’re doing the same mistake now with non-binary. We never learn. How to lose elections, brought to you by leftists without reason.
Selverd
“In the past, DiManno has mocked a male survivor of sexual assault for coming forward with his story and used derogatory terms to describe Black and Indigenous people. Just last year, she made headlines for stupidly hitting “reply all” on a company memo then sending 60 colleagues a racist email.”
You’re not going to paste any links for that?
JohnnyBoy2
I’m suspicious. I bet the author here is exaggerating, just as it is an absurd exaggeration to say that Rowling and Atwood are being mean to trans people.
inbama
How soon before “Mother’s Day” becomes “Birthing-Parent’s Day?”
Hank31
Another one on the trans activist enemies list! It’s a list which grows and grows every week, and consists mostly of women and progressive people. Very rarely do trans activists get worked up over rightwing Christians. Nope. The target of these thugs is nearly always some poor feminist or LGB person or progressive celebrity — JK Rowling, Eve Ensler, Alyssa Milano, Rose McGowan, Kimberly Peirce (director of Boys Don’t Cry), Jimmy Kimmel, Katie Couric, Neil Patrick Harris, Roseanne, Scarlett Johansson, the Women’s March, HRC, and on and on. And now we can add a Canadian feminist novelist to the list.
Trans activists attack women, LGBs and progressives because they get off on wielding power over others and these targets are most likely to grovel and beg for forgiveness.
Creamsicle
This is going to be an unpopular take. She’s 83. She might be starting to decline cognitively and more susceptible to the same social media addiction that’s catching all of us with garbage quality blogs hell bent on spreading outrage porn.
tallskin4
i know it’s shocking isn’t it?
It’s terrible.
The waves of transphobia emanating today due to Margaret Atwood’s terribly transphobic comment.
The millions of poor trans ladies must be throwing themselves over the nearest cliffs in order to commit suicide at this disgusting transphobia.
Wait, what’s that you say? You’re asking me what she said that was transphobic?
I am not going to answer you cos you’re a bigot
LumpyPillows
Lol.
Chris2016
When pretty much anyone and everyone gets labeled a ‘terf’ or a transphobe these days, maybe they’re not actually the ones with the problem here?
“When talking about things that have to do with biological traits rather than gender identity” – except for the fact that said biological traits just so happen to exclusively apply to “cis” women 99+ percent of the time. That’s why people find this eraser of women and inane altering of language for the sake of catering to a fraction of the population, as suspect as it is clearly ideologically motivated. These attempts aren’t being made for the benefit of trans people per se, it’s about signalling a very specific and extreme left ideology and getting people to submit to it. Not only will it not work, it’s overplaying your hand.
LumpyPillows
Bingo.
IvanPH
I would buy a Margaret Atwood book today as a sign of support for this great lady
tallskin4
This is Another comment removed by queerty mods!
Although it wasn’t so long ago she was throwing other gender critical women and gender critical men under the trans bus in an attempt to virtue signal !!
the revolution eats its virtue signallers who think cos they’ve publically denounced and sent to the guillotine others, that they are somehow safe from the sharp blade of the same guillotine
Ronbo
When extremists like Graham try to erase trans-men and trans-women, the community is hurt. Trans-men and trans-women exist as a beautiful part of our humanity. We should celebrate these individuals, not hide them behind social constructs. Shame on anyone, including Queerty, who tries to put these people in the closet labeled “men” or “women”.
downtoearth
Is this sarcasm or serious?
Ronbo
Sorry for all the comments. However, Queerty’s anti-trans position (denial of recognition of trans individuals) hurts the movement. Queerty edits and deletes comments like Joseph Goebbels.
tallskin4
I know Ronbo, it’s utterly scandalous that the un-woke moderators on queerty maintain their unspeakable denial of trans individuals, as well as trans groups, and trans conglomerates.
The queues for poor trans ladies at the edges cliffs and at the tops of tall buildings across the civilised world, waiting to jump to their pearly deaths on the concrete, tarmac and rocks below, must be causing traffic to back up all the way to the moon.
LumpyPillows
Best I can tell, Queerty pushes very trans supporting story they borrowed from somewhere else :- ) I just don’t get your point at all.
AxelDC
How many gay allies are you going to cancel because they don’t align 100% with your viewpoints?
tjack47
I’ve decided my pronouns are you and you. I want the entire world to kowtow to my decision. Ridiculous! People are sick of this crap. Entitlement run amok.
frankcar1965
Drop the T!!!
Gay men and lesbians need to stand up and and stop being lumped with the trans who we have nothing to do with. LGB LGB LGB!!!
tallskin4
it is the LGB Alliance annual meeting here in London today. You’ll not get any of our captured gay media to report on it, so seek news of events elsewhere
mastik8
Their purity tests and grievance archaeology are burning bridges left and right.
JohnnyBoy2
Well said! Kudos!
Ignore LeB’s incoherent nonsense.
tallskin4
just to remind everyone what the appalling transphobe JK Rowlings said
Dress however you please.
Call yourself whatever you like.
Sleep with any consenting adult who’ll have you.
Live your best life in peace and security.
But force women out of their jobs for stating that sex is real?
bobmister250
The LGB and the T have two very different agendas and frankly I’m not on board with some of the radical things Ts seem to want. I’m gay, not queer. I’m White (not crazy about the fact that we all have to capitalize our race now). I’m not “woke” but I’m not conservative. I don’t believe that I have privilege based on my skin color. I’m 31. Before you think I’m some old guy whining, I’m not THAT old, yet.
I’d like to know why transgender people glommed on to our gay rights movement and decided to distract from fighting for gay rights onto these unrelated issues.