Bette Midler — Page 2

Okay, you're even worse than I thought.

The world burning doesn't give license to people to be islamophobic or transphobic. Or stop us from pointing it out when they are.

Tell me, with the world burning, just what are we allowed to care about? Clarence Thomas? Marriage equality? Anything other than what directly impacts your own life?

Please forward on the list.

I no longer stick up for celebrities just because I have a deep affinity for them. They are responsible for their words, they are responsible for their own learning or not, they can confront themselves or not, they can make amends or not.

In some cases my connection to them is tarnished just a little and in some cases it's broken and unfixable.

I alway think back on the deeply homophobic and misogynist (and talented AF) early Beastie Boys, who grew up and got smarter and addressed their past ignorance. They are my go-to model of quality celebrity evolution and I've learned most good-yet-fallible humans move in similar directions.

Here's a really fantastic twitter thread by Kay Whitlock which she addresses to Bette and Katha Pollit (an old school Village Voice writer whose every syllable I used to drape myself over) that lays it out in ways that might help them evolve. Or not. Regardless, her insight might serve us all as we find ourselves in more and more tense discussions with people in our lives.

Kay Whitlock on Twitter

We can't come up with a better term than "birther?" I'd be outraged too.

Life would be a lot better if we had an age regulations for phones like we do for drinking alcohol or driving cars.

You can't get a phone until you are at least 21.

Once you turn 65, you have to turn in your phone.

Looks like Macy Gray has gotten tangled into this. She told British journalist Piers Morgan, “Just because you go change your parts, doesn't make you a woman, sorry.” Later that day Midler's tweet came out.

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/bette-midler-macy-gray-s-transphobic-comments-are-bad-women-n1296877

Updated On: 7/10/22 at 11:28 AM

RippedMan said: "The world is so designed by boxes. Just stop trying to box people in with words. I'm a gay male, and I recently bought a pair of women's shoes cause they were cute and in my size and then I had people asking me if I'm trans now, I'm like, no they're just cute shoes. Just let people be themselves and don't get bogged down in the semantics."



In this case, it may be a good idea for stores just to have a 'shoe' department, and not distinguish it by 'women's shoes' and 'men's shoes'. Just have 'shoes' all mixed in together and let the buying public by what they wish - with no labels attached to their purchase. Probably solve a lot of problems and questions.

RippedMan, if you don't like labels, why did you use them to describe yourself? It doesn't seem fair for you to get to use your ones, then begrudge others for using theirs. Nobody has ever argued that liking women's shoes makes you trans. The problem in what you describe lies with your friends, not trans people.

FindingNamo, thank you for those Kay Whitlock tweets.

I've never looked to Bette Midler (whom I worship and about whom I will not cotton one negative utterance) for cutting edge explorations of sexuality and gender. (Believe me, I have read a LOT of interviews, including Rolling Stone in the early-'70s when she dropped "f*gg*t*" bombs aplenty in explaining how she thought she could become an artiste with mainstream appeal.

I look to the Gen Z kids who draw very firm lines in the sand over which bigots dare not cross. I love how they come right out and tell older people, no, this will not stand, this is not tolerable. If they were socialized like all the generations before them not to mind Uncle Racist and Grampaw Prejudice, they're old and from a different time. This generation is like "the time is now and we will not stand for it." I love that.

As French philosopher Guy Dubord once said, "Ideas improve. The meaning of words participates in the improvement." So basically, I can "understand" that some people have problems, but instead of digging in heels, it's time to work on the problems and participate in the improvement.

Updated On: 8/9/22 at 01:00 PM

I think the new film was mostly about introducing the story to a new generation and I think they succeeded. I’m pretty sure the movie is supposed to be a set up for new tv series featuring the three new girls.