Bette Midler: Women are the N-Word of the World

"Now let me get back to my mansion that all that disrespect bought me and mine. You folks go clean up that stretch of highway with my name on it."

Bette hasn't been elected to public office R1.

How many celebrities has the Republican party elected?

That’s a John Lennon song.

Shut up and sing, bitch.

Damn, she's trolling. How very white of her. Imagine being a woman who is [bold]also[/bold] black.

Counting down to the million outraged tweets from young SJWs who have no clue she's quoting John Lennon...

Shes right.

Wow - all this hate for Bette. What she said is absolutely true.

Sing it John.

She speaks the truth. Like it or not.

The phrase "woman is the ****** of the world" was coined by Yoko Ono in an interview with Nova magazine in 1969 and was quoted on the magazine's cover. Literary analysts note that the phrase owes much to Zora Neale Hurston's novel Their Eyes Were Watching God,[1] in which the protagonist Janie Crawford's Grandmother says "De ****** woman is de mule uh de world so fur as Ah can see."[2][3] The song describes women's subservience to men and misogyny across all cultures.

Women couldn't get credit or a credit card until the 1970s. She is correct. The systematic denial of relatively recent history and its acceptance is terrible. So Texas takes Clinton out of their text books. Do they even tell girls with smartphones that their grandmothers couldn't even get a MasterCard?

This lackadaisical response to this here is really scary. There is a numbing down of our values that is even worse than dumbing down.

I'm not trans, but really really wish I had been born a woman. My sisters and most of my women friends have had way better lives than I have.

Bette is hilarious.

r13....Im sure they would beg to differ.

Woe is me.

R15 Nope. They have great careers they love and are pretty happy.

She is right.

If ANY minority or any group of men were ever treated with a fraction of the malevolence constantly thrown at women people would lose their shit.

R13

And you think being born male denied you the satisfaction of a CAREER you love?

Not very likely.

You just don't know or care about the shit they have to deal with that you will never need to worry about. Meanwhile every opportunity they have ever had offered to them has probably been offered to you for half the effort and double the praise and compensation.

R13, if you are a white man and you have a lousy life compared to your female siblings, it's your own fault.

White male privilege is a real thing.

No, my sisters and many women friends are more successful than I am because they are stronger, smarter, and have triumphed over life's obstacles (including sexism). I guess it is my fault that I am weaker than they are, but whatever. They would all laugh their heads off if someone told them that I had been "offered everything they had for half the effort and double the praise and compensation", which is one of many reasons why I love them.

That quote was stupid then and it's stupid now, because guess what, black women (specifically) experienced everything stated in that quote while white women looked on with indifference. White women were also fine with voting for Trump. This form of feminism needs to go because it is really only geared towards a white women's strive towards equality.

the link says the page doesn't exist

r22....not everything is about race. Youre comment in itself is offensive, because you have no idea what life for women was REALLY like until just recently in history. It has nothing to do with the color of ones skin, Its unadulterated sexism...and it still exists today. Some women may be complacent, but that is due to conditioning in the environment they were raised in along with ignorance. Just look to the bible to see how far back it goes. Women were created to be subservient, to never challenge men, and to remain quiet about it. Women only started obtaining rights in your grandmother or great grandmothers lifetime. Any semblance of equality has only existed for the past 40 years. It may seem like something that happened long ago, but its very recent. Same with LGBT rights....people think because it is accepted in their life, that its been that way for a while....theres only been SOME acceptance in the past 20 years or so....and that acceptance is fragile and fleeting at this point.

Sure, R22 the quote references women in general as opposed to men. Women. black, white and green have only had the right to vote for 98 years.

LOVED HER IN SCENES FROM A MALL!!!!

Woody Allen's wife .. she was so good.

And yet they STILL vote for Trump.

Not a fan of her music or acting, but she is right.

The number of people out there who are instantly getting their backs up and don't realize she's making reference to the John Lennon song make me want to break something.

r24 be offended if you must, because that quote is disgusting. What does it mean for black women who were/are considered actual N-words? It's throwing them further down the line. Yes, being a woman is hard and sucked, neither Bette, Yoko, or John should use the N-word and what it represents as a backdrop for their message. It feels like another way for white feminist to justify ignoring the struggles of women of color, after all, "we're both the N-words of the world!"

No, just, no to this quote and Bette for digging it up.

Another point, it would be just as unacceptable for the quote to say that women are the holocaust survivors of the world. Treated like cattle, tortured at the whim of men, blamed for the sins of the world, etc.

John Lennon has been dead a real long time r29.

Poor Viola.

r30....take your race baiting delicate snowflake shit somewhere else. NOT EVERYTHING IS ABOUT RACE. Do you think she did this with malice?....or that it was racism ? Someone who has millions of followers on her account and knows it will receive scrutiny ? Your attitude is the exact reason things dont change....its either your way or the highway because you refuse to see the larger picture and how certain issues affect more than just a single minority.

Agreed r33, not everything is about race, but when you interject the "N-word" into a conversation it instantly become about race. Bette decided to use racism to frame her feeling towards sexism through John's quote. So, in this instance it is also about race.

inject^

She deleted it

I am not surprised to see the white men of datalounge once again completely miss the point. Bette Midler is being DESTROYED on Twitter right now. R30 gets it. The rest of you really need to reexamine everything.

Oh, and to the above R6, black people are quite aware of the quote's origin. Do you really think they have never heard that before? You condescending bitch.

Seriously, do women just exist these days to complain? It's insane.

That old Chris Rock joke nailed it, the one about how men are taught that the key to life is to make their woman happy. 'Jokes on us... there ARE no happy women."

R37 Woman Is The Nigger Of The World. There, happy now?

R37, it's pretty clear from their tweets that a lot of black people commenting on Twitter - and non-black people as well - don't know the quote's origin.

Funny how nobody has anything to say about this part of the quote:

"Raped, beaten, enslaved, married off, worked like dumb animals; denied education and inheritance; enduring the pain and danger of childbirth and life IN SILENCE for THOUSANDS of years".

[quote]Oh, and to the above [R6], black people are quite aware of the quote's origin. Do you really think they have never heard that before?

People old enough to know that quote aren't on Twitter, and were black people really into The Beatles or John Lennon??

This site is so close to going down the same path as Bette and so many others, I am convinced it is only a matter of time before the "wrong" series of responses gets this place targeted and blown up.

Right webmaster?

They're still letting her have it after her "apology".

Bette is just bitter that Sally beat her with Norma Rae.

"By way of variety, why don't you complain about your lives, ladies?"

It’s stupid quote and a stupid song. Why not just say “Women are the mules of the world” or Women are the slaves of the world?” Because using the word “nigger” is meant to be incendiary that’s why.

Attention was sought and attention was gained. Mission accomplished.

For women in the conservative Muslim world, life is exactly how Bette described it. Funny how the feminists who marched with pink pussycat hats never get involved with that.

[quote]Shes right.

No, she isn't. Men are more often targets of violence, do most physical and dangerous work, and are the prime victims of state coercion (eg, military conscription and forced labor, which international law allows as long as those enslaved are adult men).

The historical treatment of women has NOTHING to do with that of Black people, who've been historically targeted for all of the above forms of oppression.

The closest analogue to the situation of women world wide is children.

Just like children today and in the past have always had fewer rights than adults, women used to have fewer rights than men.

Just like children can't make their own decisions, in the past women's lives were decided by their husbands and parents.

And just like it's been more often than not allowed for parents to hit children in order to discipline them, it used to be permitted for men to hit their wives as punishment.

But despite it all, children were always thought to be more delicate and more deserving of gentle treatment -- and the same applies to women.

That, however, has NEVER been applied to slaves and Black people.

Think of the Titanic -- "women and children first!"

Do you think they would have said "N----'s first"? They wouldn't! So how's Midler right?

And in any case, Midler has never had to endure what according to her women go through. Most Western women haven't for the better part of the last 100 years. Women are in a situation now where they're like adult men in their rights but their social treatment is still rather close to that of children -- softer.

South Africa = the whole world boycotts a nation to oppose the abuse of blacks as second class citizens

The Middle East = the whole world makes trade deals to get better oil prices for themselves, conveniently ignores the systematic abuse of women and girls

In white communities, the white women are treated like shit. In black communities, the black women are treated like shit. In Hispanic communities, the Hispanic women are treated like shit. In Asian communities, the Asian women are treated like shit. The mistreatment of women surpasses race because it takes place both between and within races.

The gay community shouldn't have a problem understanding this. It is one of the main ways that being gay in this world is worse than being a minority of any kind. We are not only routinely rejected by society at large but can also be rejected by our families as well. No matter how bad the world gets, blacks, etc., are not going to be rejected by their family for being who they are. Women are treated like both minorities and gays at the same time. The worst of both worlds.

r49 = incel

R12 Huh? Women had lesser access to credit than men before the Equal Opp Credit Act of 1974...that does NOT mean that women did not have credit or credit cards before that.

It's

A

John

Lennon

Song

From

1972

You're wrong, R52. My mother still has a couple of accounts that she's had for 40 years at various chain stores that are still officially in my father's name. She tried to change some info on one of them a few years ago and they wouldn't let her because it was in my father's name even though she opened it herself before they were married. When she got married, it became his account. That was in 1972.

Here, educate yourself on that and much, much more.

Hey, stop slamming the mules. We have mules. They're fabulous and no, they're not the women of the world.

[quote]worked like dumb animals; denied education and inheritance;

Please. Never. Not a day.

Finally, R49 brought some damn sanity and perspective to the thread. I almost thought all DLers here had taken leave of there senses.

Their*

Yes. That's why women die younger. Oh wait...

[quote]when you interject the "N-word" into a conversation it instantly become about race

Which should be obvious to everyone, but people addicted to calling everyone "snowflakes" and "woke" can't seem to grasp this simple idea.

And the people who keep sobbing that "this was a John Lennon soonnngggg and stupid SJWs don't get that" forget that this was first a Yoko Ono quote, that it was an uncredited paraphrase of Zora Neale Hurston, and was criticized at the time for obvious reasons.

There isn't any good reason why Midler wouldn't have known this was a bad take in 1972 and remains a bad take 46 years later. She just wasn't thinking.

[quote]Seriously, do women just exist these days to complain?

Absolute fucking insanity that some bitchy queen who does nothing but complain on the Datalounge would say women do nothing but complain.

R49 is an MRA. I’ve blocked them for misogynist shit in other threads.

Deleting it was cowardly. John Lennon said SHOUT IT. Take a look at the one you're with, if you don't believe it.

You don't change things by deleting the truth. She should post that old song on a LOOP.

being offended by the word, or the song, instead of being offended by the reality is idiotic.

On the Dick Cavett show, the women remain silent.

Yes, it's so crazy that people would be offended by a racist slur, r63.

The point that women are considered second class citizens worldwide is a good one, but there's no need to make that point by using a racist slur that is meant to denigrate blacks (or in the case of British imperialism, Middle Easterners et al.) The n word has very specific race, slavery, and colonialist connotations that do not evenly translate to sexism -- it's simply not a good metaphor.

This was all pointed out by feminists in 1969 when Ono made the statement and again in 1972 when Lennon released the song. It's been discussed a lot over the years, though not recently, not just because it's been nearly 50 years but because it was widely accepted as ill advised.

[quote]Bette Midler is being DESTROYED on Twitter right now.

Gloria? Gloria Upson?

Of course, the SJW types and professional offended people are shrieking like loons.

Bette has had it so tough. Try being an open gay male in most of the world.

r52....educate yourself....a woman could have a credit card....IF a man signed for her. Your ignorance and misogyny are showing.

r68....JFC

I think if she would've said non-white women are the n*ggers of the world, she wouldn't be getting the back lash she is.

R65 you sound white.

Are you?

[quote]Women couldn't get credit or a credit card until the 1970s.

LOL.

So do you think that's what the treatment of Blacks was all based on - not having credit cards?

As I said before, the treatment of women reflects more that which is dispensed to children than the oppression of any minority group. Like children now, women had a list of prohibitions limiting their full participation in the economy and in political life. But they were not persecuted the way minorities were. They didn't suffer like Blacks, Jews, gays, etc. did. To a large extent, they were coddled, like children are.

[quote] Try being an open gay male in most of the world.

Try being black or trans. No one cares about gay anymore.

Bette has always been super messy on Twitter. At least once a year she gets into a mini-feud with another celebrity and gets clocked, which she then gets attacked for and has to apologize. She's had to issue like 5 apologies in the past 4 years.

Do people never tire of these made up controversies? Attention-whores are a menace.

"That’s a John Lennon song."

A particularly awful one, at that. I think it's from "Some Time In New York City", a joint effort with Yoko, naturally. It was a an album of godawful protest songs.

Does anyone REALLY think Bette was coming from a “bad place” with this?

Blacks, Gays, Women-let’s save our outrage for our common enemy, the Republican Party! Who is there setting up barriers every time we try and move forward/upward?

[quote]Yes. That's why women die younger. Oh wait...

Not that the ignorant assholes on this thread care about facts but the reason for the difference in life expectancy is not there if you consider adults. The fact is that male babies die more because they are biologically inferior when it comes to their immune systems and the effects of genetic disorders. Most of that is due to the Y chromosome not allowing for the extra X to cover for genetic weaknesses. The other fact is that young males are fucking stupid and die disproportionately in accidents from the time they are born until they reach "maturity".

After reaching adulthood, the life expectancies of men and women are the same. Now, carry on with your sexist bullshit echoing out from the left side of the intelligence bell curve, moron.

Down with Midler...STONE HER!

She’s right.

R59, in China they die in infancy.

Now come it’s not ok to use the N word here, but ok for non-gays to label us “queer”...?

I loved bashing her on Thursday because I honestly was so pissed she did NOT perform Hello Dolly on the TONY Awards. All of my antagonism originates from that egregrious snub. I had to sit through a badly-aging guy perform some song that was rightfully ignored.

(How is he David Hyde-Pierce even gay?)

Oh, the phony outrage and mansplaining in this thread...

"Mansplaining:", please. Keep up the cliches. You left out "Deplorables" too.

All easy clues to how I know someone is an idiot. They speak in trendy soundbites.