Bette Midler sparks huge backlash as she wades into debate over use of word ‘women’ in controversial plea

Bette Midler has been met with a wave of backlash on Twitter (Picture: WireImage)

Bette Midler has come under fire on social media after she waded into the debate over the world ‘women’.

The Hocus Pocus star, 76, was met with outrage as she shared a controversial plea, claiming that women are no longer referred to by that term, but instead called ‘birthing people’, ‘menstruators’ or ‘people with vaginas’.

In the post in question, which is still visible on her page, she told her 2.1million followers: ‘WOMEN OF THE WORLD! We are being stripped of our rights over our bodies, our lives and even of our name!

‘They don’t call us “women” anymore; they call us “birthing people” or “menstruators”, and even “people with vaginas”!

‘Don’t let them erase you! Every human on earth owes you!’

Many were outraged by the tweet and flooded Bette’s replies below, insisting that women were not being ‘erased’ and urging her to ‘do better’.

‘No. Don’t fall for the anti-trans panic fake nonsense. No one is erasing women,’ one responded.

‘In a few small healthcare cases where appropriate they are using trans inclusive language. That’s all.’

‘Groan. No one is erasing the word “woman”. These terms are being used to be more inclusive,’ another penned.

‘I thought you stood up for LGBT+ people.’

Bette came under fire from fans over the tweet, which is still visible on her page (Picture: Getty)

‘No one is erasing us cis women and girls, on the contrary by including trans men and non-binary people we are stronger together in the fight for bodily autonomy and proper accessible reproductive healthcare for all,’ a follower commented.

A fan said: ‘Inclusiveness is not erasure. Please do better.’

‘It’s because not only women menstruate, give birth, or have vaginas,’ a Twitter user added. ‘Trans men do all of these things, as do non-binary folks.

‘I love you so much, Bette, but you gotta do better here.’

The Hollywood icon has yet to respond to the backlash.

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This isn’t the first time that Bette’s tweets have left fans unimpressed, as she was previously forced to apologize for a comment she made regarding Caitlyn Jenner in 2016.

Following the cancelation of the Olympian’s reality series, I Am Cait, the actress shared a now-deleted tweet, questioning whether she would ‘go back to [Caitlyn’s deadname]’ and remarry ex-wife Kris Jenner.

‘DEAR FRIENDS @HRC, WHOM I HAVE ALWAYS SUPPORTED. SORRY LAST TWEET OFFENDED,’ she posted afterwards.

‘AN IDLE MUSING. I SEEM TO HAVE MISREAD THE TEMPER OF THE TIMES.’

Metro.co.uk has contacted Bette’s reps for a comment.

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