Actress and left-wing activist Debra Messing caught major backlash from social justice warriors after her woke International Women’s Day post of empowering vagina cupcakes was deemed transphobic. In the current year, not all women have vaginas, or something.
Messing, a privileged cis-gendered white woman, was eventually forced into an apology for her transgression.
“Happy International Women’s Day! Powerful, beautiful, and sweet,” the “Will & Grace” actress posted Friday, captioning an image of cupcakes that look like vaginas.
Most of the comments on the post are critical of Messing for apologizing for the photo or for posting the “nasty” photo in the first place. But the limited comments critical of the photo’s apparent exclusion of trans “women” seemed to hold a lot of weight for the actress. Here are some of the comments ridiculing Messing for improper Wokeness:
So when are we gonna stop equating genitalia to gender?
I love you so much debra, but this is suuuuper exclusionary of trans women & that’s not cool!!!
I hope u realise this literally excludes trans women..
Love you Debra. But my anatomy doesn’t define me. Nor does the absence of one define trans women. Just saying.
Just a friendly reminder that body parts do not equate gender. Much love to all women today and everyday. Be fierce!
This is very cool! but lets not erase trans women
Not all women have vulvas…
If I wanted to hear the opinion of every TERF in the world, this comment section would be the perfect place to do so…
Messing issued an apology to her “trans sisters” and stressed that her intent was to counter the “myth” perpetuated by the porn industry that all vulvas are the same.
“I want to apologize to my trans sisters,” she wrote. “This photo was supposed to be light, & sassy. The first thing I thought when I saw this photo was ‘wow how wonderful. Each one is unique in color and shape and size.’
“The porn industry has perpetuated this myth of what a ‘beautiful’ vagina looks like and as a result there are women who feel shame or insecure about the shape of the vulva,” Messing continued. “I loved that this picture said ‘every single one is beautiful and unique and that’s powerful.’ I did not, however, think ‘but there are innumerable beautiful, unique and powerful women who don’t have a vagina.[‘] And I SHOULD have. And for that I am so so sorry.”
“Thank you for righting my wrong,” she added.
Fellow actress and left-wing activist Alyssa Milano got herself into similar not-woke-enough trouble over the weekend, too. When Milano tried to serve as an “ally” to her “trans sisters,” she “co-opted” their lived experience by claiming to be trans while actually being a privileged white cis-gendered woman.
Yes, being woke is not always so straightforward.
“I’m trans. I’m a person of color. I’m an immigrant. I’m a lesbian. I’m a gay man. I’m the disabled. I’m everything. And so are you, Kirk,” tweeted Milano. “Don’t be afraid of what you don’t know or understand. No one wants to hurt you. We are all just looking for our happily ever after.”
After being called out for her cis-gender and white privilege, the “Charmed” actress offered an apology — sort of.
“I’m glad this tweet invoked conversation,” she said. “I’m so sorry it offended some. I see you and hear you. But just a reminder, empathy is not a bad thing. Nuance is important and literal interpretation is not always intended. And I can identify with and not identify as. Both are powerful.”
To view Messing’s post, click here.
