If I didn’t know any better, I would think that this account is rage bait.
Everything about the TikTok user Aurora Bird makes my blood boil. Recently, Aurora Bird aka “Birdy” went viral on TikTok for their video accusing white women of being “abusers” and putting their own comfort before others when it comes to feminism. They say, “It’s not about your comfort,” but isn’t feminism supposed to comfort all women?
Birdy is, above all, exemplary at turning people away and making them feel alienated, threatened, and blamed. They are the opposite of what makes a good activist or public speaker, and Birdy is quite possibly one of the worst attempts at being a progressive feminist that I have ever seen.
Right off the bat, Birdy doesn’t identify as a woman. They are nonbinary and use they/them pronouns, which already puts them in questionable territory when it comes to who should be calling the shots. I do believe that nonbinary people and transgender men have a place in feminism since they were assigned female at birth, so they understand many issues, especially in a biological sense, but Birdy seems to disregard the fact that they are not a woman (as they have made clear) and therefore shouldn’t be pointing fingers when it comes to discussions on feminism.
Birdy also, while probably unintentionally, undermines the entire message of feminism: equality for all people and aims to bring women to the same standard as men in society despite centuries of injustices.
And yet, time after time, Birdy puts down and berates “cis white women” time and time again for generalizations that seem extreme and far-fetched. I will not disagree that some women who claim to be feminists have a sense of bigotry, but those women are not true feminists, and Birdy’s attempt to call this out instead is a hate fest towards, of all people, women.
It doesn’t matter the skin color, religion, sexuality, or economic status—blaming and hating on women in the name of feminism is completely contradictory to what the entire movement stands for. Women were put down in society by men, and feminism works to counteract that; causing discourse within a group that is supposed to be united dismantles the entire idea.
If anything, Birdy is anti-feminist. They keep making reasons to tear down other women and rip apart a united group. There is a difference between calling out people for unreasonable behavior and slamming accusations and generalizations, thus villainizing people who aren’t villains.
Instead of screaming at women under the guise of “holding them accountable,” Birdy should be using their platform to encourage intersectionality by educating others about how feminism plays into the lives of women of minority and oppressed groups. Blaming other women for these occurrences only breaks down the movement.
Somewhere deep down, I know that Birdy has good intentions. I know that they are trying to urge people to recognize that feminism is for all women, not just white, cisgender women. But screaming and blaming these women is extremely counterproductive to their point, actually undoing progress in a sense.
On the other hand, many believe that Birdy brings up a good point and that the backlash that they are facing is unnecessary, but I firmly disagree. Birdy needs to focus on the real issue at hand—uniting women against oppression—rather than putting unwarranted blame on other women.
