A trans woman who was profiled as a ‘struggling mother’ in a recent ITV News video on soaring water bills is coming under fire from what appears to be the vast majority of viewers, who think it’s a little bit silly that ITV decided to use this person as their prime example of a UK mother.
Watch the clip below:
ITV news did a piece about the impact of soaring water bills on an everyday mother. So naturally they got a man to play the part. pic.twitter.com/b0ipO7loUE
— Paul Embery (@PaulEmbery) June 29, 2023
It’s a shame really because rather than focus on the actual issue – the additional struggles of Brits already dealing with the cost of living crisis – the whole conversation is now based around Mika Minio-Paluello; the trans woman in the clip. But then, what did ITV expect? I’m sure they thought they were doing a ‘progressive’ thing here, but they had to have known that most people watching this video would think “that’s not a mum” and call them out on it.
Labour MP Rosie Duffield has expressed concern:
Dear @itvnews, I am sure this is a lovely, intelligent and decent human being. This was an important piece. This is not however a struggling ‘mother’. https://t.co/niavb4FCAt
— Rosie Duffield MP (@RosieDuffield1) June 29, 2023
She’s also firing back at Twitter users accusing her of transphobia and bigotry:
No. The word mother is already taken. It is a word used to describe biological women. That is the truth.
— Rosie Duffield MP (@RosieDuffield1) June 29, 2023
Biological men cannot carry a baby or give birth Chris, therefore this is not a mother. Yes, I know, some women cannot do this either. And yes, those who adopt, etc are still mothers…
— Rosie Duffield MP (@RosieDuffield1) June 29, 2023
Indeed, I’d feel pretty irked about this if I was a mum and saw this person being presented as one on a news segment meant to depict the struggles of everyday mums. They’ve even got her doing the washing up, and at one point, the camera focuses on a breast pump in the sink ffs:
Beyond parody. Seems the conversation around transgenderism, gender identity and the erasure of women has plenty of mileage in it yet.
For the father who broke down in tears after meeting his transgender son for the first time on Dr. Phil, click HERE.
