“We took the decision to remove the game from sale following concerns raised by trans and non-binary colleagues who told us that it didn’t live up to our commitment to respect people of all genders.”
It turns out that a bingo game featuring high-achieving, notable women throughout history was offensive enough to trans advocates that it will no longer be sold. The game was sold in bookshops run by Oxfam, a global organization that works to end poverty. It featured scientist Marie Curie, civil rights activist Rosa Parks, and authors JK Rowling and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, among others.
When asked about the removal of the game "celebrating female achievement" due to considerations that it was "not in line with [Oxfam's] values," Oxfam replied with confirmation of the removal, and explained the reasons why.
"We took the decision to remove the game from sale following concerns raised by trans and non-binary colleagues who told us that it didn't live up to our commitment to respect people of all genders," Oxfam said. Oxfam is the largest second-hand bookseller in Europe, and has 750 charity shops in the UK alone.
Hi there, thank you for getting in touch. We took the decision to remove the game from sale following concerns raised by trans and non-binary colleagues who told us that it didn’t live up to our commitment to respect people of all genders. I hope that helps. - Rob
— Oxfam (@oxfamgb)
The "Wonder Woman" bingo game was removed from Oxfam shops after transgender and non-binary staff issued their objections, claiming that the game about "inspirational women" didn't "respect people of all genders," according to The Times.
The game celebrated Malala Yousafzai, Ada Lovelace, Jane Austen, Emmeline Pankhurst, and Amelia Earhart. Elliot Page, an American actor who transitioned from female to male in the past few years, was also included, albeit under Page's former name, as the game was made prior to that actor's gender-swap.
Oxfam issued a statement about the game's removal, saying that "We took the decision to remove the game from sale following concerns raised by trans and non-binary colleagues who told us that it didn't live up to our commitment to respect people of all genders."
The game, however, was a celebration of women who had made a positive impact, and was not touted as an all-gender game. It was called Wonder Woman, not Wonder All-Gendered Persons.
"I feel like women are under attack," Oxfam bookshop volunteer Ulrike Bullerby said. "We're not allowed to have a word to ourselves. We're no longer allowed to celebrate women in their own right. It is insane." Bullerby resigned from her post.
"They want total submission from us," she said of trans activists who attacked the game. "They want us to comply with everything and to deny that sex exists and that the female sex has the right to be acknowledged on its own terms."
Bullerby brought up the attacks on gendered language, such as the switch from "mother" to "birthing person." "We've been demoted to 'cervix-havers,'" Bullerby said, "and then told off for saying 'No, I'm a woman.' If Oxfam becomes part of that culture... then I can no longer represent them. I feel let down and disappointed and I think this will make other women volunteers feel undervalued and overlooked."
Both authors Rowling and Adichie have spoken out for the right of women to exist and call themselves women. Rowling has been threatened for her remarks, but she continues to stand by them. Adichie has also not backed down from her assertion that women are an actual thing that does not include biological males as part of that categorization.
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