Yes, I’m talking about J. K. Rowling.
Content Warning: This post is a personal opinion of the author and is not intended to defame anyone.
Quote me when I say this, but
If you’re a ‘feminist’ but don’t stand for trans rights, then I speak for the entire feminist community- We don’t want you. You can sit yourself right in the ‘I only cry for things I don’t have and don’t actually care about equality for everyone’ corner.
Me, right here, right now.
Hmm, seems like a pretty long title, maybe we’ll just call you a bigot. :)
Now, for everyone in the back, I’ll explain what feminism is one. more. time.
Feminism is a form of activism that originally was a fight to make women get the right to vote. Over the years its meaning has changed to bring equality on the social-political front. Many times feminists had to explain to people that we do NOT want to ‘destroy men’ or ‘take over’ the political system (or workplace smh). All we want is equal opportunity to put our skills to use and live safely in society.
Now read that one more time. We want equal grounds. We don’t want to be held higher than others. Do you know who else (apart from cis-men) comes in that ‘others’ category? That’s right all the other minority groups that exist in our society. That includes the LGBTQ+ community. That includes trans people.
“There is no such thing as a terf [Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist]. If you are exclusionary of trans women then you aren’t ANY kind of feminist. And you sure as sh*t aren’t radical. Full stop. You don’t get to have that title near you. You’re JUST a transphobe.”
Jameela Jamil (British Actress, Activist and Host of the i_weigh Podcast)
Now, let’s dissect the problem at hand, J. K. Rowling.
Yes, in her youth she was quite the charitable woman. (She donated nearly 16% of her net worth to charity which de-ranked her from the world’s billionaires thanks to the Harry Potter franchise). The point to note is that her net worth is currently estimated to be around £820 million, she owns a £4.5 million worth home in Kensington, and a £2 million worth home in Edinburgh. She isn’t a billionaire, but very well is a millionaire.
While charity is an admirable action, she has held a major influence on many minds, young and old. In today’s world – for celebrities especially – their online presence holds a very significant effect on how they would be perceived by the audience. How has this panned out for JKR?
Her Chaotic Twitter
Revealing that Dumbledore was Gay
Why was this problematic you ask? Because it was never mentioned in the books. If you’re a queer-friendly author, you would include queer characters in your books and you would reveal their queer identities in the books. Rowling had me fooled when little old me got excited for this ‘representation’ through Dumbledore and also a little tidbit she revealed about Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan ending up together in the future (outside of the books’ timeline).
Safe to say, I only got happy because I wasn’t exposed to queer-friendly authors at the time (sad for little me), but now that I am; I can confidently say that Rowling didn’t exclusively mention the characters’ queer identities in the books to please her conservative audience. Later, she dropped those identities on her Twitter to attract queer audiences.
Ms. Rowling, the LGBTQ+ community is not a marketing strategy and what you did was #uncool.
Her Refusal to Correct Herself When Informed Her Tweets Weren’t Inclusive
Back in 2020, Rowling had replied to a tweet linking to an article titled, “Opinion: Creating a more equal post-COVID-19 world for people who menstruate”. Her response read,
Many real feminists were quick to point out that ‘women’ aren’t the only people who menstruate because some people who menstruate could be trans-men or non-binary people. Shortly, not just Wimpunds or Woomuds. Her response to that was distasteful, to say the least.
I think this is so funny because here’s another tweet she wrote in January 2023.
So, it’s offensive when men mansplain women’s experiences, but it’s okay for a cis-woman to cishet-splain queer experiences? Make it make sense Ms. Rowling!
^my honest reaction.
For a woman who has never admitted to experiencing ‘same-sex attraction’, she shouldn’t be preaching her assumptions of other people’s sexualities. I think that’s common sense. Sexuality is a spectrum. Any person who is confident in their sexuality would tell you that not all sexuality is restricted to genitalia.
By not including trans people in her narratives, getting super offended by people correcting her about it, preaching poppy-cock about ‘same-sex’ relationships, and claiming to be ‘empathetic to trans people’; her entire story is a nonsense! It isn’t hate to speak the truth! ;p
She’d Rather Be in JAIL Than Call Trans-Women Women
So, remember when she said she was ‘empathetic to trans people for decades’? She seemed to have changed her mind three years later. Just to re-iterate, she forgot her empathy that apparently went on for decades, and refused to call trans-women women.
She responded to a self-uploaded picture that said, “REPEAT AFTER US: TRANS WOMEN ARE WOMEN” with a simple,
To that tweet, a Scott Spalding replied by saying,
Asking people to vote for the Labour Party after reports that they want to criminalize gender identity attacks with up to two years in jail.
To that, she simply responded by saying,
Does her charity donation (by the end of which she still remains a millionaire) repair the damage she often creates with her bigoted commentary? Does her support towards cishet-women make her a… good person? That’s for your moral compass to decide.
(Spoiler Alert: There is a right answer.)
Visit HerCampus at MUJ for more reads!