JKR, nooooooo >:

[lokifan]

Literally on Tuesday night when I couldn’t sleep I wrote a post about this theory I have about Sectumsempra and Harry’s reaction to it, and then before I could post it I saw this and now I have way too much of a sour taste in my mouth.

The sexism in Labour (and the left in general) is a problem but you know what’s NOT a solution? Attacking women for being women. Refusing to hate some of the most vulnerable women around or call them “men in dresses” doesn’t make you non-feminist. That’s really the opposite of true.

To be clear: I don’t think JKR is some frothing-at-the-mouth queer-hater. I don’t really follow the JKR #discourse but I’ve never seen her do anything I’d describe as queerbaiting. I do think she’s shown time and again (the Native American stuff, the Dumbledore stuff etc) that she is basically the platonic ideal of a certain kind of middle-class white liberal - well-meaning, kind, but ignorant and unwilling to learn.

I thought she might’ve got better on trans stuff; I saw a criticism of her for having deleted old transphobic tweets, and I don’t know the story there, but my immediate assumption at the time was that she’d said transphobic stuff and learnt better. That would be a GOOD thing. Apparently not so much.

There’s been this really scary rise in transphobic stuff in the papers here in the UK, in the last couple of years, particularly in uncritical reporting of TERFs doing a publicity tour attacking trans women and the myth of kids getting gender-confirmation surgery. The Tories have tried using trans people as human shields in updating the Gender Recognition Act - basically our right-wing leading party plans to make it possible for people to legally transition without medical requirements. Which is fantastic, if probably coming out of a desire to showcase the fluffier side of a party that’s been recently investigated for human rights abuses by the UN over their cuts to disabled people’s benefits. But it’s also unleashed a tsunami of transphobia on the left, and made a bunch of TERFs way more relevant and able to get publicity.

JKR hates Corbyn but she’s absolutely a Labour voice, and a relatively prominent one. Certainly she’s a celebrity who takes a definite interest in party politics as well as more general causes. This is probably the most minor way she could indicate a side but it really, really sucks seeing her back this kind of ‘supporting trans women is misogyny’ bullshit :(

Comments

[damerell]

I'm not sure one can infer much from a single like (I basically don't like anything since it stopped being a star and then became "retweet only sometimes") and we have https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/03/22/jk-rowling-reps-blame-middle-aged-moment-for-liking-tweet-calling-trans-women-men-in-dresses/ - my guess is cockup on JKR's part?

[lokifan]

Hmm, that's very good to know, thanks. I sort of worry about the lack of any affirmative comment in that response (you know, "JKR supports trans women and etc"), but it's definitely a good sign.

[lokifan]

FYI - I've just seen a couple of others she liked, one including the phrase "I'm saying trans women are men". "Likes" on Twitter are still relatively minor, but, yeah. Seeming less likely to be a cock-up in the sense of 'mistapped the heart button'. :( Hopefully she'll learn more about the topic.

[prunesquallormd]

As often as not I use 'likes' as bookmarks (at least on Facebook and Tumblr, I don't know how it works on Twitter). It certainly doesn't have to imply a full-throated support of the content of the post in question.

I don't know about JKR specifically. l tend to think she's flawed and prone to mistakes (like all of us) but decent. That's about as much as I expect of anyone, really :)

[lokifan]

True, but she liked a couple of others along the same lines (one including the sentence "trans women are men"). I do take your point, but especially considering her lack of adding specific support for trans people to blaming a "middle-aged moment" I think the evidence leans in an unsettling direction, even though it's not conclusive.

Yeah, I mean, like I said, I think she's well-meaning and kind. I think she's had a great impact on the world overall. But I'm so tired of seeing people who're generally on-board with politics that're about being inclusive and supporting vulnerable people shit all over trans women as somehow more powerful than "real" women.

[ruuger]

she is basically the platonic ideal of a certain kind of middle-class white liberal - well-meaning, kind, but ignorant and unwilling to learn

This is how I see her as well. It's not malice as much as ignorance, but because she is such a prominent and powerful public figure, her ignorance can cause a lot of damage. She's a lot like Joss Whedon, I think: they were both praised for their progressiveness and hailed as feminist heroes, and I think JKR like Whedon started to believe her own hype, becoming totally ignorant of her own flaws and prejudices.

(the "I am a good person. Good people don't do bad things. Therefore everything I do is good." fallacy)

[lokifan]

It's not malice as much as ignorance, but because she is such a prominent and powerful public figure, her ignorance can cause a lot of damage.

YES exactly. Like, this is unpleasant, but given her prominence and the general rise in transphobia here, it's worse than that in terms of its effect.

The Whedon comparison hadn't occurred to me but I can definitely see it!!! And I think there's also probably an element, like with Whedon but more so, of them being attacked unfairly - for things that weren't bad, or in an OTT abusive way for things that were bad - and so kind of curling into a defensive ball. Going along with that "good people don't do bad things" fallacy.

Honestly, this is the reason I respect Emma Watson's public learning about racism and intersectionality re: feminism so much. Because she got some very legit criticism, and also some horrible OTT abuse. And she was tough and fair-minded enough to extract the valuable, well-meant criticism about missteps she'd made and do better, rather than dismiss all of it as being "haters" and nastiness because some of it was. Which is a thing I've seen time and again from celebrities and activists I like, and find psychologically totally understandable, but depressing. Fingers crossed JKR can follow Watson's lead on this!

[anemonen]

she is basically the platonic ideal of a certain kind of middle-class white liberal - well-meaning, kind, but ignorant and unwilling to learn.

I think this is probably pretty spot on. Good to see that she's gone out publicly to say that it was a mistake, though, the liking. Even if it's not the exact truth, it at the very least sends out a message that she understands it was wrong and hopefully won't do it again. I'm also rather disappointed at her aggressive anti-Corbyn stance, though - the rise of corbynism is one of the most heartening movements I've seen in western politics for ages :/

[lokifan]

Sorry for the late reply! And I feel similarly about her comment, even if I wish it'd included an explicit disavowal of transphobia, given the massive rise in transphobia on the British left in the last few years.

Personally I have my issues with Corbyn, but I also find her aggressively anti-Corbyn stance a bit dismaying. She's a well-known Labour figure and it doesn't do us much good to stand apart.

[giallarhorn]

she is basically the platonic ideal of a certain kind of middle-class white liberal - well-meaning, kind, but ignorant and unwilling to learn

Yeah, I don't follow much of JKR but she's definitely struck me a lot like that in the past? Her continued quipping about HP canon and what have you kind of always carried that sort of tone.

I don't think she'd do things out of malice or spite, but I'd be willing to bet it was more out of ignorance in that she hasn't considered the larger scope of the statement, or how much impact she now has without being a strict politician.