Witch by association

EweSurname thanks for linking to that interview of Lionel Shriver. Like you, I didn't agree with everything she said but she made some really interesting points. I love the part at the end, from 57.45, where she says "If we're going to be a little more generous..." and then talks about what might be motivating people to carry out witch hunts. It's very sympathetic, it surprised me. I think she's right.

Definitely, I have no interest in strawmanning anyone!

No worries ByGrab. If I think someone might be missing a bit of background I like to fill it in because it's good to argue from solid facts.

Ah fair enough nauticant

I'm not sure about that. Some time back Rowling was accused of transphobia for liking a tweet (I think it was that) and to get herself out of that difficulty she herself said something along the lines of making a mistake because she'd been having had a middle-aged moment.

Very telling that the people on that thread keep asking if she's not just "having a middle aged moment". The ageism and sexism of TRAs is so blatant.

What does she say?

Mermoose very good points. She's between a rock and a hard place with all the suicide threats that fly around.

Following those people on twitter is a bit of a Fuck You - she could have done what most of the rest of us do, and set up an anonymous account and follow them on that, distance herself.

Mumfun I was wondering if she'd been quiet on Twitter because of the gender debate. Imagine being that high-profile, all your likes and tweets zealously policed, and realising you're GC. I have seen some people say that if less powerful women have risked their jobs and safety to speak up, it should be relatively easy for her to do it. I do see that point, but, the main tactic that's used by the TRAs is the threat of suicide. JK's someone whom a lot of young people would see as an important figure. If she came out as GC, I would not be surprised if she was accused of personally putting kids in danger. It happened to Janice Turner, and she's not someone many kids would even know of. At the same time, I'd say it's as clear to her as anyone the damage this movement is actually doing to kids. So she's probably been stuck between a rock and a hard place.

JKR used to be very active on Twitter (and very amusing, worthwhile following) so interesting that she has done very little since March this year. Its ironic that the TRAs will go so nuts about her presence on Twitter at the moment that she has taken a step back (and presumably wont care about the lather that they are getting themselves into)

She was probably ordered to go and educate herself. That really worked with other high-profile women who had functioning brains

www.them.us/story/is-jk-rowling-transphobic

They’ve been calling her a terf for over a year.

This is the process. You say something (possibly something that used to be considered right on, like ‘Gender Dysphoria is a mental illness and I support people to transition to live healthier lives) and get called a transphobic, so you go off and ‘educate yourself’ as directed.

Several hours/weeks/months down the rabbit hole later you emerge thoroughly as terfy mcterfface. See also: Alison Moyet and Martina Navratilova.

It’s not Mumsnet that radicalises women into terves, it’s transactivism.

All those people who have their pronouns AND their Hogwarts House in their twitter bio will have to choose, eventually.
Tons more former allies will educate themselves, tons more will end up GC.

The amount of push back by TRA will also be heavier and harder because JKR is a woman.

Women must not be allowed perceived transgressions, however minor and for whatever reason.

Jk Rowling does not need to follow / unfollow people on Twitter to curry favour with me

Although if she was looking for suggestions, going back and letting the Harry Potter books 4-7 be edited properly would certainly work

Signed, a bed time story reader

It's such a childish, playground mindset..

"I'm not going to be your friend if you are friends with Tom/Dick/Harry"

It's never enough.

It's not enough to follow pro trans accounts, either, of course:

@persenche

You have missed the point. Not sure if you've done so willfully. She does not follow trans activists and trans activism organizations. The accounts you've cited are not trans activists. She does follow people whose entire online presence is anti-trans bigotry.

Quote Tweet

Michael Alberto

@MadLadMichael

· 30m

She follows a lot of pro trans accounts.

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8:44 am · 24 Jun 2019 · Twitter for Android

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kiva, labyrinthine

@persenche

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@persenche

She follows a lot of them. Disproportionately many of them. And they are not accounts that you could follow and not know what they are. glinner, bindel... these people spew hate non-stop, every day, without a break.

1

God how tiresome it must be to be subjected to the kind of obsessive scrutiny demonstrated by that last Twitter thread