Please tell me about JK Rowling

I'd think she probably knows what would have influenced her as a teen.

I'm another one who played at being a boy. I know how stubborn I was. I definitely would have gone down the trans pathway and probably fought to the death for it too, before turning out actually just be an autistic misfit.

Arrogant and frankly bizarre to claim her experience of OCD as a teenager qualifies her to understand the feelings and experiences of all transgender people.

And yet men are qualified to know what it's like to be a woman 🤣🤣🤣

Some pre-schoolers insist they are the opposite sex and my DW knows a trans person in their late 80s

Perhaps the females made the mistake of picking the GI Joe, and the males made the mistake of picking the Cinderella?

The fact that this is being taught to children in school, at the same time as children showing up at gender clinics going up by 4000%, is a dot connecting exercise that even my dog could make.

In his sleep.

Arrogant and frankly bizarre to claim her experience of OCD as a teenager qualifies her to understand the feelings and experiences of all transgender people.

She doesn't. She talks about her own experience and wonders if her own experience would have been different 30 years later. See the difference? I identified as a boy for some years as a child. I wore boys clothes, took a boy's name, and requested people referred to me by that name. Past adolescence I no longer felt that way. I have no doubt that I would have been set down a transitioning pathway had this experience been now. And it would have been the wrong decision. There's plenty of people that have gone down this pathway and very much regretted it. And this is very important because once a medical transition had occurred there's no going back. People need to be clear about these lifelong decisions and what it will mean. And people that have had these experiences with gender dysphoria are equally valid in this debate. Not just those who are happy with their transition.

The Tavistock's own figures show that what is it, 80 or 90% of children grow out of it.

Presumably J. K. Rowling could easily have been one of those 90%.

There must be, quite literally, hundreds of thousands of not millions of girls who would not pick the Cinderella girl! There shouldn't even be the smidgen of an iota of a hint that there is anything wrong with them.

How are we to determine which children and teens have gender dysphoria and which ones are going through a phase of some sort? Which ones should go on puberty blockers?

Eh midgebabe? Being trans does exist in all generations?

Some pre-schoolers insist they are the opposite sex and my DW knows a trans person in their late 80s

Sapphos, it really needs repeating that if you refuse to allow that many women went through a trans phase as teenagers and then grew out of it, then there is no evidence at all that trans is natural and innate , it can only be social as if it was innate and natural it would exists in all generations

Just as I'd feel annoyed if JK alluded to lesbianism being a social media craze and the result of peer pressure because she had OCD as a teenager and didn't fancy boys at the time.

She didn't say that, so you're kind of arguing with yourself in a mirror.

I'm not sure how anyone can deny there will definitely be children for whom it's a trend, when they're presented with a series of cartoon figures, with Cinderella at one end and GI Jo at the other, and on the basis of what they pick, they might be trans.

To be fair Datun that is a good point. Peer pressure is certainly a thing and I think JK is coming from a good place.

However if I read that as a trans person I'd feel angry and misunderstood.

Just as I'd feel annoyed if JK alluded to lesbianism being a social media craze and the result of peer pressure because she had OCD as a teenager and didn't fancy boys at the time.

That’s not my reading of that part of the essay at all. She’s describing how she felt rejection from her father so if she’d had the means to explore how to find his acceptance she might have taken it as a possible solution. Having OCD was a description of her anxiety.

I’m sure I’m not the only girl who thought boys had it easier around secondary school age, and I can see how I easily could have been led to believe I was born in the wrong body had it been a widely normalised concept 30 years ago, I didn’t like typically girly things, all my friends were boys, I desperately wanted not to be seen as weak and girly, add to that knowing how stubborn and single minded I was as a teenager.

Arrogant and frankly bizarre to claim her experience of OCD as a teenager qualifies her to understand the feelings and experiences of all transgender people. She also appears to dismiss being transgender as some kind of social media trend.

There seem to be quite a few girls who have de-transitioned during lockdown. Teachers and parents putting it down to the removal of peer pressure.

And of course, who can forget the 76 children in one school all claiming to be trans, or the 10 girls coming out simultaneously in one class at a well known girls' school.

And I don't know if you have trouble reading, saphos, but she didn't say she understands all trans people. What a bizarre thing for you to claim.

Fake news hey? Is that you Donald Trump?

And for your last point, we're not here to win friends and influence people, stop being so womany. And I'm bloody sure that JK doesn't need friends or to influence people. She's quite famous enough and rich enough to not need approval from anyone.

I’ve still not forgiven her for killing off a Weasley Twin.

It's like a straight woman saying:

'I had crushes on girls when I at school but I'm now happily married to a man. I wonder if I'd have been born 30 years later I could have been lured into lesbianism'

Seeing as the OP has disappeared I'll highlight the bit of JK's essay I find objectionable:

I’ve wondered whether, if I’d been born 30 years later, I too might have tried to transition. The allure of escaping womanhood would have been huge. I struggled with severe OCD as a teenager. If I’d found community and sympathy online that I couldn’t find in my immediate environment, I believe I could have been persuaded to turn myself into the son my father had openly said he’d have preferred.

Arrogant and frankly bizarre to claim her experience of OCD as a teenager qualifies her to understand the feelings and experiences of all transgender people. She also appears to dismiss being transgender as some kind of social media trend.

Not the way to win friends and influence people in my humble opinion.

Jammidodger is Jamie, quite a personable trans man with a following on YouTube. Generally comes across as very likeable (to me, anyway).

I can absolutely see why younger people might look up to Jamie. However, Jamie is critical of JK Rowling, the gender critical perspective and has used the word TERF.

Lamaha
Great post. The words used to describe JKR's letter are interesting. They indicate a failure to differentiate between words and actions. And an absurd penchant for hyperbole, which seems to be a recurrent theme.....

When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.

I know....She had Hermione choosing Ron over Harry. Completely horrendous, Ron was a grumpy pig for most of the books. What could Hermione possibly have seen in him.

OP doesn't seem to be coming back?!

Probably the Sirius thing. Can't think of anything horrendous she has done since then. Poor Harry. No wonder he's confused nowadays.

Z0rr0 that is something that puzzles me too.

Still trying to fathom how one person's opinions somehow invalidate another person's entire existence / identity

If someone inadvertently referred to me as male (I have a deep voice and heavy features) I would correct them if the situation needed it or think no more of it. I am a woman, regardless of another person's perception of me.

If someone's inner sense of identity is so strong in the trans narrative 'I always knew I was a man/woman but my body didn't match that' sense, then why does a random stranger's perception or opinion to the contrary matter?