A response to JK Rowling

[Hjft]

J.K. Rowling, like so many others, has recently been accused of transphobia and targeted for expressing some of her opinions on sex and gender. This is a very nuanced issue which many people struggle with, including members of the trans community. Assuming bigotry and shutting down debate is not the way to address these issues. Instead we should engage in reasoned debate in order to better understand the subtitles and find a way to live together with mutual respect.

On 10 June 2020 JK Rowling wrote about her reasons for speaking out on sex and gender Issues ( www.jkrowling.com/opinions/j-k-rowling-writes-about-her-reasons-for-speaking-out-on-sex-and-gender-issues/ ) . It is a welcome calm voice in what she calls a toxic environment and I commend her bravery for standing up to the bullies. The essay explains eloquently what she believes and why she holds the opinions she does. She opens up about some very personal issues, and I hope all her detractors will read it before shouting her down.

An essay, however well written, carries a bias, and a reasonable author will recognise that bias and be willing to consider that they could be wrong. And so should the reader of an essay. By writing this essay, JK Rowling has exposed some very valid points which the other side of the debate wish to brush aside. However, she has also indicated a bias which I hope to address.

She conflates sex and gender, and she conflates the law and medicine. Firstly she worries that trans activism is ‘pushing to erode the legal definition of sex and replace it with gender’. This legal definition is for the protection of the civil rights of trans people and has no bearing on biology. Trans people still receive healthcare appropriate to their individual biological truths. Every trans person is acutely aware of their biological sex because it is incongruous with their gender. Remember when Harry Potter uses Polyjuice potion to take on the form of Goyle in ‘Chamber of secrets”. He does not stop being Harry. Now imagine if Harry had got stuck, and had to live his life with everyone believing he was Goyle. It would be intolerable for him and would likely lead to mental illness or worse. This is what it’s like for trans people, and why the law is in place to protect their right to be their authentic selves. Being Harry is ‘not a costume’.

This conflation is further illustrated when she expresses alarm that ‘A man who intends to have no surgery and take no hormones may now secure himself a Gender Recognition Certificate and be a woman in the sight of the law’. Again, this demonstrates a conflation of law and medicine. If a trans person can find relief from their gender dysphoria by permanently expressing themselves in an authentic manner then why should we expect them to accept medical intervention in order to get legal protection. Imagine you have a migraine. If sitting in a dark room with a glass of water provides you with sufficient relief, then you shouldn’t be expected to take strong pain killers or accept brain surgery. The ‘man’ she describes is not masquerading as a woman - she is living her authentic identity as a woman. The law protects her rights to do so. She is not a predator, and it should not be assumed that she is. Without these rights, her transgender status would be revealed every time she tries to hire a car, or open a bank account, and it is her safety that is in danger. A man masquerading as a woman is not able to legally get a Gender Recognition Certificate - because they are a man.

[redacted*] I hope JK Rowling’s essay will mark a turning point in the tone of these discussions, and people can start to properly address them.

• [edited by MNHQ to remove inflammatory content - we're allowing the challenges to this section of the OP to remain]

It might be an idea for you to step back and go and educate yourself before you try to educate others in such a tone-deaf way.

Perhaps begin with "Why I'm No Longer Speaking to White People About Race" instead of asking BAME women on the internet to educate you.

Without these rights, her transgender status would be revealed every time she tries to hire a car

As opposed to women, who, not being able to hide their female status, couldn't drive any car in Saudi Arabia until recently.

If you want to play the Harry Potter, polyjuice game, how about...

You're Hermione. A transwoman sleeping in the girls dorm at Hogwarts with no ulterior motive - just using the area you're legally allowed to use.

Along comes Goyle. But it's Goyle using Polyjuice (aka self ID) and saying he is now self ID-ing as Ginny. Now he's allowed into your space. But that's OK because he's self ID-ing so he must be telling the truth. Because he wouldn't lie to get into the same dorm as Hermione would he?

That's the problem women have with Self ID. My husband, bearded man that he is, could say he self IDs as a woman and can go into my changing room. Where you, a transwoman or I are just trying to buy a dress or a pair of trousers, can be oogled or worse. And there is nothing you or I can do about it. My husband doesn't even need the Polyjuice - he just has to say he's Ginny!

@tellmewhentheLangshiplandscoz

I was almost willing to take your OP in good faith until you said All Lives Matter.

Oh shit I missed this. 2 racist dogwhistles in a few posts. Either racist or hirsute hands.

They don't want their female followers in particular to read Rowling's update because then they might feel empathy for her experiences, which women being groomed by TRAs have been steered away from. The moment you see the angry male people behaving in a sexually threatening way to women aspect of the issue it tends to clarify your position quite a bit.

People who're confident in the rightness of their argument don't try to prevent anyone from seeing the counterargument. I want people to see how TRAs are talking to Rowling right now, because it proves that women who're concerned about their behavior have been right about them all along.

Does dyeing your hair blue/green/some other "interesting" variant affect the way the brain works? Being told in my twenties that I wasn't to read something made it all the more essential that I DID read it. How did we raise a generation of such obedient dogs? Even tattoos and piercings are run of the mill now. Where the hell has rebellion gone?

Another person who has a penis (sex male), but likes to pretend to be a woman, often an exaggerated pastiche of a woman, is still a man (gender male), and cannot legally get a gender recognition certificate. And nor would they want to. They are a man.

Yes they can, because nothing in legislation distinguishes between the two.

If a trans person can find relief from their gender dysphoria by permanently expressing themselves in an authentic manner then why should we expect them to accept medical intervention in order to get legal protection.

Let's just unpack this statement.

I happen to agree with you that nobody should have to have medical intervention on their healthy body for reasons pertaining to gender. Because gender is a social construction. Physical interventions on healthy bodies in the name of complying with social constructions and conventions are (rightly) termed "harmful cultural practices" by human rights organisations.

So that one's a no brainer for most people.

Which is generally about where the ideology of transgenderism falls down like a house of cards for anyone able to resist the doublethink of the ideology.

The only way to reconcile the holes, contradictions and untruths in this ideology is to practice doublethink AKA cognitive dissonance.

I'm all for people expressing themselves in authentic manners. Great stuff, bring it on.

And I agree that fake breasts, synthetic hormones and fake penises made from the skin on one's arm are quite the opposite of "authentic".

Problem is though that most women can see that there is nothing authentic about men in women's spaces, politics, jobs, sports, etc either.

It's all fake.

And the only way that transgenderist ideologues have found round that fakeness is to insist that everyone pretends to believe that humans are not sexed beings.

And whilst history likes to tell us that the bigger the lie the more likely you are to get away with it, everyone on this planet knows fine well what a woman is. We know because we all came out of one. We know because we know where babies come from.

Transgender ideology is only tolerated by wider society because it is anti woman, anti girl, anti feminist and anti lesbian. It's not that society actually genuinely profoundly believes any of this claptrap. It's just that society is misogynistic and therefore willing to indulge the trans pretense of suspension of belief.

Yeah, it's only women who'll be hurt by these changes. Who gives a toss about women?

@TheAdventuresoftheWishingChair

In normal life, whether someone is biologically male or female is irrelevant for most interactions, but is of major significance to a transperson

Are you male?

I just ask because many women who wouldn't write or think that. Someone's sex is relevant to most interactions for me simply because I carry a fear of men. I know lots of nice ones, don't get me wrong, but I'm still wary. I think if you spend time in a room where there are just women (I'm talking sex here), the atmosphere and conversation is very different to a room where there are men and women present. I relax and am myself around just women. And when there are men present it isn't just enough to say I'm possibly scared of them, there might be a man I'm attracted to which can subtly change the atmosphere too.

Sex is rarely irrelevant.

I'm not doing well at the keyboard responding to questions. My use of language is only average and not subtle enough to express myself clearly enough. I'm trying, because we need to find mutual understanding. What I meant was if someone is born female and presents as a man, then they will be treated as a man unless there is some reason to not to. And vice-versa. This treatment is of major significance to a trans person.

Will come back later to post more fulsome views but it is a pretty weak response, tbh Op.

I'd guess that you are either quite young or a man.

If one person says "the earth is flat" and a second person says "no, it's not" there is no "mutual understanding" to be reached, the first person is simply wrong.

In normal life, whether someone is biologically male or female is irrelevant for most interactions

Reeeaaaally? That is not my lived experience. My experience is that sex is relevant to almost all interactions. Why do you think women smile so much more than men? Constant placation, flattery and prophylactic de-escalation, due to a perpetual underlying fear of violence, that's why.

We might not be consciously aware we're doing it most of the time but it doesn't take much thinking about to recognise that we are.

My inference from your statement is that you are probably a man. Possibly a woman who is so very determined to believe that equality between the sexes has been achieved, that she has blinded herself with ideological goggles, to the subtler realities of her own life.

On the other hand, how on earth do I explain all of that without leaving her feeling that she's lost out in the crap shoot of sex determination? I'm finding it hard to explain why it is a wonderful thing to be female and to make her feel good about it after running through that list.

You can point her towards all the amazing things achieved by women, despite the patriarchy. How INCREDIBLY strong some women were by a simple act such as wearing trousers. And how unbelievably amazing JKR is - she’s overcome sexual assault, domestic violence, real poverty, rejection of her work, and probably a million other things. She took all that and still became one of the most successful writers of all time. And, not stopping there, she took all of her newly acquired wealth and privilege and used it to help other women. Through charitable works, and speaking out for women’s rights.

What I meant was if someone is born female and presents as a man, then they will be treated as a man unless there is some reason to not to. And vice-versa. This treatment is of major significance to a trans person.

If someone is born female and presents as a female, they'll be treated as a female. Which is basically lesser. Way lesser. Subject to loads of restrictions on our movements (self imposed in some measure, to avoid situations that we individually decide are dangerous to us). The one connection between pretty much all our restrictions is that they are created by male behaviour.

Trans women are males, genetically and male sized, and often retaining fully functioning male genitalia.

Yet they're free to waltz into my changing room and my bathroom space and my female only gym, and my gynaecologists and my women's shelter and my hospital ward.

But their feelz are more important than my safety.

Cool. Glad we cleared that up.

In normal life, whether someone is biologically male or female is irrelevant for most interactions, but is of major significance to a transperson. It's only becomes a real issue when someone looks like a trans person.

Are you for real? My female biology has been relevant in almost every fucking interaction of my life.

OP
You haven’t defined what a woman is or how you present as one?

What do you mean by the term woman?

What I meant was if someone is born female and presents as a man, then they will be treated as a man unless there is some reason to not to. And vice-versa. This treatment is of major significance to a trans person.

This is called sexism.

You have just argued that sexism is Very Important to transgenderism.

In normal life, whether someone is biologically male or female is irrelevant for most interactions, but is of major significance to a transperson

Do you think being male and female is relevant for 8 year old girls in India who can't use the toilet at night for fear of rape?

Do you think being male and female is relevant for 11 year old girls being married off to men 30 years their senior?

Do you think being male and female is relevant for victims of FGM?

If the above-mentioned girls just identify as male, will they avoid these things?

What I meant was if someone is born female and presents as a man, then they will be treated as a man unless there is some reason to not to.

I really hope that in most interactions I am treated exactly the same as a man. I don't know how I would present as a man. Most of the time I just wear jeans and a t-shirt and trainers, but even if I am wearing makeup and a skirt, I see why a man shouldn't also wear make up and a skirt.

What is wrong with simply being treated as a human being?

I always say the best evidence of why the world views transwomen as the male they are is the world supports them and gives the female opposing them death threats. And then say the female had it coming because she dared point out that the word women is in use by women.

JK tried for the reasonable debate and was met by ridicule and vile abuse. That shows who is what sex very clearly.

Sorry, "I don't see why a man shouldn't also wear makeup and a skirt".

@MMN123

Men need to stop giving transwomen so much hassle. Men are the problem. Women shouldn't need to be the solution to a problem men have created. Have women only spaces and gender neutral spaces. Given the Hermione's and the Ginny's don't want to be in women only spaces, there will be plenty of women in the gender neutral spaces so the transwomen won't feel uncomfortable any more. Problem solved.

Transmen can choose - I have no issue with transmen in womens spaces but if they'd rather be with Ginny and Hermione and the menfolk, they can.

Transwomen not using womens spaces is only an issue if all women don't use gender neutral spaces - but clearly there is much support for gender neutral spaces so it shouldn't be an issue.

So get rid of male only spaces. Make them all gender neutral. Keep women only spaces for natal women. Prosecute men who are violent towards women and transwomen and transmen.

Your post make it quite clear though. What Transwomen want is not access to women only spaces but access to WOMEN. They want to use women to validate their feelings or as part of a sexual thrill (because, yes OP, some men present themselves as women as part of a fetish).

Spot on Sanluca. They're male. They're automatically more important than women.

If you really are trying to find a mutual understanding have you spoken to TW and TRAs about our concerns? Have you considered any of our fears?

Because otherwise I can't believe you really want a mutual understanding.