To ask about JK Rowling - can someone tell me what happened?

[christmaspigeon]

Just that really. I like her. I like how she gives so much for charity and how she put Trump in his place, but I know people's views on her have changed. Something to do with trans comments?? Can someone explain (in really simple language!) what happened? Thank you!

How can you be non binary if there is no binary?

Excellent question.

But you know Titania McGrath is a spoof account, don’t you? Of course, sometimes it’s hard to tell. ...

She travelled all around the world and everywhere she went
She said I'd thank you not to use the ladies, over there's the gents
When she wrote her books she wrote some shady words within
If you can't hear the dogwhistle you've sure commited sin

@QueenoftheAir

How can you be non binary if there is no binary?

Excellent question.

But you know Titania McGrath is a spoof account, don’t you? Of course, sometimes it’s hard to tell. ...

Yes Queen but just thought I'd throw it out there as a question as it is something I am really struggling to understand the logic of!

@christmaspigeon

Wow! I didn't realise it was such a contentious topic! I was just hoping for a very simple explanation and a couple of views rather than having to trawl the internet and filter bias etc. Thanks for the link though *@laPufalina* - I read it. It was much more information than I was after but at least I understand a bit more. However I think this thread has just proved that if this ever comes up in conversation again I need to just keep my mouth firmly closed!

No you don’t. Your entitled to your opinion and you’re making an effort to ensure it is an informed one.

Oh cool, @RedDogsBeg - just wanted to check. Thing is, real people are sometimes saying the same things as Titania McGrath - that’s how crazy some of the Twitter wokesters are!

@Madvixen

I utterly abhor this policing of people's likes and follows on Twitter. I regularly use the like function to bookmark articles I want to read later - it does not mean I agree or disagree with the article just that I've saved it for a later point. I also follow lots of people who I fundamentally disagree with, it stops me living in an echo chamber where I think that everyone agrees with my perspective.

HELL FUCKING YES girl (or whatever you identify as)

Loving this thread!

Feed the terf's
Evidence they cry
Evidence is easy
Unless it's a lie!

Those who claim to be the ‘right side of history’ will no doubt delete their Tweets given enough time.

In this long thread, no matter how many people have asked "please post anything transphobic that JKR has posted in her own words" the response has been bizarre claims about Chinese surnames and other rubbish.

The nastiest transphobia often comes from men. Like this:

twitter.com/MikiB007/status/1318304560054784000

For some reason Damian Barr only had a minor bump in the road when his clearly transphobic comments came to light but JKR, who has said nothing transphobic, is singled out for particular punishment.

Now, what would be special about Damian Barr that means his transphobia can be ignored while JKR's lack of transphobia must be punished with rape and death threats?

For anyone who's not followed this issue, over the past couple of years there has been a parade of men like Damian Barr who've been found to have posted transphobic stuff on social media who have been instantly forgiven. Why are they unaccountable for what they've done while JKR is held accountable with extreme prejudice for what she's not done?

I suspect it's the fact that jkr is female

She likes to put out goady anti/trans tweets and dresses it up as ‘standing up’ for women. MN loves her though, many on the feminist boards think she’s some kind of hero. Meanwhile, in the real world, lots of people are bemused by why she’s seems so obsessed with trans women and what they have in their pants. She’s not as fussed about trans men as far as I can tell.

many on the feminist boards think she’s some kind of hero

The clue is in the name of the board.

I can’t recall that’s she ever said one word about what trans people have in their pants

Why do you think the focus is on transwomen and not transmen, elfing? What would your explanation be?

She likes to put out goady anti/trans tweets and dresses it up as ‘standing up’ for women. MN loves her though, many on the feminist boards think she’s some kind of hero. Meanwhile, in the real world, lots of people are bemused by why she’s seems so obsessed with trans women and what they have in their pants. She’s not as fussed about trans men as far as I can tell.

This made me laugh.

Perhaps you’d be better spending your time to look at exactly what she has written and when.

What she has written is primarily supporting women in their pursuit of maintaining safeguarding and other rights such as freedom of speech and that right to define ourselves. Sometimes these tweets touched on issues that were involving trans people and their rights. Eg support for Maya was about the nonsense of freedom of belief for women and speech around that in the workplace.

The wimbund tweet was about women being able to define themselves.

The essay and other tweets came about due to guidance changes where the words used to protect females rights were being changed to erode their rights. And response to the abuse she was getting and where activists abandoned any thought of safeguarding and abused her in tweet threads where she was taking to children.

Did she even respond to the ridiculous false news about Troubled Blood?

So, when you write seems so obsessed with trans women and what they have in their pants. have you even looked objectively at what she had written, actually written and not someone else’s interpretation of it? And what the events that precipitated the tweet or essay.....

Or do you think she should just shut the fuck up because she is supporting females and because she doesn’t include penis people (or those who had one) in her definition of female, you think she deserves everything she gets? Please do come back and let us know exactly what she said that has not been supporting females.... please. We’ll wait .......

In the meantime, posts like this one speaks Volumes about the poster’s complete lack of critical thinking.

support for Maya was about the nonsense of freedom of belief for women and speech around that in the workplace.

Forgot the sarcasm marks around ‘nonsense’ b

She’s not said anything wrong at all on the subject of biological sex women’s rights. Or on her own experiences of male violence.

It’s just that her pointing out of women’s rights and some of the ways in which women can be oppressed, makes it a bit plainer for everybody to see that to function as a belief, genderism requires a lot of people to believe in and adopt rigid sex stereotypes for themselves and to require that from other people (ie for a lot of people to have to promote sexism) in order to function. This also makes it more apparent that genderism requires homophobic and misogynistic beliefs to be held. So JK Rowling then copped a lot of flak on Twitter from people who don’t want any of that wider context to their own beliefs being highlighted.

As I read it, J K Rowling fairmindedly seems to be saying, ‘think whatever you want and live your best life but at the same time: everyone should know that there are very heavy costs to having sexist, homophobic, misogynistic ideas, and that these costs are disproportionately high for women and for children.

So I see everything right with what she’s said. We should be all wary when anyone wants us to shy away from looking at the social impact of political beliefs. Everyone has a right to talk about those impacts and Rowling has encouraged that conversation. So I am very happy that as a writer she’s plainly holding up a mirror to this. By doing that, she’s sticking up for women and children and for healthy democratic values like free speech. I’m really grateful to her for actively using her celebrity status for good when she could have hung back quietly instead.

That should have read:
‘She’s not said anything wrong at all on the subject of biological sex AND women’s rights..’

@TheBuffster

So the unanswered questions we've yet to receive answers on:

What JK actually said that was transphobic?

Can you please quote the parts of her essay that were transphobic?

Is it ok to acknowledge sex is real or is that transphobic?

If people are being transphobic to express concern about males competing in female sports?

If it's transphobic to have single sex spaces?

As transwomen offend at the same rate as men are women justified in exercising caution?

If men or transwomen don't pose a threat why do we need single sex spaces to begin with?

How can we protect Muslim women and abuse victims if they can't access single sex spaces?

Why are vulnerable women's rights less important than transwomen's rights?

Why are transmen's rights only ever explored when someone wants to do away with the word women?

Does the erosion of the word women not carry risks when applied to medical contexts?

Are women not at risk from missing out on medical procedures due to the muddying of language?

What rights do trans people not have?

How is JK trying to take these away?

How do you define women without biology without resorting to stereotypes?

Aren't stereotypes harmful?

How will safeguarding issues be addressed if deadnaming and access to shared spaces is brought in?

Why are women not allowed to meet and discuss their rights?

Why are groups accused of transphobia simply by not having it as their main aim?

And that's just off the top of my head.

We're still waiting. No Christmas miracle then.

God, yeah. How unreasonable of Mumsnet to idolise her. The single mum who wrote her way out of poverty, escaped an abusive relationship all while caring for a small baby.
Us mumsnetters would do better to idolise those YouTubers who spend all day putting on fake nails and contouring.
After all, we all have unlimited time now that we've achieved equality.
Eye roll.

Maybe Elfling can explain how they feel about, for instance, the guidance change the Scottish government allowed that once sex balanced panels and boards to force change so females had equal voice on these boards and panels now being open to ‘gender’. Meaning that 50 % of the board can be transwoman joining the 50% male.

Don’t think this will happen? There are boards now that that males in women’s officer roles or in executive roles meant for women. And at least one sex balanced committee now has about 75% male.

this guidance change was one of the events prompting the essay.

So, elfling. If you are a female (and one with a body type that can produce large gametes), are you all comfy with that? Or maybe you are a male and that would be a whole other story....

There are boards now that that males in women’s officer roles or in executive roles meant for women. And at least one sex balanced committee now has about 75% male.

Is.

There are boards now that have males in women’s officer roles.

Winesalot, thank you for putting so eloquently what I've felt about this. JKR is standing up for women's rights however it is only ever reported as 'JKRs comments on trans women' These are not the same thing. Going by headlines alone it's no wonder people are blindly accepting that she's transphobic. The media are complicit in this.

Can we have an example of one of her 'anti-trans tweets', please?

It's more explicable that people might see her tweets as goady, since women saying no is often taken as a provocation. But the claim that she makes anti-trans tweets really needs back up.

Not going to hold my breath, though, since we all know that there simply aren't any.

@Winesalot

There are boards now that that males in women’s officer roles or in executive roles meant for women. And at least one sex balanced committee now has about 75% male.

Is.

There are boards now that have males in women’s officer roles.

Yes DH was astonished when he found out Labour's Women's Officer not a woman. The sad thing was that I wasn't surprised. At all.