To think that JK Rowling is being very unfairly treated.

[Impatiens]

For some people the name JK Rowling seems to have become a byword for 'bigot' or 'transphobe' - you only have to mention her name on twitter to cause a storm of accusations and abuse about her and I think it's really unjust.

This week it was announced that a new Harry Potter TV series is in development. Cue howls of outrage from certain people, repeating the same insults and even accusing her of being a bad influence on children. I feel so bad for her. She's always been someone who seemed to want to do good with her wealth and whose books (whether you like them or not) sent a positive message about the need to fight against evil.

A very brief recap of things Rowling has said about the trans debate that have caused anger -

1. Human biological sex can't be changed (females can't become males/vice versa) and no one should lose their job for saying that.

1. The word 'Woman' is being erased, particularly from important health messages that only affect females, and replaced with dehumanising terms like 'menstruators', 'cervix-havers' etc

1. Children/young people who have Gender Dysphoria/Identify as Transgender, shouldn't be given medication as part of any treatment because they're too young to understand the potential side effects.

YABU = JK Rowling's comments were offensive and she deserves the abuse she gets
YANBU = JK Rowling's comments were respectful opinions and she's entitled to voice them without getting abuse.

@notanothertakeaway

It gives me the rage that black people, religious minorities and women have been oppressed for centuries and very slow progress has been made

But when men want to be women, we hardly dare question it for fear of being hounded

I would far prefer to widen the scope of what it means to be a man or woman eg society accepts boys dancing, girls being mechanics, parents sharing household chores. And individual cubicles for changing rooms, so everybody has privacy and dignity

Absolutely agree!

@Impatiens YANBU and I truly LOATHE all this 'cancel culture' bollocks.

All of the twitter sheep have jumped upon the 'hate JK' bandwagon, and even several young people I know who were MASSIVE fans of Harry Potter, and lived for it during their childhood, have joined in too.

I am also disgusted with the young stars of the films, especially Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, and Daniel Radcliffe. They were made huge stars because of JK Rowling, and yet they jumped on the 'JK is transphobic' bandwagon, and agreed she should be 'cancelled.'

Utterly vile, the way some people have behaved towards her.

These 'woke' far left types claim to be so tolerant and lovely, and promote the #bekind narrative, and yet some of them are most vile and repugnant people. I saw someone not so long back, wishing death - DEATH - on Kate Bush, because they discovered she was a Tory.

Then there are the 'jokes' and 'hilarious' comments that alternative comedians come out with, like Jo Brand saying she wants to throw acid in Nigel Farage, and not milkshake as someone had done. And oh how people laughed, because threatening to scar someone for life, and give them life changing injuries is soooooooo funny.

Only when it's a left-wing 'comedian' saying it about someone who is 'right of centre' or right wing though. Imagine if Boris Johnson or Nigel Farage said they would like to throw acid in the face of Jeremy Corbyn or Nicola Sturgeon. Imagine the outrage from 'the lefties.'

Anyone who thinks these hateful and abusive comments coming from left-wing 'comedians' are funny, is a disgusting, hate-filled moron.

I used to support The Guardian and some other newspapers.
It’s horrific to see how low they have gone. Setting up a lesbian with a trans woman on a blind date, without telling the woman!

People born as men lived their whole lives as females

But what does this MEAN? The only ways I have lived my life as a female have been biology related - menstruating, being pregnant, giving birth, breastfeeding. Everything else has been neutral stuff.

"As a female" in the case of trans-identified males so often relies on stereotypes. Wearing skirts and heels and makeup.

I'm sorry, but I'm not about to throw my own and my daughter's rights away for lipstick and skirts.

After that Guardian date, IIRC the woman decided she didn't want a second date.

She then posted on twitter, I think it was, saying how she was completely TWAW & anyone outraged on her behalf could shove off with their transphobia as they didn't speak for her, her date had been lovely & all was well with her.

Ok, fine.

She still got jumped on by TRAs because having politely cancelled a second date, she was obviously being a horrible transphobe.

As PPs have said, only total capitulation is enough.

@NoraEphronsNeck well done you for taking it further but honestly his behaviour is appalling!!

A throwaway comment & no harm done? He just stood up in a room of 60 people and said JKR was anti trans which is a lie & shows he hasn’t read what she said.

He then said on email and only to you because you pointed out he was wrong that is was a throwaway comment & no harm was done. But he’s not emailed all the people in that room and said he was wrong has he?

Now everyone in that room thinks there’s no point in raising anything pro women because they’ll be written off as transphobic by the senior management

It’s outrageous!

I would far prefer to widen the scope of what it means to be a man or woman eg society accepts boys dancing, girls being mechanics, parents sharing household chores. And individual cubicles for changing rooms, so everybody has privacy and dignity

^This. I was very struck by how strong the divide was between blue for boys and pink for girls when buying clothes for my DDs. It wasn't like that when I was a little bit girl in the 1970s. I used to love the colour blue (my eyes are blue). I've also always been into wearing jeans rather than skirts or dresses. Yet no one has ever questioned my gender identity.

JKR has demonstrated how important is to be able to speak and to be allowed to speak.

• You must not speak about X because X is not white therefore it's racism.
• You must not speak about Y because Y is a famous philanthropist.
• You must not speak about Z because Z is a professional and we must trust them.

And what happens? Vulnerable people are harmed.

It does not matter whether it is contentious. If you believe people are at risk of harm, you must have the right to speak up and be listened to with an open mind.

So Mumsnet have removed both my posts where I asked who is getting the monetary benefit of prescribing off label drugs without any registrational clinical trials to approve that use.
And asked asked where the money trail is leading to.

WTF Mumsnet!

Just posting this link. It is long so I am breaking it into pieces and it is done in a way that you can do this. It is well worth watching and forming your own views.

I feel reassured by the poll results!

The Ikabog and Troubled blood are both within the top 40 bestsellers of 2020 ... Troubled Blood was the best selling book in the UK at one point.

There's no such thing as bad publicity, and all the drama actually brought the Strike series to the attention of readers who'd never heard of them and bought Troubled Blood and the 3 books before it in the series in 2020 to form their own opinions or show support after reading her essay.

I think the drama over nothing hasn't harmed her sales at all...

[quote Biscuitsanddoombar]@NoraEphronsNeck well done you for taking it further but honestly his behaviour is appalling!!

A throwaway comment & no harm done? He just stood up in a room of 60 people and said JKR was anti trans which is a lie & shows he hasn’t read what she said.

He then said on email and only to you because you pointed out he was wrong that is was a throwaway comment & no harm was done. But he’s not emailed all the people in that room and said he was wrong has he?

Now everyone in that room thinks there’s no point in raising anything pro women because they’ll be written off as transphobic by the senior management

It’s outrageous![/quote]
You're right he hasn't told everyone that the comment was wrong. And it is a shame that other women might feel reluctant to comment.

However, D&I champion said he would make sure it was challenged if it was mentioned again by anyone and I think that the manager who said it won't do so again, regardless of what he thinks in private.

If TWAW, then being pro-women must by definition also be being pro-trans.

If being pro-women is anti-trans, then TW Cannot Be W.

I think she's a bit of a twat really for a few reasons, regardless what side of the 'debate' you're on.

She didn't speak out for women, she is a very clever business woman, who saw a way to get a lot of advertising for her book, about a bad man who commits his crimes in a dress, which she conveniently came out with not too long after she sparked off all this controversy.

Shame so many people fell for what she said but I guess that's how advertising works.

Does she deserve death threats? No, nobody does.

Should she have used peoples very strong feelings to line her own pockets? Also no.

There are plenty of men you could say that rubbish much more truthfully

Always good to see which people have clearly not read Troubled Blood....

@NoraEphronsNeck that’s a definite win and it’s good it’ll be challenged in future. It’s just shocking the way it was chucked in as a statement of fact.

her book, about a bad man who commits his crimes in a dress

Please can you quote the paragraphs in the book in which this happens? Or give page numbers?

No one deserves abuse. I don't agree with her position or support her stated views. Her plotline was offensive and she knows it. The attention she gets for the things she says no doubt increase her sales as well as her profile.

I can see why she's so well liked on here though. She takes the same approach to gender issues and has the same wide eyed faux confused "but I'm not being offensive how could anyone want to attack innocent little me?" reaction when people who disagree say so. It's a bit pathetic but nothing particularly unusual.

There is actually a trans character in The Silkworm (not a central character and not a "bad" character, one of many people who the murder victim hurt or betrayed).

I'm not sure why nobody comments on that.

There is no trans character in Troubled Blood, not even a character who wears a dress - there's a mass murderer who is already in jail and who sometimes wore a womens coat and headscarf (crimes committed in the early 1970s) as a disguise to avoid being caught, but didn't wear a dress or in any way identify as a woman - in fact he hated women.

@DifficultPifcultLemonDifficult

I think she's a bit of a twat really for a few reasons, regardless what side of the 'debate' you're on.

She didn't speak out for women, she is a very clever business woman, who saw a way to get a lot of advertising for her book, about a bad man who commits his crimes in a dress, which she conveniently came out with not too long after she sparked off all this controversy.

Shame so many people fell for what she said but I guess that's how advertising works.

Does she deserve death threats? No, nobody does.

Should she have used peoples very strong feelings to line her own pockets? Also no.

interesting to see you blaming JK for her part in highlighting an issue that is very important to so many women (did you see how fast the other threads on this filled in up AIBU?). She didn't start this or create the problem. She shone some light on a situation that the Genderists were hoping to slide in under the radar, like in Ireland.

They were actively hoping to avoid the public being aware of what was happening until it was too late and we woke up one day to self-id and the erasure of women's rights. The fuss that has been generated is down to Stonewall declaring #nodebate and trying every backhand and underhand method they can to change the law against the interests of women and safeguarding.

JK Rowling has used her position to help people less fortunate than herself in very many ways. She has given away literally millions of pounds - I don't think you can accurately describe her as a twat. That says more about you.

Same question: where in Troubled Blood do you find this offensive plotline?

Her plot sideline is only offensive if you want to be offended

It was a man trying to deceive people not a transgender person

Are you saying that only transgender men can wear dresses ? How narrow minded.

Or are you saying that we can't talk about the ways people try to deceive and hurt others ?

Do yiu go up in arms if a villain is anything but a straight white male? Have you burnt your copy of the merchant of Venice for its anti Semitism?

I think there was a trans abled plot line in one of the books. Harressing strike

Guess that's not offensive ?