Students wittering on about JK Rowling today

[SocialConnection]

I'm sitting in a cafe unavoidably hearing a table of students, two girls and a boy, about 17, wittering on about how they could possibly justify going to some Harry Potter event while not benefiting JK Rowling.

Because obviously she's transphobic, but ...

What did she actually say? Well, something about ... um ...

But ya, she's transphobic ...

Clearly none of them have actually read what she has written, over several years

All of them scrabbling to Say The Right Thing, both girls agreeing with the boy that of course anyone who thinks they are a woman IS a woman, ya, obvs, absolutely

And all desperately wanting to go to the Harry Potter thing

None of them daring to use their brains or say anything that steps outside the set barriers

I find myself feeling sorry for this generation of young people being brainwashed, and that even includes the Sussex Uni mob.

Go JKR

hard-drive.net/jk-rowling-confirms-harry-potter-loved-the-new-dave-chappelle-special/

The unquestioning agreement expected of the girls, or else they are not part of the 'righteous' crowd. It is today's version of being a sweet girl, isn't it? Society (and the woke bro's) will be hostile to you if you don't condemn the witches who centre the rights of women and girls. Even when it is contrary to the girl's interests to be comply in order to remain 'sweet'.

The blokes at that table won't have their safety or fairness impinged upon in any way due to this belief in gender and it being an identity. No female olympian taking their prizes (or even places). No female at an unfair advantage winning the boys places, races or their scholarships. In fact, the blokes could unfairly benefit from or abuse this new belief if they wanted to.

That is separate from the casualties who have had irreversible medical intervention to their bodies.

@SocialConnection

I'm sitting in a cafe unavoidably hearing a table of students, two girls and a boy, about 17, wittering on about how they could possibly justify going to some Harry Potter event while not benefiting JK Rowling.

Because obviously she's transphobic, but ...

What did she actually say? Well, something about ... um ...

But ya, she's transphobic ...

Clearly none of them have actually read what she has written, over several years

All of them scrabbling to Say The Right Thing, both girls agreeing with the boy that of course anyone who thinks they are a woman IS a woman, ya, obvs, absolutely

And all desperately wanting to go to the Harry Potter thing

None of them daring to use their brains or say anything that steps outside the set barriers

I find myself feeling sorry for this generation of young people being brainwashed, and that even includes the Sussex Uni mob.

I think I'd have leaned over and said gently, 'So what did she actually say...? Have you read her statement?'

But then, I am turning into a bossy old busybody who is fed up to the back teeth of all the bullshit in the world.

@QueenSue

What did she actually say? Well, something about ... um ...But ya, she's transphobic . This is so disturbing to me. They don't even know why she is considered unacceptable to support but they have to agree with the witch hunt anyway.

Yes. Above all else, we have to teach children and young people to start asking questions. For god's sake! We live in an age where disinformation swirls about us like an unstoppable miasma. We have to start some serious grounding in critical thinking. I know the schools do a bit of this, but fgs.

How do we do this? Just modelling cynicism and a pessimistic attitude cautious curiosity?

I know the schools do a bit of this, but fgs.

There's supposedly an initiative to teach MPs, Cabinet Members and various parts of the Civil Service some critical thinking and statistics. I want to know why this can't be made universally available as a public service.

I have a picture of JK Rowling in my lounge and my dh brought round some new friends he’d made.
They are terribly woke, but everyone is around here and they are sweet men, but not people who think very hard about things.

They didn’t mention anything at the time but later on in the pub they asked my dh about it in a quite confrontational way of ‘why does your wife have a picture of a bigot on your wall.’
My dh was drunk and says he can’t remember how the conversation went but that he basically said that she’s not a bigot and that the picture belongs to both of us as she’s a hero to us both.
and they mumbled something about people having the right to be who they are blah blah.

My dh told me about this the next morning and I was beyond furious.
How dare they come into my house and question what I have on my walls. They’d drank my good whiskey, enjoyed my excellent company and then basically try to scope out if I was an evil terf.

My husband finds it hard to make friends so I’ll bite my tongue in front of them but it’s made me really wary of letting people into my house to be honest.

Well except all my excellent terf friends of course.

We’re in our mid to late 30’s too.
Not teenagers

DD didn't read it but will double down on it being transphobic she has rejected everything Harry Potter and left everything at home this time (dvds cosplay etc) however she wouldn't let me get rid of her slytherin tie and the dvds are still under her bed not on my shelf (they are mine she just took them to uni) so there might be some doubt in her mind

She now has a real job I'm seeing how it goes principle vrs food

Don’t they teach critical thinking at school anymore? Or philosophy?

Did they ever? I'm 50 and they didn't when I was at school. The thing is, there's no way that what they're taught in school can cancel out the effects of the huge and incessant onslaught of what they absorb from the internet. Critical thinking and philosophy absolutely should be taught, but it rather depends on the ideology of the people designing the syllabus.

@JellySaurus

She leaves a door open. In everything I've read by her, there's always a way back, and those who return are welcomed home.

I'm just waiting for Percy to admit that he was a pompous prat when he insisted TWAW and apologise.

I have recently discovered my 11yr old is quite militant about LGBTQ+ rights and terminology. She got it from websites but think it started in yr 6 sex ed classes.

Trying to give balance to the toxic one-sided political views she's come across.

It's not an isolated thing, among her friends.

Have listened this week to Nolan Investigates podcast which may give an idea of the influences on all parts of society.

And need to add that the Gvmnt education dept are very much being influenced - not just an internet issue.

there is a hardcore group of students that push gender identity and she will be ostracised. They are the elite Oxbridge candidates

Not every Oxbridge student thinks that way.

@KittenKong

Don’t they teach critical thinking at school anymore? Or philosophy?

Even when DS was little(ish) I remember him having to create a ‘for’ and ‘against’ poster for ‘should children be given the vote’ and ‘should prisoners be allowed to smoke in their cells’ and having to write a wee essay on the topics at school. He’s an argumentative little bugger though.

Not really.

They do claim to teach critical thinking, but they fail in two main ways.

One is that what they mean by critical thinking is giving the kids a very particular analysis of events and power. So, for example, teaching history from an anti-colonialist position, and using that type of methodology in general, would be seen as teaching them critical thinking. It seems they believe it because it is critical of what they conceive the dominant narrative to be but of course they are just creating a new dominant narrative.

The other issue is they don't teach nearly as much content, and what is there is not taught to a high a level of understanding. So the students often don't pick up on questionable statements that people make, they don't have enough understanding to do so.

Why do you think that people disagreeing with you means that they have been 'brainwashed' or are fundamentally incapable of 'critical thinking'? Perhaps they have thought about it, and have just come to a different conclusion.

Sadly my 20yo dd is just the same as is her boyfriend. Really hate JK Rowling now and obviously think I'm Terfy when I defend her. They're still off to Harry Potter studios soon though.

And therein they belie their hypocrisy and subconscious. If they truly believed it and not just superficially because they have to, they would reject the Harry Potter studio, too.

@JustPassingThrough3

Why do you think that people disagreeing with you means that they have been 'brainwashed' or are fundamentally incapable of 'critical thinking'? Perhaps they have thought about it, and have just come to a different conclusion.

You can't reach a conclusion about an article by thinking. You actually have to read it.

Because Justpassingthrough most of them freely, indeed happily, admit they haven’t read JKR original article because “urgh why would we read a transphobe?”

They aren’t basing their opinions on what she actually said, they’re basing them on what other ppl have told them she said

@JojobaFromOctober

If I overheard anything I'd simply say "honestly, everyone over about 25 agrees with JKR. Your time will come...." making them feel a bit childish and wanting look up what she said to understand why people with more life experience agree with her..

The problem is this isn't true.

I'm in my mid 30s and I have many, many acquaintances my age or older who think she's an unforgivable bigot. I'm only just older than Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson, and we all know what they said.

Maybe if you said 'almost everyone over 40' you might be right but then I don't think that would make them feel childish, it would make them feel young and relevant and think you were out of touch (which is undoubtedly what they already think).

Agreed. I work with many 30 somethings and even older who are just like these young people. Just look at Owen Jones and Jolyn Maugham. We like to believe it's a young person's folly, but if it were it wouldn't have taken hold in the way it has.

I complained to our secondary school because as part of PSHE they used a YouTube clip of a transwoman describing JK as transphobic even though she actually admitted she hadnt read what she'd written on the subject!!! FFS.

I printed off her statement and gave it to my 13 year old TWAW daughter to read. She didn't comment. I'm assuming my 15 year old ROGD daughter would refuse to even read it.

@JustPassingThrough3

Why do you think that people disagreeing with you means that they have been 'brainwashed' or are fundamentally incapable of 'critical thinking'? Perhaps they have thought about it, and have just come to a different conclusion.

Here's JKR's www.jkrowling.com/opinions/j-k-rowling-writes-about-her-reasons-for-speaking-out-on-sex-and-gender-issues/

The posters on this board have asked the many, many TRA posters who state as a fact 'JKR is a transphobe' to point out the transphobic statements in the essay.

I've never seen an answer.

What's worse is those who state as fact 'JKR is a transphobe' without having actually read the essay. That is the epitome of a lack of critical thinking and of the ridiculous mantra of 'no debate'.

The thing these "oh it's only old women who think this and they don't matter" people always miss is:

Even if they are right and all the toxic male behaviour us old TERFs worry about doesn't exist in the under 30s (ha! As if! But nevertheless, even if that were true), there are still plenty of toxic males in our own generations. In fact, it's our real-life experience of their behaviour that means we have concerns in the first place.

So while our voices are only words which they can ignore as old and irrelevant, if they do destroy the structures that currently protect and empower female people, they will find that when it comes to toxic behaviour it doesn't matter whether you think the perpetrator is irrelevant or not, all that matters is have they got the opportunity.