JKR re: Kirstie Allsopp's "those saying there was no debate are wrong"

[RethinkingLife]

In threader form for ease of reading: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1779920317730709990.html

Allsopp, of course, previously declared that she knew nothing but waded in a year ago anyway and does not seem to have done any due diligence since.

https://www.spiked-online.com/2023/04/20/how-kirstie-allsopp-lost-the-plot/

I read that Dawn French article as her not feeling able to come out and be vocal in support of JKR.

"I genuinely think we're being forced into corners where I can smell my own cowardice."

No?

Yes, that's what I understood by it too.

But then, why not just come out and say it at this point? She's already said enough to antagonise trans activists.

At this point we need women like Dawn French to be the adult in the room. To stop being cowed by people less than half her age who are nastily implying that she's old and past it and the world is moving on without her, and to say, "Look, young people, if you have a valid opinion you should express it clearly, explain your reasoning and keep a civil tongue in your head. If you can't do that then we will treat you like the children you clearly are and the debate will take place without your input."

She should have realised the safeguarding implications, at the very least.

Well I think the evidence would suggest that a lot of current teachers are unconcerned about the safeguarding implications.

That's a lot worse than someone who hasn't been a teacher for over 30 years and never had to deal with the internet generation not really being aware of them.

Men who fancy her, I think. If you opted for one of her pricier Patreon tiers (this was a couple of years ago so I’m not sure if it’s still the case), £20 a month I think, she would follow you on Twitter. I bet a lot of lefty dudes were swooning at the prospect.

But you’re right. If I’d known you could get wildly popular as a political activist/commentator and earn a nice income from being sweary and hating the Tories, I would have started in 2010.

20 quid a month for a follow on Twitter?

Nice grift work if you can get it.

KellieJaysLapdog · Today 11:04

Although I doubt Jolly would be allowed on a hunt horse in his wife’s dressing gown?

Silk kimono, please! After all, the man has standards, you know.

I dunno, I can’t blame her for a cautious approach. She’s no doubt seen others be flayed alive for “wrong think” and she must know what JKR has come in for.

TRAs have got so many targets at the moment, what with “TERF Island launching an avalanche of Cass-related hate” (or whatever) that the woman is probably hoping she can voice her opinion and fly under the radar without the onslaught.

It’s still a good thing - it might be everyone inching forwards slowly but we’re still getting there. Shifting the Overton window/average opinion and all that.

Going to be draughty standing around on a chilly Winter’s morning 🥶

On the one hand, I do sympathise with that point of view.

On the other hand, it really does highlight how brave JKR has been.

A sizeable amount of the abuse JKR gets comes straight from America, because she's incredibly famous globally, and because she was adored by all these American millennials who are now terribly upset that their former heroine has turned out to be A tRaNsPhObIc BiGoT.

Even many of the people in the UK who have jumped on this bandwagon would probably been unaware of it if they hadn't seen the tidal wave of abuse about JKR coming from America, from people who are incapable of having a civilised discussion with people who disagree with them, and who are completely fucking ignorant of the laws and policies in the UK which JKR is actually tweeting about.

If Dawn French, and not JKR, had been the one to lead this fight, it would have gone under the radar of American millennials.

Even now, if she started tweeting the way JKR does, she wouldn't get as much abuse because most of the real zealots are in America and don't know who she is.

I don’t think anyone with a brain in their heads and some understanding of young people should be let off the hook on this.

Yes, I think a lot of us missed a trick there!

So terfs are transphobes now?

No, but what do you think the people who slur women as "terfs" think?

What do you think a TERF is and what do you think a transphobe is?

Not by my definition but according to TRAs, TERFs and transphobes are on the ‘same side’ yes.

My point: The Tweet read as though Allsop was trying to say that she’d received abuse from both sides.

And if so, what she should have said is:

‘Some have accused me of being a TRA, some of being a transphobe/TERF’

I don’t doubt she’s had a stern telling off and a Hard Paddington Stare from terves & our chums but the absolute worst she’ll have been called is a posh thicko with a hefty dose of internalised misogyny, where the TRAs will almost definitely have sent weird fetishy murder fantasies and called her all the assorted rude words for female genitalia.

I don’t doubt that a thousand quick-succession tweets from a thousand different Twitter users pointing out your immense privilege (literal aristocratic privilege, not progressive-stack privilege!) and your inability to see other women as totally autonomous human beings with the right to say no to men feels like abuse but it’s really not comparable to being told to die in a grease fire or to subjected to threats of rape.

Soz, not soz Kirsty.

Glad Dawn is edging her way out of the shadows!

To be fair, she absolutely is getting it in the neck from Team Terf.

No rape or death threats though, as far as I've seen.

Mary Harrington has a cracking article in Unherd

https://unherd.com/2024/04/why-the-centrists-changed-their-trans-tune/

Allsopp should be flattered that she gets a mention.

Another excellent article in the Telegraph, covers a lot of bases and possibly could have fit in a number of different threads

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/04/18/jk-rowling-turning-fury-against-colluded-trans-nightmare/

https://archive.ph/tQkzf definitely jump this paywall

Allsop has posted rubbish before on X. Half the comments she is getting is a result of people just fed up with her spouting yet more I'll informed rubbish.

I agree. When, Kirsty?? When did you speak out on this, exactly?

JKR ❤️