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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

JKR Didn’t Have an Opinion. She Poisoned the Well

1000 replies

CSIRCP · 28/08/2025 14:32

This post will likely be a little too long for most, but if you can spare the time and have a cuppa handy let's sit down and have a chat, shall we?

Firstly, let’s stop calling this a debate. It’s not. This isn’t two sets of ideas clashing. This is one woman’s fear and confusion being weaponized against an entire community.

What J.K. Rowling has done is not just share an opinion. She’s poisoned the well. And that poison is spreading through politics, education, the media, and even the courts.

At the beginning, it might have looked like a tweet. Then a blog. But what she wrote in that essay was revealing: “If I’d been born thirty years later, I too might have tried to transition. The allure of escaping womanhood would have been huge.”
That’s not neutral. That’s projection. It was a confession, repackaged as concern. She projected her own dysphoria and personal battles onto the entire trans community and used it as the foundation for a movement built on suspicion and fear.

She said she cared about women’s rights. Then aligned herself with those who believe all trans women are predators.
She liked racist and Islamophobic tweets. She repeated antisemitic tropes. She cast activists as violent men in dresses. She accused anyone who challenged her of misogyny while branding herself the face of feminism.
All the while she built up a devoted audience that now includes some of the most extreme anti-trans voices in Britain and beyond.

This “gender critical” movement is not about safety, and it’s certainly not about truth. It’s about control.
Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull (Posie Parker), one of Rowling’s ideological allies, has welcomed neo-Nazis to her rallies. Actual Nazis. The kind of people Rowling once wrote villains about.
In one case, people connected to this movement were linked to the satanic terror group 764 — a group that has influenced teen suicides and violent attacks in UK schools. Let that sink in. This is who she’s empowering.

She didn’t just turn away when that started. She doubled down. She gave this movement a gloss of legitimacy. She used her fame to funnel people toward disinformation, fear, and cruelty—and dressed it all up as feminism. But it isn’t feminism when it excludes, vilifies, and harms other women. Especially trans women. Especially intersex people. Especially anyone who doesn’t fit into the narrow fantasy of who is acceptable.

Rowling’s language now echoes in government documents. Her phrases like “gender ideology” have been lifted from far right sources, including the Vatican and authoritarian regimes, and mainstreamed into British law. Her influence helped set the stage for the UK Supreme Court to redefine the word “woman” based on sex assigned at birth, stripping rights from trans and intersex people under the Equality Act. That’s what happens when the well is poisoned. People stop thinking. They start reacting.

Meanwhile, her cult chant her slogans as though they are scientific fact. But science says otherwise. Peer-reviewed studies show that trans people’s brain structures do not align with their sex assigned at birth. They show that gender identity forms in the womb, shaped by hormones and biology not ideology. Large-scale DNA studies have found gene variants linked to gender incongruence. And intersex people exist. That is biological fact. Not one of these truths can be erased by Rowling’s fiction.

What makes this so dangerous is how calm it all sounds. Rowling doesn’t scream. She whispers. She calls it “concern.” She says she’s “just asking questions.”
But it’s never neutral to question someone’s right to exist. It’s not a debate when one side is simply trying to live and the other is trying to strip away their legal recognition and healthcare.

This isn’t just a disagreement. This is a slow campaign of erasure, led by someone with a global platform and millions in the bank.

She’s not some deluded soul from MN; she’s a multi-millionaire author whose words shape global policy. She’s not being silenced. She’s being echoed by judges, by pundits, by politicians trying to climb the ladder by stepping on the backs of trans, non-binary, and intersex people.

And let’s not pretend it stops there. Her influence has allowed people to feel safe expressing open homophobia, biphobia, and hatred toward anyone who challenges gender norms. Some of the same people aligned with her have mocked survivors, denied racism, and claimed slavery was “fine” if it was “kind.”
This is not a group grounded in empathy. It’s a movement that thrives on exclusion and resentment. Some of them now openly identify as neo Nazis. That’s where we are.

So next time someone says “she’s just worried” or “she’s not anti-trans” or “can’t we just disagree,” consider these words. Show them what poison looks like. Not just hateful speech but the deliberate seeding of doubt, division, and cruelty, all wrapped in a soft voice and a smug smile. J.K. Rowling didn’t protect anyone. She infected people. And when she’s gone, her legacy won’t be literature it will be the damage she left behind.

You don’t need to cancel her. You just need to see her clearly.
And if you blindly follow Rowling and her ideas then you need to reflect on what you’re really endorsing.

Because ignorance is not an excuse. Not anymore.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
34
Merrymouse · 28/08/2025 16:03

Sammybabes16 · 28/08/2025 15:59

Incorrect. Even if you look at different dictionaries they all have different opinions.

That is not a fact in many countries and none where self ID exists.

in those countries a transwoman is seen as a woman.

im sorry but yours is just an opinion and that’s just fine - but it is not a fact I’m afraid

"in those countries a transwoman is seen as a woman."

Again, this sounds very dangerous.

I am very worried about Norwegian health care.

Igneococcus · 28/08/2025 16:03

Norway's lower poverty has probably a lot more to do with oil, their other natural resources and their willingness to exploit these quite ruthlessly than with self-ID.

ImGoingUpstairsToTakeOffMyHat · 28/08/2025 16:03

Can I also point out that in “successful Norway” a man who says he’s a woman had his sentence reduced for raping a child because at one point “She was unable to penetrate the child as she lost her erection”

Yeah sounds like a country that’s really for women

ArabellaScott · 28/08/2025 16:04

nutmeg7 · 28/08/2025 16:02

thrcddyin ?

Ancient Celtic tribe of Northern Wales.

Ereshkigalangcleg · 28/08/2025 16:04

Sammybabes16 · 28/08/2025 16:01

It matters to you and your group but to most people other things matter far more

Yes, they don’t spend much time agonising over “misgendering” either. But when you ask them whether they are ok with “trans women” accessing women’s spaces where women are undressed or otherwise vulnerable, the opinions are very much of the nature you find here, sorry to disappoint.

Charabanc · 28/08/2025 16:05

If Norway's so brilliant, off you pop!

SolitaryWeasel · 28/08/2025 16:05

SionnachRuadh · 28/08/2025 15:59

Finland is the salty liquorice place. I don't know much about Norway except every Swede I've ever met loves to take the piss out of Norwegians. People think Sweden is a country with no sense of humour, but just get it started on the subject of Norway.

Genuine Swedish joke (told to me in 1990s by gorgeous Swedish bloke)

Have you read the Norwegian sex manual? ...........In, out, repeat if necessary.

NoWordForFluffy · 28/08/2025 16:06

Igneococcus · 28/08/2025 15:44

Boiled has invested all the money in Tunnocks, so the rumour goes.

At least send me some Tunnocks then. 🙏

BeLemonNow · 28/08/2025 16:06

Sammybabes16 · 28/08/2025 15:59

Incorrect. Even if you look at different dictionaries they all have different opinions.

That is not a fact in many countries and none where self ID exists.

in those countries a transwoman is seen as a woman.

im sorry but yours is just an opinion and that’s just fine - but it is not a fact I’m afraid

The wonderful recent Supreme Court judgment deliberately didn't take any position on TWAW or wider definition of women.

It clarified that the meaning of sex in the Equality Act is biological sex/assigned sex at birth.

That means even those with a Gender Recognition Certificate are excluded from same sex spaces like toilets, changing rooms etc.

It's not about language it is about reality. Biological sex is real, immutable, important and relevant in many contexts.

MistyGreenAndBlue · 28/08/2025 16:06

Sammybabes16 · 28/08/2025 15:59

Incorrect. Even if you look at different dictionaries they all have different opinions.

That is not a fact in many countries and none where self ID exists.

in those countries a transwoman is seen as a woman.

im sorry but yours is just an opinion and that’s just fine - but it is not a fact I’m afraid

I think this one was aimed at me.

Sammybabes16 · 28/08/2025 16:07

I find most women in the U.K. are not TERFs.

Your viewpoints are very narrow and you have no idea how happy and content the vast majority of women are in Norway.

Charabanc · 28/08/2025 16:07

Sammybabes16 · 28/08/2025 16:07

I find most women in the U.K. are not TERFs.

Your viewpoints are very narrow and you have no idea how happy and content the vast majority of women are in Norway.

Do you know most women in the UK? You must be exhausted.

Sammybabes16 · 28/08/2025 16:07

I’m sure that courts in the USA and UK know better than all those other democracies…..

SionnachRuadh · 28/08/2025 16:08

SolitaryWeasel · 28/08/2025 16:05

Genuine Swedish joke (told to me in 1990s by gorgeous Swedish bloke)

Have you read the Norwegian sex manual? ...........In, out, repeat if necessary.

I never quite believe this, but Michael Palin swears that when Norway banned Life of Brian for being blasphemous, they then marketed it in Sweden as "the film so funny it was banned in Norway"

ImGoingUpstairsToTakeOffMyHat · 28/08/2025 16:08

Sammybabes16 · 28/08/2025 15:59

Incorrect. Even if you look at different dictionaries they all have different opinions.

That is not a fact in many countries and none where self ID exists.

in those countries a transwoman is seen as a woman.

im sorry but yours is just an opinion and that’s just fine - but it is not a fact I’m afraid

No, it’s a fact, and it still blows my mind that I have to argue about something toddlers understand. Sex is immutable. Gender does not exist. It’s an abstract concept based on sexist stereotypes.

Norway may be failing women but in the U.K., and normal places, a woman is an adult human female.

in those countries a transwoman is seen as a woman

So what is a woman then? It shouldn’t be a hard question to answer. You keep telling us grand women’s re women. So you must know what a woman is?

Got someone who champions gender and calls herself a feminist, I’m surprised you can’t tell me what gender is and what a woman is

Sammybabes16 · 28/08/2025 16:08

Just woken I know personally. But if you look at studies most woken are not TERFs. They just simply are not.

Ereshkigalangcleg · 28/08/2025 16:08

You can “find” what you like. Given that “terf” just means “woman who doesn’t believe that men can be classified as women”, you are simply wrong. The wonders of Norway notwithstanding.

Boiledbeetle · 28/08/2025 16:09

SidewaysOtter · 28/08/2025 15:54

Yes, except she's hoarding them, to go by her picture above <pouts>

As for the marmite issue, won't it go a bit too gooey when it's warm?

The Tunnock's rumours are totally unfounded.

JKR Didn’t Have an Opinion. She Poisoned the Well
JKR Didn’t Have an Opinion. She Poisoned the Well
JKR Didn’t Have an Opinion. She Poisoned the Well
Sammybabes16 · 28/08/2025 16:09

I’m afraid it’s just an opinion but if it makes you feel better it’s a fact then carry on

CassOle · 28/08/2025 16:09

Sammybabes16 · 28/08/2025 16:07

I’m sure that courts in the USA and UK know better than all those other democracies…..

When you become Dictator of the World, you can tell the UK and US courts where to go... until then, you are just pissing in the wind (so to speak).

BeLemonNow · 28/08/2025 16:09

@VaddaABeetch I assumed the far right money supplies the bingo prize money? It's some sort of nebulous dog whistle? I'll give it a week or two.

SingleSexSpacesInSchools · 28/08/2025 16:09

Sammybabes16 · 28/08/2025 16:07

I find most women in the U.K. are not TERFs.

Your viewpoints are very narrow and you have no idea how happy and content the vast majority of women are in Norway.

Factually and demonstrably untrue. It's also going in the wrong direction (from your perspective)

https://yougov.co.uk/politics/articles/51545-where-does-the-british-public-stand-on-transgender-rights-in-202425

The battle is very much lost.

Where does the British public stand on transgender rights in 2024/25? | YouGov

Scepticism towards transgender rights has grown across the board since 2022

https://yougov.co.uk/politics/articles/51545-where-does-the-british-public-stand-on-transgender-rights-in-202425

Sammybabes16 · 28/08/2025 16:09

Indeed

ImGoingUpstairsToTakeOffMyHat · 28/08/2025 16:10

nutmeg7 · 28/08/2025 15:59

Oooh how terrible, OLD women.
Well they don't count then.

Or perhaps we had to fight for things like maternity leave, equal pay, and not being sexually assaulted casually at work, or in the street. Or for rape crisis centres to even exist. Perhaps we understand the value of women's female only spaces.

Perhaps we have more experience of life and how some men are abusive, and some have paraphilias.

Perhaps we have more self-respect for our own boundaries, and don't want to make ourselves doormats for any men who are unhappy and think that presenting as their idea of a woman will help.

Perhaps we remember that everyone used to be aware that voyeurism, stealing underwear, and men dressing in female fetish wear were male paraphilias.
We remember when it was understood that exhibitionism and flashing and breaching women's boundaries were gateway sexual offences that usually escalated.

Perhaps we're not so easily persuaded to "be kind" when we understand very well that not all men in dresses are doing this for harmless reasons. And there is no way to tell the difference between a gay transexual and a fetishistic heterosexual transvestite in any legal sense. They are all male.

Perhaps we have done a lot of reading, educated ourselves, and come to a clear understanding that this is all the emperor's new clothes, and no-one can change sex. "Gender" as an inner feeling is unverifiable, it's something you believe in, but we don't.

We spent our campaigning years aiming to get rid of gender-stereotyped boxes so that each sex can be a wide range of things. And now you want to put everyone into boxes labelled with "gender" according to how they present. It is SO regressive.

Edited

EXCELLENT post @nutmeg7

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