Disappointed at Andrew Garfield remarks about JKR

[2021x]

In recent press for the Magic Faraway Tree, Andrew Garfield was trying to make the point that people who worked on HP projects should be respected for their art. He refused to use JKR name, and called her "she should remain nameless".

This for some reason has hit me a bit harder than I thought it would, and I am confused as to why. His PR is very rainbow-adjacent i.e. does Drag-race. He has always has picked "sensitive-man roles" that appeal to men rather than women. So even if he isn't actully gay-gay, he obviously much prefers the company of men- even when they are dressed as women. So there really is no reason for me to think that he actually cares about women and their safety and dignity at all.

Maybe because we are the same-ish age and similar cultural backgrounds that I thought he would have seen through all the misogynist bullshit. I think its fine to say you disagree with JKR but to demonise her to the same level as Voldemort... seems a bit.. culty?

I try really hard to play devil’s advocate with myself, especially when it’s someone who’s always seemed pretty decent.

I wonder if it’s simply a case of he doesn’t know what he doesn’t know? Lots of us are guilty of living in an echo chamber to some degree. So he’s heard the furore about JKR, maybe he’s heard that she’s a transphobe from people he’s knows and trusts. And he doesn’t look further than that, he just accepts it as fact….

I also think that most men don’t really understand why it’s like to be a woman or how different our lives really are. Lots of men don’t truly understand the less explicit issues because they’ve never had to consider those things. As I said, they don’t know what they don’t know….

Added to that you’ve got Garfield moving in the entertainment industry where #BeKind is paramount. I genuinely think that there are many men who simply can’t grasp that by being kind and inclusive to trans individuals, it’s being unkind and excluding women.

I’m sure there’s more than a streak of misogyny, albeit unconscious, but I think there are some men who believe they are an ally to women who just don’t get it.

As with most people, I suspect if Garfield was asked to discuss JKR’s views and the trans issue in detail, he wouldn’t be able to.

Having said all of that, Garfield has gone down in my estimation massively now. Such a disappointment.

I think you’re right Spiders, that a lot of men ‘don’t know what they don’t know’. But it’s the reason for that that infuriates me - if they’d just listen to women (or actually read JKR’s essay explaining her stance), then maybe they’d at least know that there are things they don’t know from women’s perspective.

Can I just say-say, this is incredibly funny.

It's really simple: Andrew Garfield doesn't like people who obsess about, are cruel to and promote weird theories about trans people. And most people agree with him. That's all there is to it.

But your 'analysis' is hilarious, well done. Needed that.

Also well done on the none-too-subtle homophobia. You really didn't disguise it very well.

Howling at "gay-gay" and "rainbow-adjacent" btw. Are you twelve?

But she hasn't been cruel or promoted wierd theories.

She has said very clearly that she respects adults to live their lives how they choose but doesn't think that women shouldn't be sacked for saying that sex is real and that single sex spaces and sports should stay single sex. Which she was vindicated in when the Supreme Court clarified the ERA last year.

AG is of course able to disagree with her - maybe he thinks that men don't pose a threat to females in single spaces, maybe he thinks it is fine to sack someone to say that sex is reality and can't be changed, but say that. Don't be weasily about it and repeat boring talking points.

I honestly thought he was a bit more mature than the whole thing, and disappointed to find out that he just parrots the same propaganda.

goodness me the people who can't tell the difference between men and women are up early today

anyway spiders I think this nails it "As with most people, I suspect if Garfield was asked to discuss JKR’s views and the trans issue in detail, he wouldn’t be able to."

of course he can't, and neither can the journalists asking the questions. They just want ti nod along as evidence they are the kind ppl in the room. The sort of kind ppl who are utterly clueless about how their kindness hands over women and girls stuff to men and boys.

Well it's just men supporting other men isn't it - to hell with women and their rights. I am not widely fond of drag queens either. A woman puts her hair in braids and is accused of cultural appropriation. A man puts on makeup and a dress, uses a sexualised female name and he is a hero and brave. All form of misogynistic behaviour and double standards.

I think it is clear when I say "Gay-Gay" I mean he does present as if he very comfortable around gay men. So I am not clear if this is his sexual preference that he has had to hide to get leading male role, or it is just where he feel most comfortable, and you can't deny that he has been an avid supporter of all aspects of the male rainbow by being on The Drag Race etc.

I was obviously trying find a reason for his comment as he hasn't said anything about it up to date, which I respected.

So you're okay with the very blatant homophobia in that post? Okay.

JK Rowling is a bully and a disgrace. Complaining about individual trans women having jobs, calling having basic respect for trans people a "moral injury" and labelling Imane Khelif (a woman raised in a deeply conservative country, working class and proud).a man who enjoys punching women, is not feminism.

Transphobia makes no woman safer, guards no 'safe space' (spoiler: safe spaces don't exist, sex offenders go where they want) and only makes life unbearably violent for trans people. But then, that's the point.

He's chanting the approved mantras. Others include - 'TWAW', 'most vulnerable and oppressed' and 'they just want to peeee!'

He either 1) chants the mantras without having actually put much thought into it outwith 'be kind' or 2) really doesn't give much of a fuck about women's rights and has latched onto the mantras and slagging off successful women as a useful vehicle for his misogyny.

All those socially approved headpats must be like catnip for him.

Really disappointing, clearly AG is not a critical thinker. Would love to see him try to explain what exactly JKR has said that he disagrees with…

I could say plenty of nasty things about the appearance of say, Posie Parker, or Julie Bindel, or even JKR these days, but I wouldn't, even if I did not agree with them.

You just did. Did you honestly think this comment chastising someone for insulting looks and in the next breath doing the exact same thing but in a snidey, sneaky way, made you look like the better person?

ooooh brilliant - I'm so pleased for you! You know that there's a prize of a £1 million for anyone who can find evidence of JKR transphobia! I'm sure you have full receipts for these claims - you know actual quotes from JKR in a full opinion piece or conversation not clipped 3 words

IK is a man who punched women all the way to a gold medal. No woman from
a conservative Islamic country would allow themselves ti be paraded around on the shoulders of their male coaches. Of he's so sure he's a woman he'd publish the results of his medical tests but he's a man so he won't

but you know all this

Imane Khelif is a man. He has a DSD.

Anyway, OP, no idea who this man is, but I'm learning to be less surprised by venality, cowardice, and moral flexibility.

And that's why we know that the men in frocks are definitely still men, and everyone knows it. because all the other men queue up to support them and denigrate women. Its ALWAYS 'bros before h*s' isn't. The baseline of patriarchy, always back the men. Pathetic.

I wonder whether 'complaining about individual trans women having jobs' includes Mridul Wadhwa who presided over an organisation which "harmed rape survivors".

https://www.rapecrisisscotland.org.uk/resources/ERCC-Review-Report-FINAL1-.pdf

If so, many people complained too. Because he failed rape survivors and told them to reframe their trauma.

JKR is not a bully. No one is saying that male born people can't wear stereotypical female clothing or do things to their bodies to permanently alter them. None of that changes a man into a woman however. Female facilities are for females. A feeling in the head doesn't alter the reality of biological sex.

Islamophobia isn't argument, sweetheart.

Nor is misogyny (Khelif is a woman) or transphobia, or homophobia.

I know, Mumsnet wouldn't function without them though.

Hey, why not add some ableist comments about autistic people and complete the set?

Have a great day now.

None of what you have said is transphobic to me. I think the jobs you were talking about is the transwoman who ran the rape crisis centre in Edinburgh which is obviously a problem for the women who have been raped. I agree with JKR that Imane Khelif is in the moral wrong for chosing to continue to participate boxing matches with females when they were very clearly told they were male. A male punches 2.5x stronger than a female and the choice Imane made is criminal in my opinion.

I agree transphobia doesn't make women safer. However excluding all males hwoever they identify from spaces where females might find themselves alone while removing their clothes and underwear does make women safer.

The trans lobby needs to start reading the room if they want more public support. For example it does not make any sense that TWAW, because if TW were women they wouldn't be trans and therefore require extra protections currently afforded to the in ERA. In addition the response from trans people when boundaries are upheld is to respond with public displays of violence which proves the reason for the boundaries in the first place.

But you can see I have said all of these disagreements without insulting you or transpeople. I have able to explain my disagreement with Imane Khelifs actions without calling Imane names or making assumptions about their motives. Its possible to disagree without being aggressive.

We came across him in real life genuinely don’t understand the hype no charisma whatsoever.

Ooh, there's the patronising condescension right from the misogynist's playbook!

Sweetheart. Just can't help themselves.

Is the context for these comments the fact he is in the far away tree. That’s Enid blyton isn’t it? Who has had to have her books edited to be acceptable these days as they were originally racist. So that’s what led him to these comments. I’m just wondering if I’m missing a nuance or context having not seen the actual interview?

Not needing to get into a debate about blyton but she is definitely cancellable .