Every time she comes up it’s always underlined that she is super transphobic. However, it’s never been really clear to me what things she has said to acquire such a status. Whenever this is asked there is usually someone linking some two hour YouTube theory about goblin or a massive article that always feels quite tangential. If one is to be so notorious; wouldn’t it be a little bit more overt?
What did she say?
Everytime I see posts like this, it’s hard not to think OP isn’t just trolling or are just also bigoted and that’s why they don’t see an issue with it…
Maybe your problem is you just keep asking social media users instead of reading one of the many, many articles outlining it.
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-64729304
https://www.vox.com/culture/23622610/jk-rowling-transphobic-statements-timeline-history-controversy
She might not openly say bigoted things, but it’s pretty obvious she holds bigoted views. Like, someone can be bigoted even if they don’t admit it.
Extremely rarely do racists, homophobes, transphobes, and the like specifically say “I hate x,” because then it gets harder to rationalize that away both to yourself and others.
That said, yes, she has. Lots of claiming being trans isn’t a legitimate identity. Referring to trans women as “trans identifying men.” Wrote a literal novel about trans women being serial killers, sniffing panties and hanging out in bathrooms to claim their next victims. Trying to speak for cis lesbians and claiming trans women are especially dangerous to them, despite cis lesbians being one of the least transphobic demographics and not being a lesbian herself. Retweeting hateful statements from even more blatant transphobes. Oh and I nearly forgot, straight up taking the label “TERF” and wearing it like it’s somehow a badge of pride.
I know you said you don’t want to watch some super long youtube video about it but I’m going to link to two of them anyway; it’s a complex topic! They’re pretty funny and come from the perspective of a trans woman with a background in academia. This one is pretty recent and comes with the added bonus of teaching you a lot about the history of social justice in general, and the fight for LGBT rights in particular. This one is older but is more focused on Rowling. Just keep in mind she’s done much worse since that video came out.
What did she say?
She believes that people born as male will always be male and people born as female will always be female. She doesn’t mind if someone born male wants to dress up like a woman or if someone born female wants to dress up like a man, but that’s all it is. Dress up. You can’t change your gender. It will always he the same as the biological sex you were assigned at birth.
Those beliefs don’t sound all that bad at first, but here’s a personal story. When my brother was younger he was into metal. He grew out his hair, painted his nails, wore bracelets and necklaces. He was also a bit chunky so had some man boobs. He frequently was addressed as “miss”, “mam”, “she”, “her”. My brother would correct the person and they’d immediately apologize and begin referring to him with male pronouns.
My brother isn’t trans. He was born male and wants to be addressed as a male. What if, when he corrected the people who misgendered him, they didn’t apologize. What if instead they continued to call him a lady because he had long hair and painted nails? What if they requested to see his penis or birth certificate to prove he is actually male before they address him as such? Those people would be assholes, right? Well J.K. Rowling is one of those people.
The common reply i get when i point this out is “she associates with known transphobes”, which is pretty weak. Reality is she’s not transphobic or hateful at all, but i’m about to be downvoted to oblivion for this, and possibly you too for even asking
There’s a Vox article that goes into the issue pretty deeply.
https://www.vox.com/culture/23622610/jk-rowling-transphobic-statements-timeline-history-controversy
Considering that you you have obviously already read the article, is it possible for you to produce a quote where you consider her being particularly hateful?
CW: Racism, transphobia, general bigotry in link
https://www.vox.com/culture/23622610/jk-rowling-transphobic-statements-timeline-history-controversy
Happy to help. :)
Considering that you you have obviously already read the article, is it possible for you to produce a quote where you consider her being particularly hateful?
Quick web search flushed this up.
I was really hoping to avoid the standard “hey I googled this random article” and expected something more substantive. For example, a quoted statement or tweet.
People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?
Thank you for actually answering. I know about the “people who menstruate” comment and understand why people find it offensive. Do you consider that as her most egregious statement?
Upvoted for the dumpster fire
Edit: Sorry, this is no stupid questions, I shouldn’t be joking around like that. It’s just that if you really haven’t read anything she’s publicly said, okay. But it’s pretty well known what her stance is on those and other topics. In my opinion her views are not aligned with inclusivity or empathy. We don’t know her in person, all I can judge is her public persona.
It need not be.
No, lol. She said that there are two sexes, men and women. Which is true. She also said that women are being attacked in their own locker rooms by men pretending to be women, which is also true.
No, lol. She said that there are two sexes, men and women. Which is true.
No, it is not true. Most people are male or female, but some people are simply born differently. There are plenty of people who have more than just two sex chromosomes.
Besides that, transgender issues are by definition about gender, not about sex. Gender is socially constructed, like all other aspects of culture. It is a different thing than sex.
