I’ve seen people talk about actors and artists that had a terrible time.
My own would be Anne Rice. She wrote Interview with the Vampire after her young daughter died of Leukemia. Then her husband suddenly died of a brain hemorrhage. I suspect her Christian, anti-fanfic phase was a result of mental illness and manipulation from the publishers, although I don’t think she ever apologized.
I don’t agree with the threats but I also don’t agree that when someone’s existence is being debated openly, they have to be the bigger person.
If you’re an incredibly wealthy woman with all of the prestige and status that JKR has, you can survive a few internet trolls. Just go offline for a while, chill in your mansion, and come back once you have used your immense network or resources to actually form an opinion.
You don’t owe politeness to bigots, honestly, even if it hurts their feelings.
Well there’s her first challenge. She’s practically glued to Twitter.
I mean. There’s a lot of space between ‘not being the bigger person’ and ‘not being polite’ and ‘sending someone rape and death threats’ and an incredibly frustrating part of this whole conversation is that they are treated as if they are basically the same thing. I am impolite all the time yet I never threaten anybody.
Also, again, she can go offline but people have turned up where she lives, on several occaisions.
All Rowling has ever said is that women deserve their own spaces and words. For females. Because male-born trans women are not and will never have the same experiences or fears. It’s not bigoted to say that.
What that has got to do with debating someone’s existence I don’t know.
Do ‘bigots’ deserve to have thousands of rape and death and violence threats and doxxing attempts thrown at them? Because that’s what it seems some people think the opposite of ‘not owing politeness to bigots’ means.
I’m laughing just reading how extremely nuts it’s being made out to be when the women didn’t actually say anything new.
There are differences. WOW so controversial lol. She didn’t disparage anyone with names etc.
If she’s so deplorable then I hate to tell you about some other people we have in the world.
Y’all gotta toughen tf up. People have a right to express their feelings.
If you don’t allow that the consequences are far worse.
That’s why we have all these right wing nutjobs in the world now.
Everyone forced a silence on certain topics and the right types of people took advantage.
Not everything will fit neatly onto little political compasses folks.
She has said a lot more than that, and publicly supported people who have said a lot worse things as well. You’re living with your head deliberately in the sand if you can’t see what her true views are after all the tweets and articles she’s put out about trans people lately.
Thanks but I’ve read everything she’s put out, other than her books ironically.
What do you think her true views are? Considering she has not once said anything about wishing death on trans people (or anyone) which is more than I can say for her detractors who are seemingly quite happy to support the people that post stuff like this.
But those never seem to count. It’s only when women say no that people seem to get up in arms.
Finally someone with a rational opinion. J.k. isn’t the villain all of these people want her to be.
No one who cites that site has a rational opinion.
I dont like her opinion and that is true, though. She nevercalled forthe death of people.
I find the people who feel so self-rightious that they sent death threats to people over a shitty opinon much worse than the people who simply have a shitty opinon.
However, I think the sting would not have been that bad if Rowling was not as famous and did not spent her time so much on twitter doubling down on it after the backlash.
That’s the reason why so many women love her is precisely for her refusal to back down. Rowling has enough clout and money behind her to not have to think about potentially losing her job over the apparently controversial opinion that women are women and trans women are trans women.
And the reason it’s always trans women? Because the power lays - and always has done - with males. A man telling the world he is a woman holds more clout than a woman telling the world he isn’t.
I find this sentiment so interesting, because it implies that cis women have the same experience and fears, which is so obviously not true.
It’s almost like you can’t draw conclusions about someone’s perspective from aspects of their identity or social presentation… but damn, people really want to try.
I’m not trying to make a point, just amused and trying to broaden my own thinking.
For what it’s worth, no one deserves threats, and that seems to be a inevitable consequence of fame (regardless of one’s views). I think I that’s horrific, but the only solution I’ve found is avoiding fame at all costs.
I also have think the defenses of Rowling are sometimes accurate (like the idea that the doesn’t want all trans people killed), but that’s a bit disingenuous. A high profile influential person questioning whether children should be able to receive gender affirming care has demonstrable negative effects on trans people, including the deaths if children. This has been studied. It’s fair to hold people accountable for their actions, and she is responsible for her choices.