Yeah, I could have phrased that better, semantics are important here.
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I’m afraid it’s not just the Anglosphere; this is a global phenomenon across languages, religions and cultures. And it is very scary.
A victory for bigotry anywhere is a victory for bigotry everywhere, and the fascists know how to exploit pro-bigotry messages from so-called “left-leaning” people. The TERFS may not be fascists themselves, but their message is ripe for amplification by fascists who want to split the left into factions while the far-right unites under a shared ethnocentric and/or religious chauvinist ideology.
The left needs to unite around progressive ideals, and that includes equal rights for trans men and women, period. I’m not talking about enforcing ideological purity. This is a matter of consistency. If you support equal rights for some but not for all, then you are on the right wing and not the left wing. Let this be a point that splits the right wing into factions. Rowling can argue with people on the right about her desire to expand women’s rights or gay rights; let’s not let her bring her TERF argument about contracting rights to us.
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I’m a huge fan of J.K. Rowling, and I’m pleased she has chosen to engage meaningfully on issues she cares about. Instead of counting her money.
The KLF did it better and caused far less harm in the process
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That certainly is a way of looking at it, I’ll give you that much.
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I didn’t realize promoting bigotry was the same thing as “engage meaningfully” on issues…
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Sometimes, the world is better off if rich folks shut up and count their cash while the rest of us get on with figuring out how to treat one another humanely.
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Not cool
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I kind of think exactly the opposite. It would be a better society if celebrities stopped using their fame in other unrelated areas to weigh in on issues where they are out of their depth and do more harm than good. It would also be nice if people stopped listening to them when they talk about things they have no business pretending to know about.
So many social psychological vulnerabilities exploited this way, so little good achieved. There’s no shame OTOH in counting one’s money.
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But she hasn’t. She didn’t dive deeply into the issue, parsing the latest evidence around gender identity, follow the logical corollaries of her own arguments, and deal in good faith with her critics. In no sense did she meaningfully engage with the issue. She used the bully pulpits of wealth and fame to attack a marginalized group.
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I take your point, re: national socialists. Slippery slope, yadda yadda.
The part of Rowling’s screed that really bothers me the most, is her insistence that she is not (bad thing) she just wishes (something controversial)
“I am not a bigot, I just want to be more comfortable in my reality” is the sentiment I hear from Rowling and what I hear Contratemps pushing back on.
Imagine how different this whole dynamic would be if Rowling had just said, “Trans activists make me uncomfortable” and left it at that. Being uncomfortable is a long way from being a bigot.
This is the common theme I am seeing everywhere these days, from #BLM to the capitol invasion, to Rowling’s apologist rants… the most polarized people are inviting their opponants to become just as polarized… and pushing back against polarity is itself seen as inflammatory.
(“Pacifist”? Really? You might as well call me a commie pinko at this point, for all the good it does this thread")
I think it is possible to push back against bigoty - and prevail - without falling into extremism. But for that to work, you have to behave as if language matters.
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You are aware that several “moderate” Labour party MPs have bought into the TER hate and conspiracy theories? There are Tories who I would rather vote for over them, and I feel ill just thinking about doing that.
If you want to understand the worry, imagine if Josh Hawley and Marjorie Taylor Green had been elected as Democrats.
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I remember a twitter thread where someone asked trans people what they would do if all the cis people were gone from the world for a day – to be returned with no harm, just to allow them one day without. The most common answer? Go swimming.
I want a world where some simple pleasure like that isn’t denied to people for who they are. And as far as I can tell, that’s all trans activists have ever really asked for, while other people are working hard to deny it from them. Shouldn’t that be polarizing? What, exactly, is the extremism you are worried about?
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Oh, I don’t think I approve of your language there, young lady, there’s no need to be impolite about it!
BIG FUCKING /S
for the clearly hard of hearing among us.
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Apparently, the “extremism” of calling out people for their actions and letting them know it’s unacceptable…
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But she did not. She advocated for people who are actively harming trans people and used her massive bully pulpit to further their cause. She’s harmed the trans community AND frankly damaged women’s rights, too, because hurting any subset of women and attacking their rights is bad for all women.
If she really wanted to have a conversation about these issues and to educate herself, that would have been one thing. She used her platform to actively promote bigotry.
What if she had said something about Black people being inferior? Or Gays and Lesbians indoctrinating kids? Or Muslims needing to be rounded up because they posed a threat to “Western civilization”?
None of that is acceptable.
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You’ve managed to make every single trans person on this thread uncomfortable and quite a few others besides.
Was that your plan or just an “unfortunate” outcome of your latest foray into pontificating on subjects you know nothing about?
Fucking hand-wringing bullshit helps no-one, the hell with your call for politeness.
Find somewhere else to play if you don’t like us standing up for ourselves when there are literally Nazi flags on the streets.
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