a harry potter fan's guide to navigating pride month
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Yeah but it's not like this is the best literature has to offer, nobody would really lose anything by just not reading a very mid saga.
It’s something people like… and for many people it’s a comfort movie/book
Like there are just so many worse things in the world that worrying about the cultural impact of pirating a movie/book/game is such a waste of time.
Asking people to stop giving her money is 1 thing but you are accomplishing nothing except making people feel like they are completely powerless if you tell them to not even talk about HP
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I wasn't interested in playing it, but now I'm gonna do this out of spite.
The game is alright, just go to the trans person and go and see the burning JK rowling picture
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I can get behind being in spite of her & other wealthy elites but I can’t abandon what my time with those books meant to me despite of her spite. So, y’all can guillotine her, I’ll still keep the books. But it really is the case that when I hear about her it’s because of these kinds of posts nowadays.
wrote on last edited by [email protected]Yeah I think that’s a perfectly reasonable sentiment, and I despise frying that as a political purity test. Rowling is probably being platformed by all this by some extent… Any attention is good attention these days.
Shit, I hope JK doesn’t use it to run for some kind of office.
The utter popularity of Harry Potter (and the royalties she rakes in) undoubtedly dwarfs any personal name recognition/brand she ever achieves though. Like, it’s insanely popular.
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JK Rowling is probably the most influential anti-trans activist.
wrote on last edited by [email protected]I think she's the most famous anti-trans activist, but that's not the same as being the most influential. You might watch ContraPoints' videos on JK Rowling, she discusses the analogy of JK Rowling to Anita Bryant (a famous homophobe)
here is her first video on JK Rowling establishing that she is indeed a transphobe, there was a time when a lot of people wouldn't accept that Rowling was actually transphobic
and then her second video covering the "witch trials" of Rowling as a transphobe.
In the end I agree with ContraPoints that JK Rowling has outsized hate directed at her relative to the harm she actually does, and that there is a misogynist tendency for people to target a woman to take out their frustrations on. Marie Antoinette is another example of this - the perceptions of her as a villain exceeded her actual crimes so to speak.
My point isn't to say Rowling is not a transphobe or not dangerous to trans folks, etc. - I just believe there are plenty of anti-trans activists who are more successful as activists and are more influential than JK Rowling, even if they don't end up in the headlines as much. That is, they are getting more done to strip trans folks of their rights than JK Rowling, and that's what I meant by "influential" - as in having power and influence to achieve the political goals of the anti-trans movement.
Matt Walsh for example has basically made a career of advocating against trans folks - creating anti-trans propaganda like What is a Woman?, and going to state legislatures to help pass laws against trans rights. I think he is less famous than JK Rowling, and has a smaller platform - but I would argue he has been more successful at advancing the anti-trans movement than Rowling, and the tangible harms from him are greater.
As far as I can tell, JK Rowling has primarily tweeted her support for the anti-trans movement, then she started funding women-only spaces that are trans-exclusionary, and only recently (as in since last year) has started a fund to help anti-trans legal cases. None of those activities are anywhere as "influential" or effective as the anti-trans activism by others who have actually influenced legislatures and had laws passed to deny healthcare and legal rights.
I would even say Chloe Cole has done more to advance the anti-trans movement than Rowling, for example. She is flown across the U.S. and now across the world to speak on the news and in legislative sessions to help anti-trans laws to be passed.
It's obvious Rowling is transphobic and is now using her influence to advance the anti-trans movement, I just think the perception of her influence is greater than her actual accomplishments as an anti-trans advocate.
Trump alone has done more to undo trans rights recently than anyone else, people I know personally have lost access to HRT as an adult because of his executive orders. Rowling has never accomplished anything that significant AFAIK.
ContaPoints does a better job evaluating some of this in her videos, I know they are long but I think they're worth watching and considering.
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Yeah I've got to firmly agree on that one. Her fame, and the fact that she created such a beloved franchise, gives her a lot of influence. Most people haven't heard of the likes of say, Posie Parker, especially outside of the UK.
ah, perhaps "influential" is not the best word choice on my part - I guess what I meant by that was not most famous or reaching the most people, but rather the most successful in their anti-trans advocacy, i.e. Rowling hasn't had the same kind of influence on trans rights as other anti-trans activists like Matt Walsh, and even Posie Parker I would argue has been more successful at achieving goals of the anti-trans movement than Rowling. Rowling is more famous as a transphobe and in that sense I agree with you she has a bigger platform and can bring more people into the anti-trans movement.
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what are some fun trans-inclusive universes? doesn't have to be fantasy
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I read the Mistborn books, and wasn't terribly impressed. Anyone that repeatedly and unrepentantly uses the phrase "decked him in the face" is not a good writer.
Mistborn were his first books, the first trilogy is definitely a bit rough around the edges.
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I made the same decision with Brandon Sanderson and his fuckin fanclub takes it extremely personally when I point out how problematic he is as an author.
Yes, his writing is good. Yes, his writing is remarkably inclusive with regards to sexual orientation, disability, and mental illness.
However, Brandon is a Mormon first and foremost, and actively tithes to his church. That means a significant percentage of ALL Dragonsteel profits go directly towards the suppression and disenfranchisement of LGBTQ+ programs, sex education, and effective mental health services.
He might write a good story, but his IRL politics are repugnant.
Oh, when you brought him up I was worried he had actively done something bad. But no, you just don't like that he's Mormon, that's literally your only gripe.
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Yeah, I'm gonna stop enjoying fun books or movies because somebody else is upset about the author...
wrote on last edited by [email protected]If Your Important Thing was publicly maligned you would want us to support you. And we would. Because we're good people. Please do the same for us now.
We understand that you don't instantly change attitudes when an author betrays her readers. We're not asking you to do that. We're asking you to show support with a kind word, the way your parents taught you when you learned the golden rule. Please.
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Mistborn were his first books, the first trilogy is definitely a bit rough around the edges.
wrote on last edited by [email protected]And how! That said, they weren't entirely without entertainment value, and I did finish all of them, but I didn't feel the need to read any more of his stuff, either.
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You're comparing a book about wizards and magic to... Mein Kampf?
No. It's not necessary. Read the article.
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what are some fun trans-inclusive universes? doesn't have to be fantasy
wrote on last edited by [email protected]Discworld explores gender a few times in a way that I like.
Monstrous Regiment is about a bunch of women who pretend to be men to join their military. For the most part - these aren’t trans characters, they identify as female. The funny is the characters slowly discovering that everyone else in their group is doing the same thing. One character though, explicitly identifies as male after the “reveal” and has male pronouns used for them.
Discworld as a series tends to be irreverent without punching down. Comedy is a weapon in Pratchett’s hands, but his targets are capitalism and oppressive systems.
LeGuin has a lot of interesting takes on gender. The Hainnish cycle is about a race of humans who had previously colonized a bunch of planets and did lots of experimentation on those populations - kinda Vault Tec vibes. The civilization collapses/gets better, and the POV character is usually some type of researcher/anthropologist looking at how those planets develop The Left Hand of Darkness is a sci fi classic: a planet where people stay sexless until they go into “heat” and will develop the opposite genitals of the person who they are attracted to. There’s lots of switching back and forth. It’s a big deal when the king gets pregnant, because only children the king carries can inherit the throne.
Any LeGuin is good. Earthsea is a far superior children’s series compared to Harry Potter. Nothing that really makes it explicitly trans but the process of finding your true name and accepting yourself is something that resonated very much with me. (Also props to LeGuin for being very forceful with insisting that the characters not be depicted as white. None of this pussyfooting retroactive “I never said Hermione was white!”)
Anne Leckie’s Imperial Radch trilogy is also more gender bending sci fi. Everyone is “she.” The first book was part of the Sad Puppies drama, because it won Hugo’s and absolutely pissed a bunch of a bunch of chuds.
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Books are available secondhand. Games and movies can be pirated. It doesn’t cost anything to talk about a shared interest with friends.
Except it keeps this franchise alive, which in turn causes other people to buy the books, the games. If you want the franchise to die off, so no one buys their shit anymore you have to stop participating in it.
Why is "stop platforming fascists" such a controversial take?
Because you're taking an authoritarian approach over policing other people's hobbies and interests, many of who are trans and queer themselves. The franchise is regarded as a "comfort series" for many people who grew up with it, especially kids in abusive households as those demographics tend to gravitate towards fantasy series like Harry Potter and LOTR the most.
Why is having empathy for people different from you such a controversial concept?
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Yeah I think that’s a perfectly reasonable sentiment, and I despise frying that as a political purity test. Rowling is probably being platformed by all this by some extent… Any attention is good attention these days.
Shit, I hope JK doesn’t use it to run for some kind of office.
The utter popularity of Harry Potter (and the royalties she rakes in) undoubtedly dwarfs any personal name recognition/brand she ever achieves though. Like, it’s insanely popular.
Yeah, I don’t think that the brand is insanely popular because of her hate. Like, most people don’t care about her or even hear anything about her anymore. It’s just about Harry Potter, because that’s what it’s always been about. I almost feel like the discussion about her is bot farms creating that discussion.
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Yeah, I don’t think that the brand is insanely popular because of her hate. Like, most people don’t care about her or even hear anything about her anymore. It’s just about Harry Potter, because that’s what it’s always been about. I almost feel like the discussion about her is bot farms creating that discussion.
wrote on last edited by [email protected]Agreed.
I almost feel like the discussion about her is bot farms creating that discussion.
Close. It’s chum. It’s rage bait. It’s an engagement farm that suck people in, which is exactly how influencers like Trump climbed to the top of the world. It’s true, but it doesn’t change that raging against Rowling online helps Rowling, when the best form of protest would be to turn her into “she who shall not be named”
Be wary attributing to bots what can be attributed to the failure of “don’t feed the trolls”
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Oh, when you brought him up I was worried he had actively done something bad. But no, you just don't like that he's Mormon, that's literally your only gripe.
No different than Rowling in that regard. Giving money for others to actively do something bad is also bad. You don't get to launder your shit politics by paying someone to do the dirty work and it doesn't absolve you of those politics.
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That it doesn't disgust you to consume the media of an open fascist using her money to attempt a genocide is highly suspect
oh my god. get off your high horse.
they read a fucking book in their own Library
the books dont even feature any of those views
touch grass
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Oh, when you brought him up I was worried he had actively done something bad. But no, you just don't like that he's Mormon, that's literally your only gripe.
Every time he tithes to that house of abuse and oppression, he IS actively doing something bad. Is that not enough for you?
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ah, perhaps "influential" is not the best word choice on my part - I guess what I meant by that was not most famous or reaching the most people, but rather the most successful in their anti-trans advocacy, i.e. Rowling hasn't had the same kind of influence on trans rights as other anti-trans activists like Matt Walsh, and even Posie Parker I would argue has been more successful at achieving goals of the anti-trans movement than Rowling. Rowling is more famous as a transphobe and in that sense I agree with you she has a bigger platform and can bring more people into the anti-trans movement.
I don't know, I still don't agree with that simply by the fact she's donated such large sums of money to the cause...
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Every time he tithes to that house of abuse and oppression, he IS actively doing something bad. Is that not enough for you?
No. And his books are good.
He tithes and hopes those funds go toward the good things the church accomplishes.
He has a lot of explanation on his relationship with the church and his stance on not allowing his religion to negatively affect his writing.
He has consistently advocated for lesser know authors and fought against Amazon to improve conditions for them.
His books are full of LGBTQIA+, neurodiverse people, women passing the bechdel test, and irl cultural inspiration from around the world.
He actually hires people to consult on things like schizophrenia so he doesn't promote misinformation.
The thing you are asking him to do is abandon his community. Instead he works to better it from the inside. He is a lecturer at BYU and is directly exposed to the future leaders of that church. Let him cook.
So yeah I don't like his religion's track record but anyone who has investigated the guy can see he's a fair author and the criticism is hyperbole.
