After Dan, Evanna Lynch, Emma Watson and others posted a statement - JKR replied with a long essay

[orlando_switch]

Our always lovely mywitch posted a comment about Dan's superb and touching reaction to JKR's TERF tweets.
It seems that after him, both Evanna Lynch, Eddy Redmayne, Katie Leung, Emma Watson and Bonnie Wright wrote their own statements on twitter in wich they disagree with Jo.

chienne_folle posted a brilliant comment below this post about her own personal experiences

Comments

[too_dle_oo]

I was just reading her essay in horror and disgust. You sum these issues up so clearly! I wish she’d just have a conversation with someone who has lived this before spouting off. At the end of the day, what I have never understood about TERFs is... why do they feel threatened by trans women? There’s nothing about trans women that threatens cis-gender women. (Likewise nothing about non-binary folks that threatens cis-gender people or transgender people.) And also... if you don’t understand something or don’t have a specific experience, why isn’t your first impulse to say, “Well, that’s not my experience, but I believe you. What can I do to support you?”

[orlando_switch]

At the end of the day, what I have never understood about TERFs is... why do they feel threatened by trans women?

As I said, the main idea of the TERF movement is that trans women are in fact men in disguise who want to infiltrate in lesbian and feminist circles to take power and harass women with their penis.. It's basically a conspiracy theory.

[too_dle_oo]

But that happens, in reality... never? Almost never?

But we ARE living in an age of conspiracy theories, so I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised by that.

[orlando_switch]

But that happens, in reality... never? Almost never?

Well, there are of course trans women who have lived so long as a male that they have after their sex change still both the habit of taking too much space and of mansplaining... But they are merely annoying and not part of a conspiracy to infiltrate women's safe spaces.

I found an interesting article about the question why the TERF movement is so populair in Britain. And if I understand it well, it seems to be an odd mixture of conservatism, populism and conspiracy theories.

[nocturnus33]

I just don't get her. I will not read her essay as I will not feed the dogs, not even by clicking in it. As a cis-gender woman, I am very aware I know very little about transgender issues. So being cautious and taking a humble apprentice attitude is my only option. As for JKR: Why not ask first? Why not read the immense amount of research that is available? Why not approach a trans collective and talk with them? She has the inner resources to do so.

[orlando_switch]

Well, the only thing I can say about it, is that her essay doesn't sound very rational to begin with. It sounds like someone who is afraid of abusive powers of men and who is somehow afraid trans women will behave in the same way since they are also born and raised as men.

It's difficult to reason with someone who clearly states (in this same essay) that she has suffered a lot of abuse from men and from disadvantages of patriarchal culture when her wording shows she is still so much in this inner place of emotional hurt.
In other words, at the moment she sounds like she doesn't have much headspace to see things differently than she does. For talking you need an open mind, but at the moment, she hasn't.

[nocturnus33]

It is quite sad, as her words are hurting so many.

[orlando_switch]

Yes and there is a chance that her words are hurting people who are already vulnerable and looking for role models.

[torino10154]

This is a really excellent post. Well done.

ETA: Emma Watson and Bonnie Wright have also weighed in, if you haven't seen.

[orlando_switch]

Thank you so much! In general I am not much of an activist but this felt as one of those moments I had to speak out.

And no, I hadn't seen that yet, but I am glad they did.

[mywitch]

You've summarized JKR's essay beautifully. It is SUCH a frustrating situation. Whatever happened to people just being decent. Oh, right, they never really were, were they? Gah. I really appreciate you posting this along with your thoughts. Big love to you ❤️