After reading yet another article by a woke bro dismissing both JK Rowling and the radical feminist movement as 'white supremacists', my anger is bubbling up within me. I'll link to it below, but here are my thoughts first.
Thread.
Thread.
The article states that Rowling chose this moment - when the BLM movement is erupting & demanding social change in the United States - to 'make transphobic statements' citing her concern for women's rights, the fact that sex is real, and that feminism must always centre women.
BZZZZT. Wrong. Rowling actually first gave an inkling of where her feminism is centred when she began following radical feminists on Twitter.
She went all in with her support for Maya Forstater, and she has never looked back. The current Black Lives Matter movement has nothing to do with this, and this is a false representation.
The article states that “biological sex” and “sexual difference” were created over time to protect, promote, and police the boundaries of whiteness. Wrong. Neither was created. Both are based in facts and science.
You have biologists telling you this; you have scientists backing us up. No matter how much you cry and stamp your feet, human beings cannot change sex. Fact.
'Policing the boundaries of whiteness' is absolute vile rubbish, and fails to take into account the powerful voices of the Black and Brown women who embrace and fight for women's rights and voices in the radical feminist movement. Care to look us up? We are legion.
Does this mean that racism does not exist in the radical feminist movement? No. Of course it does. But by and large, my white sisters have been supportive, welcoming, and loud whilst fighting for my rights as a Black woman.
My white sisters have lifted up my voice and the voices of other women of colour. That has been my personal experience. You can deny this all you like, but my truth is what counts, and I am telling you that you're wrong.
The article claims that "Rowling’s statements are also embedded in a history of anti-lesbianism", when this is blatantly false, again. Rowling actually speaks up and fights for lesbians.
Lesbians the world over are being attacked and called transphobic if they don't want to take a fully intact trans lover. Newsflash: lesbians don't like dick. This does not make them transphobic.
A movement that can attack women in the fashion that it does, that goes so far as to pressure women into sleeping with people they do not want to sleep with in the name of equal rights and acceptance, is a dangerous movement.
You want to live and let live? Fine. You want to force women to sleep with you? NOT FINE.
This isn't rocket science.
This isn't rocket science.
The article claims that "Rowling’s statements reiterate all sorts of historically racist/anti-lesbian tropes", but fails to fully expand on what these are, so I'm calling bullshit on this one and turning the page.
The article cites a number of studies conducted by European doctors on Black women's bodies to claim that biology is flawed. But no. Those studies by those racist doctors were flawed and racist and subjugated Black women. They were a product of their times.
Better doctors and scientists since have dismissed those studies and explained why sex and biology are important. Conflating one thing for another makes no sense.
Then there's a long spiel about Victorian morals, policing of lesbianism in Victorian society, keeping prostitutes in line, making sure women remain compliant, the activism of Black lesbian feminists in history who would apparently oppose Rowling
and other gender critical feminists today (thanks for speaking for them, btw), and so much more that is somehow used to try to shore up the author's point of view and that goes nowhere.
Then the author concludes that BLM centres Black trans lives. Yes, we know this. This is at the cost of women's lives. Black women, who deserve protecting and fighting for, are left for dead in this movement. But we get it. Black women don't count.
The article states that "the liberation of transgender people is intimately bound up with the liberation of all oppressed people" and I have to guffaw at this one. Tell that to the yazidi women who were brutalised, raped, and sold into sex slavery.
Tell that to the Uighur women who are being forcibly sterilised. Tell that to little Afghan girls being stolen from the arms of their mothers and forcibly married to much older men.
Tell that to Indian women who are still battling the dowry system. Tell that to the hundreds of women who die at the hands of men in honour killings around the world. Tell that to thousands of women who are married to and at the mercy of their abusers.
Tell that to the little girls who are sexually trafficked around the world. Tell that to the women whose rape and abuse is sold per click on Porn Hub.
Tell that to every woman and girl around the world whose power is non-existent, whose voices go unheard, whose bruises will never heal.
I am crying tears of rage. You forgot us. You left us behind. And now when we're rising up and saying that we've had enough, you're telling us that we don't matter. That our oppression will only be lifted when the so-called oppression of privileged males is lifted.
My fury knows no bounds. You will not silence us this time. Women from every country, every background, and every colour have had enough. You hear me? We've had enough.
