I’d started writing this before the final episode of the podseries was released.
I still feel pretty much the same way I felt after hearing JKR’s final bits.
So I’m leaving this as is, and will add bits after….
I’ve been considering lately, and no shit, it’s been costing me sleep, things about the issues surrounding J.K. Rowling.
Then Richard Dawkins, hero of evangelical agnostics, came out and said that there’s only two genders. (Pls2bforgiving the CR link, but it’s what came up when I S’dTFW for it….)
This episode, in some of the Twitter discussion, was supposed to be the killshot for her reservations.
The individual interviewed in the episode described the mental health benefits that came from early transition.
But it was female to male.
I think what Ms. Rowling is concerned about is the sorts of things that only males can do.
Can a biological man be physically-abused by a female? Absolutely. But, it’s the exception, rather than the rule.
While I was working through this entry, I say this story float actroas my Twitter feed.
I fully understand why she feels the way she does about hard-fought women’s rights, safe spaces, etc., being taken over by predatory biological males.
Refusing to acknowledge that, to me, is pretty disgusting.
But it also shows a fundamental misunderstanding; people aren’t just going to assent, no matter how much damage you think you’ve inflicted with your cancellation efforts.
Leave people alone.
If there’s something made by a person you once admired, but no longer do, you have the choice. You don’t get to demand he/change it because it doesn’t comport with the views you hold at this instant. If it really bothers you that much, you can leave.
The work isn’t there to please you. It’s there to communicate whatever the artist wanted to commmunicate when he/she wanted to communicate it.
Maybe that same take isn’t there anymore. Maybe it is. Whatever. It’s not for you the consumer to change. If you don’t like it, stop paying attention.