Would people still hate J.K. Rowling if she wasn't a TERF?

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NibiruMul
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05 Jan 2024, 6:48 pm

I asked this question on DeviantArt ages ago, but I figured I'd ask people here. Do you think J.K. Rowling would be as hated as she is if she wasn't a TERF?

I've noticed that in recent years, people have really clamped down on Harry Potter, and it's become more noticeable since she started espousing TERF views. At first I kinda saw this as a good thing, because I was one of those kids who never got into HP at all. Now it's finally acceptable to say that you don't like HP. But at the same time, I became somewhat concerned for the people who do enjoy the books and trying to defend them against the harsh criticisms you see on Tumblr and writing blogs. People seem to nitpick at everything wrong with Harry Potter, from goblins allegedly being anti-Semitic stereotypes right down to the characters' names. (Although to be fair, I do think the whole house elves thing was legitimately problematic because of the "happiness in slavery" trope.) I often wonder if J.K. Rowling would still be criticized so harshly if she didn't express TERF views.



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05 Jan 2024, 7:06 pm

Fair criticisms of aspects of her works would still exist, even if she wasn't a notorious terf.

Those criticisms might be more likely to get buried under a dogpile of fans if she hadn't of alienated much of her fanbase.

The way she handles ethnic stereotypes is another entire category of fair critiques. Seriously, she's on par with Krusty:


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05 Jan 2024, 7:29 pm

Pre TERF-war, I'd say 90% of the Rowling haters were amateur writers angry that she was sucessful while they were not. Not a large group. Plus a larger bunch who simply dismissed her with "bloody hell, why is everyone gushing about some stupid kiddy book?" She wasn't controversial - the most contentious thing anyone had on her was her mild approval of Tony Blair.


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uncommondenominator
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05 Jan 2024, 7:34 pm

Let's not forget - first she declared that Dumbledore was gay, thus making the anti-LGBT crowd angry - THEN she revealed her TERF-y-ness, and made the pro-LGBT crowd angry. That's a big chunk of people to alienate all at once.

Before that, the criticism she received seemed pretty average.



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05 Jan 2024, 10:33 pm

The American religious Right didnt like her because her books supposedly glorify spells and black magic and like that.

NOW? I guess that they like her for being a TERF.

The moral of this story. I guess she is a free thinker. Is not homophobic, but IS transphobic. Is pc in some ways but not in others.



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06 Jan 2024, 8:02 am

No way would she be as hated as she is if not for her opinions on transgender people and her doubling down on those opinions.

We have a real problem separating people’s opinions from their work. Also that people do both great things and harmful things.


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06 Jan 2024, 8:05 am

J.K Rowling has gotten a lot of flak, some of it undeserved. She is entitled to her opinions on anything.



NibiruMul
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06 Jan 2024, 10:10 am

I'm actually kind of worried for her future. Last year, Roald Dahl's books were edited to remove "problematic" content. While this definitely won't happen while J.K. Rowling is still alive, it could definitely happen to her books after she dies. This could give future generations the wrong idea about her. Due to the presence of social media, it's likely that her anti-trans views won't be forgotten.

I feel like she's still better-liked in the UK than the US and Canada. British people who aren't hardcore conservatives do still defend her. You don't really see that in the US or Canada.



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06 Jan 2024, 10:13 am

The Harry Potter books and films didn't promote a transfobic world view. I think kids read into it a message that it's okey to be different. When J.K. got out of the closet as a TERF I think a lot of her fans got shocked and felt betrayed. After that I think people view her work with more suspicion, looking for signs of other troublesome opinions.


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naturalplastic
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06 Jan 2024, 10:53 am

BillyTree wrote:
The Harry Potter books and films didn't promote a transfobic world view. I think kids read into it a message that it's okey to be different. When J.K. got out of the closet as a TERF I think a lot of her fans got shocked and felt betrayed. After that I think people view her work with more suspicion, looking for signs of other troublesome opinions.

This hypothesis makes sense.



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06 Jan 2024, 11:15 am

NibiruMul wrote:
I'm actually kind of worried for her future. Last year, Roald Dahl's books were edited to remove "problematic" content. While this definitely won't happen while J.K. Rowling is still alive, it could definitely happen to her books after she dies. This could give future generations the wrong idea about her. Due to the presence of social media, it's likely that her anti-trans views won't be forgotten.

I feel like she's still better-liked in the UK than the US and Canada. British people who aren't hardcore conservatives do still defend her. You don't really see that in the US or Canada.

Much of her writing is consistent with typical British attitudes towards random sorts of people in life. Much of which seems mean-spirited to Americans, but less so to Canadians as I understand it.


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06 Jan 2024, 11:33 am

Her books are very well-liked AND extremely popular in the US. I don't think most Americans view her writing as "mean-spirited." (I certainly didn't when I read the Harry Potter series.) If they did, she wouldn't have been so popular here.

I'm disappointed in Rowling but not her work as a whole.


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06 Jan 2024, 11:41 am

Would that not depend on WHY they hated her in the first place?



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07 Jan 2024, 5:03 am

NibiruMul wrote:
Would people still hate J.K. Rowling if she wasn't a TERF?
I have contempt for her for plagiarizing the basic synopsis of Star Wars for her Harry Potter series.

Image


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07 Jan 2024, 6:59 am

The primary people who hated her pre-TERFdom were conservative evangelicals. They thought she was too woke, as she kept adding stuff to her canon.... such as Dumbledore being gay.

Also had some more..... out there stuff..... such as talking about wizards pooping their pants in class and using a spell to clean it up :|


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07 Jan 2024, 7:01 am

blitzkrieg wrote:
J.K Rowling has gotten a lot of flak, some of it undeserved. She is entitled to her opinions on anything.

Sure, but as someone with a platform and billions of $$ to fund the current anti-trans bills in the US, she is doing active harm to people like me and my sister


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