The last post was fun to write. This one is less fun, but I can’t get back to work on creative endeavors until I untangle these thoughts. It’s part of the process. I planned to delve deeper into another literary controversy, and it’s one of the threads woven into a big sticky web of relentless awful.
Years ago, I was stocking a retail display of all this mysterious merchandise in celestial packaging. Someone had written a book about a wizard, and a movie was coming out. I found out it was a woman writing under her initials, presumably to conceal her identity since many readers shun women authors, and of course the main character was a boy because books about girls are for girls but books about boys are for everyone. I hadn’t known about the circumstances she overcame and dismissed her as a sell-out (as an aside, my parents named me Alexandra so I could apply for jobs as Alex). Years later I followed her online because she sometimes had insightful things to say. One day somebody responded to a tweet about feminism with a nasty attack on her private life. I had some awareness of her past trauma and I knew others with similar stories. With them in mind, I called him out for being rude. I didn’t expect Rowling to see it, but she thanked me for my kindness. Someone said I only did it because she was famous. I said I would have done it for anyone.
I decided to read Harry Potter. The beginning was great, but it wasn’t until the third or fourth book that I really enjoyed them. Then characters entered their teen years, and things got awkward. Girls buying love spells? Surely Hogwarts had rules against it! Er, no. No, they did not. When one character almost died from a love spell gone wrong, the perpetrator didn’t get in trouble because she didn’t know the spell was tainted. The violation was otherwise a’ok. The books always courted controversy because some worry they’ll lead children to the bad influence of paganism. The irony to anyone familiar with the subject is that if you were to ask a real world practitioner, they’d tell you two things: 1) you can do things to attract love, but you can’t interfere with free will, and 2) even if you could interfere with free will, it’s wrong.
Then I got to the part about Voldemort’s mother using magic on his father. Dumbledore asks Harry not to judge her too harshly, but I judged her very harshly indeed. Voldemort’s mom was a rapist, Harry! I was starting to wonder about Rowling. Yes, characters are rarely a reflection of authors, but it’s Dumbledore. When Rowling’s anti-trans views came to light, it started making sense. A lot of like-minded people minimize sexual assault that doesn’t involve male genitalia. As for Rowling’s stated beliefs, it’s not just that she views trans women as men, but that she views men as inherently dangerous. And the same people who accuse feminists of male bashing and seeking special privileges align with the one group doing it, and that group welcomes the support of their former bullies as they unite to bully others.
Scapegoating the trans community intensified after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. If you want to prevent people from challenging your authority, you make them fight each other. It’s similar to people who deflect from discussions of white supremacy by instigating conflict between minorities. Overturning Roe v. Wade may be intended as an attack on women, but the consequences of denying bodily autonomy as a fundamental right extend to everyone. Similarly, the consequences of attacking the trans community also extend to everyone, and disproportionately impact minorities.
And how, after all we learned about the sexual abuse of US gymnasts, did Ohio decide the best way to protect girls is subjecting them to more invasive exams? Honestly!
Stop punching down, ladies. It’s not helpful.
After all, Tucker Carlson chose to blame us nagging women after the shooting at an Independence Day parade in Highland Park, Illinois. Blaming women for mens’ actions isn’t anything new, but most shooters have a history of anger and violence against women. I’m pretty sure he knows that, too. It’s not just about deflecting from guns or white supremacy, but encouraging more attacks. As for Highland Park, several victims were Jewish, the shooter had scouted a synagogue, and there was a local wave of anti-semitic propaganda.
Speaking of mens’ anger, some are mad Elliott Page “took” someone away from them. I dunno, ladies. I kinda feel like the dudes who treat us like property or pieces of meat might not be on our side. I’m reminded of the vitriol toward a woman who had a preventative mastectomy back in the day. Someone asked how she expected to find a man, assuming she even wanted one, let alone one who values the parts over the person. Allowing our parts to define our identity makes it all too easy for others to dehumanize us.
