Could well be. Even if she wasn't thinking about that when making the tweet it's not like she's going out of her way to correct the blatant transphobia she's getting in reply, so she's complicit either way.
... I know it can be hard to convey certain ideas over text so perhaps some of this is on me, but maybe re-read my message and think it over, lol.
Well the thing about twitter is that people tell on themselves. they literally log into twitter and type their opinions out and send them out to be displayed to the world (not in this situation, i know) sooooo yeah, if you talk shit and get corrected for it then you can't really blame outrage culture. they aren't writing in their personal diaries. they literally want our input or else they wouldn't put it out there.
www.vox.com
VOX / Katelyn Burns said:
them. / Katelyn Burns said:
CNN / Rory Sullivan & Kathryn Snowdon said:
CNN / Rory Sullivan & Kathryn Snowdon said:
Twitter / @choachblade said:We know who the totalitarians are...
Twitter / @LAZ_R_US said:
Twitter / @Blythespirit80 said:
Rowling is a transphobe.
She has used her platform to signal-boost other transphobes, she has featured transphobic writing in her books, and she posted a blatantly transphobic tweet in support of another virulent transphobe who was seeking to have transphobic views protected under the law.
J.K. Rowling’s transphobia is a product of British culture
Her "gender critical" tweet on Thursday shouldn’t be surprising.
The closet tweet is fake. It was clear it was fake pretty much immediately - it was much too blatant, even for her. It should not have been made, and it should not have been spread. However, the sentiment expressed in the fake tweet (that Rowling supposedly believes some people should stay in the closet) is absolutely in line with Rowling's known beliefs. Her open transphobia and refusal to address it in any way make it absolutely clear that she does believe there are people who should stay in the closet. Transphobia keeps trans people in the closet. She is an unapologetic transphobe, and as such I can not in good faith see her response as a rebuttal of the actual sentiment expressed in the fake tweet, because that sentiment inherently follows from her transphobia - the transphobia she hasn't apologized for or commented on or addressed in any way.
Her response isn't a rebuttal of the content of the fake tweet. It cannot be that without explicit acknowledgement of, and apology for, her own transphobia.
Her response is an evasion. It's a fancy "I didn't say that!", lacking any examination of why people would think she could have, or of how her own transphobia means that she effectively is saying that.
Of course, she is right - she did not say that. She did not make that tweet. The tweet is fake. It should not have been made and it should not have been shared.
But leaving it unspoken doesn't change the fact that her transphobia contributes to an environment that keeps trans people closeted. She deflects that responsibility, while also evading addressing her own transphobic views. It's cowardly.
Her response also draws an absolutely disproportionate equivalence between the fake tweet and totalitarian propaganda. It is a quote about totalitarianism from a book about the origins and rise of totalitarianism, written by a Jewish woman who was fleeing Nazism. Rowling's tweet is very explicitly about totalitarianism - downplaying it as 'just a quote about forgery' is absolutely naive. Just look at the replies to the tweet, and look at how the tweet's supporters are interpreting it;
( excelsiorlef posted a few more earlier )
Rowling is a transphobe, and her transphobic supporters clearly believe her tweet is about 'standing up against the totalitarian trans rights activists who want to erase women'. - and why wouldn't they? It's a tweet featuring a quote about totalitarianism from a book about totalitarianism written by a woman fleeing totalitarianism, posted vaguely in response to a fake tweet concerning LGBTQ+ themes. Why would they not interpret that tweet as being about totalitarianism? Add in Rowling's known transphobic views, and this flood of transphobes railing against the 'totalitarian trans rights activists' is what you get.
When a known transphobe posts something, and all the other transphobes interpret it as 'standing up to trans rights', and several trans people and allies tell you that maybe that reading was intended by said known transphobe, then maybe that reading was intended by said known transphobe. Dismissing it as a 'gigantic leap' or accusing those who point it out of 'proving quotes like these right' is silly and ignorant.
She has chosen not to comment on her transphobia at all, but did choose to comment on this one fake tweet in this particular manner.
Without explicit acknowledgement from her of her own transphobia and the explicitly transphobic support her response is receiving, I see no reason to give her the benefit of the doubt.
Rowling is a transphobe.
She has used her platform to signal-boost other transphobes, she has featured transphobic writing in her books, and she posted a blatantly transphobic tweet in support of another virulent transphobe who was seeking to have transphobic views protected under the law.
J.K. Rowling’s transphobia is a product of British culture
Her "gender critical" tweet on Thursday shouldn’t be surprising.
The closet tweet is fake. It was clear it was fake pretty much immediately - it was much too blatant, even for her. It should not have been made, and it should not have been spread. However, the sentiment expressed in the fake tweet (that Rowling supposedly believes some people should stay in the closet) is absolutely in line with Rowling's known beliefs. Her open transphobia and refusal to address it in any way make it absolutely clear that she does believe there are people who should stay in the closet. Transphobia keeps trans people in the closet. She is an unapologetic transphobe, and as such I can not in good faith see her response as a rebuttal of the actual sentiment expressed in the fake tweet, because that sentiment inherently follows from her transphobia - the transphobia she hasn't apologized for or commented on or addressed in any way.
Her response isn't a rebuttal of the content of the fake tweet. It cannot be that without explicit acknowledgement of, and apology for, her own transphobia.
Her response is an evasion. It's a fancy "I didn't say that!", lacking any examination of why people would think she could have, or of how her own transphobia means that she effectively is saying that.
Of course, she is right - she did not say that. She did not make that tweet. The tweet is fake. It should not have been made and it should not have been shared.
But leaving it unspoken doesn't change the fact that her transphobia contributes to an environment that keeps trans people closeted. She deflects that responsibility, while also evading addressing her own transphobic views. It's cowardly.
Her response also draws an absolutely disproportionate equivalence between the fake tweet and totalitarian propaganda. It is a quote about totalitarianism from a book about the origins and rise of totalitarianism, written by a Jewish woman who was fleeing Nazism. Rowling's tweet is very explicitly about totalitarianism - downplaying it as 'just a quote about forgery' is absolutely naive. Just look at the replies to the tweet, and look at how the tweet's supporters are interpreting it;
( excelsiorlef posted a few more earlier )
Rowling is a transphobe, and her transphobic supporters clearly believe her tweet is about 'standing up against the totalitarian trans rights activists who want to erase women'. - and why wouldn't they? It's a tweet featuring a quote about totalitarianism from a book about totalitarianism written by a woman fleeing totalitarianism, posted vaguely in response to a fake tweet concerning LGBTQ+ themes. Why would they not interpret that tweet as being about totalitarianism? Add in Rowling's known transphobic views, and this flood of transphobes railing against the 'totalitarian trans rights activists' is what you get.
When a known transphobe posts something, and all the other transphobes interpret it as 'standing up to trans rights', and several trans people and allies tell you that maybe that reading was intended by said known transphobe, then maybe that reading was intended by said known transphobe. Dismissing it as a 'gigantic leap' or accusing those who point it out of 'proving quotes like these right' is silly and ignorant.
She has chosen not to comment on her transphobia at all, but did choose to comment on this one fake tweet in this particular manner.
Without explicit acknowledgement from her of her own transphobia and the explicitly transphobic support her response is receiving, I see no reason to give her the benefit of the doubt.
Rowling is a transphobe.
She has used her platform to signal-boost other transphobes, she has featured transphobic writing in her books, and she posted a blatantly transphobic tweet in support of another virulent transphobe who was seeking to have transphobic views protected under the law.
J.K. Rowling’s transphobia is a product of British culture
Her "gender critical" tweet on Thursday shouldn’t be surprising.
The closet tweet is fake. It was clear it was fake pretty much immediately - it was much too blatant, even for her. It should not have been made, and it should not have been spread. However, the sentiment expressed in the fake tweet (that Rowling supposedly believes some people should stay in the closet) is absolutely in line with Rowling's known beliefs. Her open transphobia and refusal to address it in any way make it absolutely clear that she does believe there are people who should stay in the closet. Transphobia keeps trans people in the closet. She is an unapologetic transphobe, and as such I can not in good faith see her response as a rebuttal of the actual sentiment expressed in the fake tweet, because that sentiment inherently follows from her transphobia - the transphobia she hasn't apologized for or commented on or addressed in any way.
Her response isn't a rebuttal of the content of the fake tweet. It cannot be that without explicit acknowledgement of, and apology for, her own transphobia.
Her response is an evasion. It's a fancy "I didn't say that!", lacking any examination of why people would think she could have, or of how her own transphobia means that she effectively is saying that.
Of course, she is right - she did not say that. She did not make that tweet. The tweet is fake. It should not have been made and it should not have been shared.
But leaving it unspoken doesn't change the fact that her transphobia contributes to an environment that keeps trans people closeted. She deflects that responsibility, while also evading addressing her own transphobic views. It's cowardly.
Her response also draws an absolutely disproportionate equivalence between the fake tweet and totalitarian propaganda. It is a quote about totalitarianism from a book about the origins and rise of totalitarianism, written by a Jewish woman who was fleeing Nazism. Rowling's tweet is very explicitly about totalitarianism - downplaying it as 'just a quote about forgery' is absolutely naive. Just look at the replies to the tweet, and look at how the tweet's supporters are interpreting it;
( excelsiorlef posted a few more earlier )
Rowling is a transphobe, and her transphobic supporters clearly believe her tweet is about 'standing up against the totalitarian trans rights activists who want to erase women'. - and why wouldn't they? It's a tweet featuring a quote about totalitarianism from a book about totalitarianism written by a woman fleeing totalitarianism, posted vaguely in response to a fake tweet concerning LGBTQ+ themes. Why would they not interpret that tweet as being about totalitarianism? Add in Rowling's known transphobic views, and this flood of transphobes railing against the 'totalitarian trans rights activists' is what you get.
When a known transphobe posts something, and all the other transphobes interpret it as 'standing up to trans rights', and several trans people and allies tell you that maybe that reading was intended by said known transphobe, then maybe that reading was intended by said known transphobe. Dismissing it as a 'gigantic leap' or accusing those who point it out of 'proving quotes like these right' is silly and ignorant.
She has chosen not to comment on her transphobia at all, but did choose to comment on this one fake tweet in this particular manner.
Without explicit acknowledgement from her of her own transphobia and the explicitly transphobic support her response is receiving, I see no reason to give her the benefit of the doubt.
Rowling is a transphobe.
She has used her platform to signal-boost other transphobes, she has featured transphobic writing in her books, and she posted a blatantly transphobic tweet in support of another virulent transphobe who was seeking to have transphobic views protected under the law.
J.K. Rowling’s transphobia is a product of British culture
Her "gender critical" tweet on Thursday shouldn’t be surprising.
The closet tweet is fake. It was clear it was fake pretty much immediately - it was much too blatant, even for her. It should not have been made, and it should not have been spread. However, the sentiment expressed in the fake tweet (that Rowling supposedly believes some people should stay in the closet) is absolutely in line with Rowling's known beliefs. Her open transphobia and refusal to address it in any way make it absolutely clear that she does believe there are people who should stay in the closet. Transphobia keeps trans people in the closet. She is an unapologetic transphobe, and as such I can not in good faith see her response as a rebuttal of the actual sentiment expressed in the fake tweet, because that sentiment inherently follows from her transphobia - the transphobia she hasn't apologized for or commented on or addressed in any way.
Her response isn't a rebuttal of the content of the fake tweet. It cannot be that without explicit acknowledgement of, and apology for, her own transphobia.
Her response is an evasion. It's a fancy "I didn't say that!", lacking any examination of why people would think she could have, or of how her own transphobia means that she effectively is saying that.
Of course, she is right - she did not say that. She did not make that tweet. The tweet is fake. It should not have been made and it should not have been shared.
But leaving it unspoken doesn't change the fact that her transphobia contributes to an environment that keeps trans people closeted. She deflects that responsibility, while also evading addressing her own transphobic views. It's cowardly.
Her response also draws an absolutely disproportionate equivalence between the fake tweet and totalitarian propaganda. It is a quote about totalitarianism from a book about the origins and rise of totalitarianism, written by a Jewish woman who was fleeing Nazism. Rowling's tweet is very explicitly about totalitarianism - downplaying it as 'just a quote about forgery' is absolutely naive. Just look at the replies to the tweet, and look at how the tweet's supporters are interpreting it;
( excelsiorlef posted a few more earlier )
Rowling is a transphobe, and her transphobic supporters clearly believe her tweet is about 'standing up against the totalitarian trans rights activists who want to erase women'. - and why wouldn't they? It's a tweet featuring a quote about totalitarianism from a book about totalitarianism written by a woman fleeing totalitarianism, posted vaguely in response to a fake tweet concerning LGBTQ+ themes. Why would they not interpret that tweet as being about totalitarianism? Add in Rowling's known transphobic views, and this flood of transphobes railing against the 'totalitarian trans rights activists' is what you get.
When a known transphobe posts something, and all the other transphobes interpret it as 'standing up to trans rights', and several trans people and allies tell you that maybe that reading was intended by said known transphobe, then maybe that reading was intended by said known transphobe. Dismissing it as a 'gigantic leap' or accusing those who point it out of 'proving quotes like these right' is silly and ignorant.
She has chosen not to comment on her transphobia at all, but did choose to comment on this one fake tweet in this particular manner.
Without explicit acknowledgement from her of her own transphobia and the explicitly transphobic support her response is receiving, I see no reason to give her the benefit of the doubt.
Rowling is a transphobe.
She has used her platform to signal-boost other transphobes, she has featured transphobic writing in her books, and she posted a blatantly transphobic tweet in support of another virulent transphobe who was seeking to have transphobic views protected under the law.
J.K. Rowling’s transphobia is a product of British culture
Her "gender critical" tweet on Thursday shouldn’t be surprising.
The closet tweet is fake. It was clear it was fake pretty much immediately - it was much too blatant, even for her. It should not have been made, and it should not have been spread. However, the sentiment expressed in the fake tweet (that Rowling supposedly believes some people should stay in the closet) is absolutely in line with Rowling's known beliefs. Her open transphobia and refusal to address it in any way make it absolutely clear that she does believe there are people who should stay in the closet. Transphobia keeps trans people in the closet. She is an unapologetic transphobe, and as such I can not in good faith see her response as a rebuttal of the actual sentiment expressed in the fake tweet, because that sentiment inherently follows from her transphobia - the transphobia she hasn't apologized for or commented on or addressed in any way.
Her response isn't a rebuttal of the content of the fake tweet. It cannot be that without explicit acknowledgement of, and apology for, her own transphobia.
Her response is an evasion. It's a fancy "I didn't say that!", lacking any examination of why people would think she could have, or of how her own transphobia means that she effectively is saying that.
Of course, she is right - she did not say that. She did not make that tweet. The tweet is fake. It should not have been made and it should not have been shared.
But leaving it unspoken doesn't change the fact that her transphobia contributes to an environment that keeps trans people closeted. She deflects that responsibility, while also evading addressing her own transphobic views. It's cowardly.
Her response also draws an absolutely disproportionate equivalence between the fake tweet and totalitarian propaganda. It is a quote about totalitarianism from a book about the origins and rise of totalitarianism, written by a Jewish woman who was fleeing Nazism. Rowling's tweet is very explicitly about totalitarianism - downplaying it as 'just a quote about forgery' is absolutely naive. Just look at the replies to the tweet, and look at how the tweet's supporters are interpreting it;
( excelsiorlef posted a few more earlier )
Rowling is a transphobe, and her transphobic supporters clearly believe her tweet is about 'standing up against the totalitarian trans rights activists who want to erase women'. - and why wouldn't they? It's a tweet featuring a quote about totalitarianism from a book about totalitarianism written by a woman fleeing totalitarianism, posted vaguely in response to a fake tweet concerning LGBTQ+ themes. Why would they not interpret that tweet as being about totalitarianism? Add in Rowling's known transphobic views, and this flood of transphobes railing against the 'totalitarian trans rights activists' is what you get.
When a known transphobe posts something, and all the other transphobes interpret it as 'standing up to trans rights', and several trans people and allies tell you that maybe that reading was intended by said known transphobe, then maybe that reading was intended by said known transphobe. Dismissing it as a 'gigantic leap' or accusing those who point it out of 'proving quotes like these right' is silly and ignorant.
She has chosen not to comment on her transphobia at all, but did choose to comment on this one fake tweet in this particular manner.
Without explicit acknowledgement from her of her own transphobia and the explicitly transphobic support her response is receiving, I see no reason to give her the benefit of the doubt.
Feels like whenever this post is made, it's because y'all aren't noticing a dogwhistle.
Yeah cause it's just a coincidence that people in her replies are comparing trans people to totalitarians.
So that Hannah Arendt quote is a dogwhistle towards transphobes? One of us doesn't know what that word means, I guess.
It coming from Hannah Arendt isn't the dogwhistle. Think for two seconds about who J.K. is comparing totalitarians to, or even just read the thread and look at the twitter replies that are posted, and it's not hard to see what the dogwhistle is.
Rowling is a transphobe.
She has used her platform to signal-boost other transphobes, she has featured transphobic writing in her books, and she posted a blatantly transphobic tweet in support of another virulent transphobe who was seeking to have transphobic views protected under the law.
J.K. Rowling’s transphobia is a product of British culture
Her "gender critical" tweet on Thursday shouldn’t be surprising.
The closet tweet is fake. It was clear it was fake pretty much immediately - it was much too blatant, even for her. It should not have been made, and it should not have been spread. However, the sentiment expressed in the fake tweet (that Rowling supposedly believes some people should stay in the closet) is absolutely in line with Rowling's known beliefs. Her open transphobia and refusal to address it in any way make it absolutely clear that she does believe there are people who should stay in the closet. Transphobia keeps trans people in the closet. She is an unapologetic transphobe, and as such I can not in good faith see her response as a rebuttal of the actual sentiment expressed in the fake tweet, because that sentiment inherently follows from her transphobia - the transphobia she hasn't apologized for or commented on or addressed in any way.
Her response isn't a rebuttal of the content of the fake tweet. It cannot be that without explicit acknowledgement of, and apology for, her own transphobia.
Her response is an evasion. It's a fancy "I didn't say that!", lacking any examination of why people would think she could have, or of how her own transphobia means that she effectively is saying that.
Of course, she is right - she did not say that. She did not make that tweet. The tweet is fake. It should not have been made and it should not have been shared.
But leaving it unspoken doesn't change the fact that her transphobia contributes to an environment that keeps trans people closeted. She deflects that responsibility, while also evading addressing her own transphobic views. It's cowardly.
Her response also draws an absolutely disproportionate equivalence between the fake tweet and totalitarian propaganda. It is a quote about totalitarianism from a book about the origins and rise of totalitarianism, written by a Jewish woman who was fleeing Nazism. Rowling's tweet is very explicitly about totalitarianism - downplaying it as 'just a quote about forgery' is absolutely naive. Just look at the replies to the tweet, and look at how the tweet's supporters are interpreting it;
( excelsiorlef posted a few more earlier )
Rowling is a transphobe, and her transphobic supporters clearly believe her tweet is about 'standing up against the totalitarian trans rights activists who want to erase women'. - and why wouldn't they? It's a tweet featuring a quote about totalitarianism from a book about totalitarianism written by a woman fleeing totalitarianism, posted vaguely in response to a fake tweet concerning LGBTQ+ themes. Why would they not interpret that tweet as being about totalitarianism? Add in Rowling's known transphobic views, and this flood of transphobes railing against the 'totalitarian trans rights activists' is what you get.
When a known transphobe posts something, and all the other transphobes interpret it as 'standing up to trans rights', and several trans people and allies tell you that maybe that reading was intended by said known transphobe, then maybe that reading was intended by said known transphobe. Dismissing it as a 'gigantic leap' or accusing those who point it out of 'proving quotes like these right' is silly and ignorant.
She has chosen not to comment on her transphobia at all, but did choose to comment on this one fake tweet in this particular manner.
Without explicit acknowledgement from her of her own transphobia and the explicitly transphobic support her response is receiving, I see no reason to give her the benefit of the doubt.
I've read it and I know she's a transphobe and a TERF, still wouldn't call it a dogwhistle. Neither did that post.
I would agree that 'dogwhistle' isn't really the correct term here. She isn't using particularly coded or obscured language. She's invoking a pretty straightforward (but inappropriate) comparison - one that, whether intentionally or not, feeds into the 'totalitarian trans rights activists' narrative pushed by her supporters in the replies to her tweet. This is an audience she herself courted with her previous tweet in support of the transphobe who attempted to get her transphobia legally protected.
I am not familiar with the book and I didn't mean to put it on a pedestal in any way. I merely think it is relevant in that the quote Rowling used is about totalitarianism, is from a book about totalitarianism, which was written by someone fleeing totalitarianism, which makes her tweet very clearly about totalitarianism, and specifically invokes a comparison with totalitarian propaganda - which I feel some were downplaying.
I agree that the tweet itself may not be directly linked to her transphobia, but I feel it is inevitably entangled in it. The support it is getting is explicitly transphobic, whether intentional or not, and it ultimately fails to examine why people would even think it could be real in the first place. As you say, the closet tweet is obviously fake, but it's really not that far from reality due to her known transphobic views. Rowling seems unwilling or unable to examine that, positioning herself as the victim instead while seemingly ignoring this aspect entirely.
If you have anything to say, I would prefer you actually say it instead of dropping in with a vague drive-by like this.
I think you assume what this quote (and that book) is about based on the title, and I think you might get the wrong impression.
So her using that paints her even worse than people already thought then I guess.
Rowling is a transphobe.
She has used her platform to signal-boost other transphobes, she has featured transphobic writing in her books, and she posted a blatantly transphobic tweet in support of another virulent transphobe who was seeking to have transphobic views protected under the law.
J.K. Rowling’s transphobia is a product of British culture
Her "gender critical" tweet on Thursday shouldn’t be surprising.
The closet tweet is fake. It was clear it was fake pretty much immediately - it was much too blatant, even for her. It should not have been made, and it should not have been spread. However, the sentiment expressed in the fake tweet (that Rowling supposedly believes some people should stay in the closet) is absolutely in line with Rowling's known beliefs. Her open transphobia and refusal to address it in any way make it absolutely clear that she does believe there are people who should stay in the closet. Transphobia keeps trans people in the closet. She is an unapologetic transphobe, and as such I can not in good faith see her response as a rebuttal of the actual sentiment expressed in the fake tweet, because that sentiment inherently follows from her transphobia - the transphobia she hasn't apologized for or commented on or addressed in any way.
Her response isn't a rebuttal of the content of the fake tweet. It cannot be that without explicit acknowledgement of, and apology for, her own transphobia.
Her response is an evasion. It's a fancy "I didn't say that!", lacking any examination of why people would think she could have, or of how her own transphobia means that she effectively is saying that.
Of course, she is right - she did not say that. She did not make that tweet. The tweet is fake. It should not have been made and it should not have been shared.
But leaving it unspoken doesn't change the fact that her transphobia contributes to an environment that keeps trans people closeted. She deflects that responsibility, while also evading addressing her own transphobic views. It's cowardly.
Her response also draws an absolutely disproportionate equivalence between the fake tweet and totalitarian propaganda. It is a quote about totalitarianism from a book about the origins and rise of totalitarianism, written by a Jewish woman who was fleeing Nazism. Rowling's tweet is very explicitly about totalitarianism - downplaying it as 'just a quote about forgery' is absolutely naive. Just look at the replies to the tweet, and look at how the tweet's supporters are interpreting it;
( excelsiorlef posted a few more earlier )
Rowling is a transphobe, and her transphobic supporters clearly believe her tweet is about 'standing up against the totalitarian trans rights activists who want to erase women'. - and why wouldn't they? It's a tweet featuring a quote about totalitarianism from a book about totalitarianism written by a woman fleeing totalitarianism, posted vaguely in response to a fake tweet concerning LGBTQ+ themes. Why would they not interpret that tweet as being about totalitarianism? Add in Rowling's known transphobic views, and this flood of transphobes railing against the 'totalitarian trans rights activists' is what you get.
When a known transphobe posts something, and all the other transphobes interpret it as 'standing up to trans rights', and several trans people and allies tell you that maybe that reading was intended by said known transphobe, then maybe that reading was intended by said known transphobe. Dismissing it as a 'gigantic leap' or accusing those who point it out of 'proving quotes like these right' is silly and ignorant.
She has chosen not to comment on her transphobia at all, but did choose to comment on this one fake tweet in this particular manner.
Without explicit acknowledgement from her of her own transphobia and the explicitly transphobic support her response is receiving, I see no reason to give her the benefit of the doubt.
