JK Rowling and White Feminism

White Feminism shines brightest when it only cares about the needs of cishet white women.

Photo by That's Her Business on Unsplash

Yesterday, I was scrolling through my Twitter timeline when I saw an advertisement for the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter on HBO Max. Like any other avid Harry Potter fan, I clicked on the link and felt my excitement build as I watched the trailer where the cast reunited. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were back together and the trailer teased never before scenes we would finally be able to witness. I exited the trailer and went back to scrolling through my timeline when I wondered what tweets JK Rowling had been doing for the special. Maybe there was more that she wanted to tell us or that the trailer left out. Instead, I walked into a transphobic space where I was reminded of who she is as a person.

I initially went onto her profile where I noticed Rowling was just responding to fans' tweets, talking about Christmas, and trying to seem relatable to her 14 million followers. I kept scrolling until I ran across a tweet that read, “War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength. The Penised Individual Who Raped You Is a Woman.” The tweet stood out because it was so different from her usual content where she seemed to be focusing on positive things. A penised individual who raped you being a woman did not seem like a…