J.K. Rowling set herself up for a jarringly obvious takedown this weekend.
A recent conversation on X (fka Twitter) led to someone reminding Rowling of how her critics will sometimes refer to her as Joanne on the platform. That is, of course, her legally given name, although she refers to herself by a nickname instead — Jo.
The author responded with a tweet that alluded to her dislike for being called "Joanne."
It's been pointed out far too many times that even transphobes never seem to have an issue calling someone by their preferred name, or even switching to calling them a different name after knowing them for years. We see it when people get married, when they pick up a new nickname, or for any number of other reasons. But for whatever reason, the line is drawn when it comes to a trans person asking to be called a new name that they chose (hint: the reason is transphobia).
And sure, Rowling's own hang-ups seem to revolve more around pronouns and simply allowing trans women to identify as women without screeching at them that they are men (sorry Joanne, they're not!), but people still appreciated the absurdity of this disconnect.
Rowling's tweet came in the midst of her most recent-anti trans row that drummed up enough attention to make headlines. The same day as the aforementioned tweet, the author also misgendered trans football referee Lucy Clark in a tweet that read, "When I was young all the football managers were straight, white, middle-aged blokes, so it's fantastic to see how much things have changed."
That conversation took an equally absurd turn after a teenager echoed Rowling's comments to writer Jonathan Chait suggesting he should "stop telling women what they're allowed to say." Rowling responded by asking the teen, "Do I get to be black if I like Motown and fancy myself in cornrows?"
She just...doesn't stop. There really isn't much more to say than that at this point.
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