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No, you are not considered a bigot for this by anybody who is worth listening to. There are probably a few extremists for whom this is the case – like any extre
by matthewmacleod 6y ago
No, you are not considered a bigot for this by anybody who is worth listening to. There are probably a few extremists for whom this is the case – like any extremist, their views are best disregarded.
But that's part of the problem here, and why this is a damaging article. It uses this view from a handful of extremists – "you are a bigot unless you date women with penises" – a view that almost nobody sensible would reasonably agree with, and then holds it up as an example of why another, unrelated set of things need to be fought against. This is a pretty common approach for people to use when trying to discredit or attack something they dislike.
I will add that Magadalen Berns, for what it's worth, was an explicit, out-and-out anti-trans activist. To quote her directly writing to a trans woman:
"You are fucking blackface actors. You aren't women. You're men who get sexual kicks from being treated like women. fuck you and your dirty perversions. our oppression isn't a fetish you pathetic, sick, fuck"
It is dishonest of Rowling to phrase this interaction in a way that doesn't at least acknowledge why her actions would be controversial under the circumstances. And this is a pattern that's repeated throughout the article. Let's call it an "appeal to reasonableness" – what seems like a reasonable and constructive argument on the surface only appears so because a lot of the context has been ignored or misrepresented.
- colechristensen 6y agoIn America at least, this wing of extremists is getting too big, too loud, and too influential to simply be dismissed. Not that you should take to heart what they have to say, but you shouldn't pretend it's just an aberration.
- biscotti 6y agoI completely agree. Anti-this or anti-that, whatever. American Identity Politics is a rot that has really damaged our western civilizations. She seems invested in protecting women due to a shared experience and becoming convinced through genuine social work that this "movement" and all the toxic wrong-think and undeserved discourse has just served to confuse us and help paralyze rational management of her patients. It makes it much more difficult to look after vulnerable people and has invented terms that are offensive to women. I support her and I hope whatever societies we end up with we institute protections that defend rational people from having wrong-think weaponised against them much better than we do today. Our decision makers shouldnt feel that they must act a certain way because a pressure group has shouted loudly, and does not hold the consent of the demos at large, which erodes respect and damages the legitimacy of our democracy. I am a Brit and unfortunately Identity Politics is extremely dangerous on my Isles. No thinking Anglo-Saxon-Celt-Indian-Sikh-Hindu-Breton-Briton-Norman-Hiberian-Welsh-Scot-Norman-Irish-Kenyan-Ghanan-Ugandan-Nigerian-Jew or other should support it. Each of us can magic up a real ancestral grievance. Some of it's horrific! I'm excited to see how my government handle the next few weeks. The majority position now is unless it stops tolerating unlawlessness, destruction and boat people that the current system has been thoroughly comprimised and is not fit for purpose. If my government wakes up in time, the Antifa element of this illegitimate paid up BLM "movement" & the institutional elements that enable them are in for a lovely shock. All educated black people I know in the UK now are already against them. They and those that have validated mob rule will truly deserve what their weaponisation of race will bring to them, our western civilization (flawed, but still the best) is on fire because of them!
- matthewmacleod 6y agoFor someone so incredibly opposed to "identity politics", you sure do seem to have a strong identity built around your political views.