this post was submitted on 19 Feb 2025
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I’ve seen the acronym “FART” - “feminism appropriating regressive(?) transphobe”
What did JK do that was feminist? Nothing about the Harry Potter series is feminist by any means. Think about how Hermoine’s entirely justified activism is a joke. Think about how Hermoine is hastily paired off with a guy who treats her like shit throughout the series. (Cool, she becomes the Ministry of Magic as a consolation prize - that took as much thought and effort as making Dumbledore gay after the fact.)
JK even chose to go by her initials to falsely appear male (clearly aping JRR Tolkien) because she didn’t think a female author would sell. A teenage boy protagonist, who treats the female characters in his life as non-persons. (Why does he date Cho Chang?)
Compare to an actual feminist author like Ursula LeGuin, whose works think about gender and sex (both the verb and the noun) in interesting critical ways.
As far as activism - I think she fundraises for dv shelters. Good, but I think she also harassed a shelter in Scotland into shutting down for accepting trans women. I don’t consider that feminist.
You are really gonna blame Rowling for strategically marketing herself in a male dominated society? I get what you're saying, but I'm not sure she should entirely shoulder the blame for that. It's extremely common for authors to use their initials and surname.
I agree with your assessment of the series' content though.
By itself, it would mean nothing. But so much of the Rowling story is the kind of “having your cake and eating it too” - sorta how Harry gets to be a poor beleaguered orphan while simultaneously being ridiculously wealthy. Recognizing the way that female authors are often marginalized, strategically marketing oneself, and then doing nothing to really criticize or change the system once one gets on top.