First Time Reading Harry Potter

I've seen all 8 Harry Potter movies, but never once read the books. I'm embarking on reading them now and decided to start keeping track of my thoughts about each book/chapter and comparisons to the movies. I plan on (hopefully) watching each movie as I finish the book. TW: SPOILERS FOR BOOKS AND MOVIE IN ALL POSTS

[harrypotterfirsttime]

I haven’t been reading much Harry Potter because of what’s been going on in the world with JK Rowling. I’m finally picking up the book again, but don’t know how often I’ll be updating the blog. Maybe still every chapter, maybe only every few, maybe only book overview, or movie comparison, who knows. I’ll leave it up to rant or talk about anything I want to. Sorry if anyone is disappointed.

[deantookmybiscuits]

JK Rowling

I have a lot of opinions on the recent JK Rowling stuff and I felt I had to get them out. 

1. Before you shit on her, please read her explanation. It gives one a lot to think about and reminds you that she doesn’t hate trans people? She’s just scared and, maybe, rightly so? The legislation in question she’s talking about gives anyone the right to determine their own gender. On the surface? Great, amazing. If, of course, we lived in a perfect world. But we don’t and that’s her point.

There are men (men not trans woman, who are women not fucking men) who would (and have, I couldn’t find it to include here but I have seen a lot of stories about it I’ll see if I can find some and link them) take advantage of this to gain access to woman-only safe spaces. Now, again, I’m not talking about trans woman. I know many trans people, on and offline, and they’re not “pretending”. However predatory men will take advantage of literally anything to continue to be predatory.

For example, the idea of there only being gender neutral bathrooms at my school was suggested. All I could feel was terror. Why? Not because I don’t want trans boys and girls to feel safe, or nb people to have their own space, but because I know there are boys who would take advantage of it to be pervy. I don’t want to have to go to the toilet and be vulnerable in a space where the boy who followed me and harassed me for six months could also be. I wouldn’t feel safe.

Sadly, we live in a world full of shitty men who continue to make life difficult for everyone else.

2. Please stop with the whole “Daniel Radcliffe wrote Harry Potter” “Seamus Finnigan wrote Harry Potter” shit. Why? JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter while she lived in poverty, trying to recover from an abusive relationship and raise her daughter on her own. That’s fucking impressive. We don’t have the right to take that away from her. Has she done problematic things? Undoubtedly (Cho Chang’s name, anyone?), but she’s also done a lot of good. If you can forgive Percy, Sirius and Ron you can forgive her too. At the end of the day, we all know that if JK Rowling was in a room with a trans person, she would treat them with respect and dignity, use the correct name and pronouns.

I understand what she said was hurtful, I understand that she’s done some hurtful things, but I honestly don’t think they come from anywhere except a place of goodness. She’s trying her best (and yes, sometimes failing) to do good. Don’t forget that. You can be angry, you can claim HP for yourself and do with it what you will, but don’t take it from her at the same time. 

JK Rowling saved herself and taught us a lot of very important lessons along the way. Whatever else she is, she deserves to have her name on those books.

[harrypotterfirsttime]

Disclaimer: I have read Jk Rowling’s essay, three times, and even wrote a full rebuttal to the essay, point by point (plus an abbreviated version with only the points where I included sources). I am also a trans man, so while this affects me less directly than it affects trans women, it does affect me and my trans siblings.

I want to start right at your first point. Jk Rowling isn’t rightfully scared, she’s bought into and is further spreading the fear mongering created by transphobes, and more specifically TERFs (trans-exclusionary radical feminists) that predatory cis men will use “legal loopholes” to be allowed into women’s spaces. The reality is that if this is going to happen, it will happen regardless of whether trans women are openly welcomed into those spaces. Trans women cannot be blamed for the actions of predatory cis men (the same way that all gay men cannot be blamed for the actions of pedophiles preying on young boys, and this argument was and continues to be used by homophobes as a reason to exclude gay men from bathrooms and changerooms where young boys might be).

There are not many cases of predatory men trying to get into women’s bathrooms and changerooms to prey on people, simply because they know they’ll be caught, and very few if none of them try to claim to be trans women. The fact remains that even if they did, peeping and assaulting women continues to be against the law, and it would not be tolerated. I recommend watching Jammidodger’s video on YouTube, while very long, he breaks down JK Rowling’s essay piece by piece and includes multiple sources that have studied this specifically and found that there is just no basis for such an argument, it’s completely hypothetical.

Nobody is arguing that your safety shouldn’t matter and shouldn’t be protected. I personally support gender neutral bathrooms, but also gender separated bathrooms. It’s possible to have both (unless your high school is very small and only has one set of bathrooms, which is unlikely). One set can remain as is, and the other becomes gender neutral, with signs indicating whether it has stalls or stalls and urinals. My university did this in the main building on campus, and there have been no issues for at least three years.

Forgiving fictional characters for their imaginary actions isn’t on par with forgiving real people for real actions that have very real consequences. If you can’t tell from my blog title, I’m reading the books for the first time, so I haven’t reached parts where these characters make these mistakes we need to forgive. But I have seen JK Rowling’s mistakes, and they’re unforgivable. She’s strongly sided with gender critical and trans-exclusionary radical feminists, and straight up transphobes, over thousands of people desperately trying and offering to educate her on the reasons why her position is flawed. She praises Magdalen Berns and Maya Forstater while purposefully misrepresenting their views in order to gloss over their extremely deplorable acts (Maya created a hostile work environment with her hate towards trans people and refusal to respect a coworker’s pronouns, and Magdalen, among hundreds of other things, accused trans people of “dressing in blackface” and pretending to be women, and calling all trans women predators). This willful misinformation cannot be ignored and cannot be forgiven without a well written and genuine apology, which we have not seen, instead JK Rowling has doubled down on her views (and recently even deleted a tweet and unfollowed a fellow author who tweeted “trans women are women”).

The problem is that we don’t know that JK Rowling would treat a trans person with utmost respect if she was in a room with them. And that’s the problem. I’d speculate that if she didn’t know the person were trans (aka a “passing” trans person), she’d treat them fine, under the assumption they were cis. If she were in a bathroom with a trans woman who she recognized as a trans woman, we can’t predict her actions. Maybe she’d leave her alone, maybe she’d try to force her out, maybe she’d feel unsafe from her presence and call someone. If she had her way and trans women were forced into men’s bathrooms and I was forced into one with her, I would undoubtedly make her uncomfortable, potentially feel unsafe, and I’d also be scared for my safety, knowing that I don’t belong there and am not welcome there.

Many of the people claiming “Daniel Radcliffe wrote Harry Potter” etc are doing it as a coping mechanism, because these books were and continue to be sanctuaries for A LOT of LGBT+ people who do not want to give up something that brought them comfort and a sense of belonging (Harry came out of a closet under the stairs and lived his best life, we all just want to do the same). They want to be able to continue to do so without supporting someone who actively is campaigning and rallying support behind ideologies that put them in danger. Ultimately, it’s not hurting anyone. We all know she wrote them. We just wish literally anyone else had.

JK Rowling’s intentions in writing the things she has recently really doesn’t matter. And really, if it came from a place of goodness, it has failed miserably. She’s claimed to have thousands of supportive emails, while maybe true, she’s also got thousands more people begging her to step outside the gender critical bubble and listen to reason, logic and actual research debunking her entire view. Her resistance in doing so shows clearly that she has no desire to be fair and reasonable, only to be right, because then she is a victim and is being noble and brave by speaking up against the trans people trying to “erode” her rights.

Finally, and I think most disappointingly, JK Rowling seems to not have learned a single lesson from the books she wrote herself. None of the important lessons from the Harry Potter series (like not judging people, recognizing and celebrating differences, and so much more) are not reflected in any of her recent actions, and a two paragraph caveat followed by a “but” in her essay does not amount to supporting or respecting trans people. She’s got many other problematic views (anti-semitism and racism to name a few) that bleed very obviously into her writing, and attempting to ignore it isn’t useful or helpful, it only further endangers trans people because those sharing JK Rowling’s views are feeling more and more empowered and are being left unopposed.

[deantookmybiscuits]

Thank you so much for this explanation!! I understand where you’re coming from and you’ve definitely give me a lot to think about and I’m going to go watch that video!

I think a lot of my opinions come from what I’ve heard from adults around me. I support trans rights, but I’m really struggling to deal with all the information everyone is throwing around (plus I want to like JK Rowling, HP saved my life).

I really do understand why the comments she made have been deeply hurtful and I posted this in order to start a discussion so thank you for engaging with me! I want to reply to everything you’ve said but your comment is really long and I’ve got school work so sorry if this reply isn’t v. coherent, I’ll probably come back later and write a proper one!

[harrypotterfirsttime]

I am sorry about the length, I just wanted to make sure I addressed everything I saw and have absolutely no skills in editing and cutting down my posts. No worries if you can’t get around to commenting on all of it/continuing a discussion, knowing that you’ve taken it to heart and are thinking about it is enough to make me really happy!

I think a lot of people are struggling with that; Harry Potter is important to so many people in my/our generation because we grew up with it. I’ve seen headcanons for YEARS that trans boys at Hogwarts wouldn’t be able to get to the girls’ dorms and vice versa. LGBT+ people also found refuge in the books the same way you have, and that’s why we specifically are struggling so hard to come to terms with this.

Jamie’s video is VERY long, but even I learned about sources that I hadn’t seen before, so if you have the term, it’s definitely worth it! Have a good day of school work (if you can)

[deantookmybiscuits]

JK Rowling

I have a lot of opinions on the recent JK Rowling stuff and I felt I had to get them out. 

1. Before you shit on her, please read her explanation. It gives one a lot to think about and reminds you that she doesn’t hate trans people? She’s just scared and, maybe, rightly so? The legislation in question she’s talking about gives anyone the right to determine their own gender. On the surface? Great, amazing. If, of course, we lived in a perfect world. But we don’t and that’s her point.

There are men (men not trans woman, who are women not fucking men) who would (and have, I couldn’t find it to include here but I have seen a lot of stories about it I’ll see if I can find some and link them) take advantage of this to gain access to woman-only safe spaces. Now, again, I’m not talking about trans woman. I know many trans people, on and offline, and they’re not “pretending”. However predatory men will take advantage of literally anything to continue to be predatory.

For example, the idea of there only being gender neutral bathrooms at my school was suggested. All I could feel was terror. Why? Not because I don’t want trans boys and girls to feel safe, or nb people to have their own space, but because I know there are boys who would take advantage of it to be pervy. I don’t want to have to go to the toilet and be vulnerable in a space where the boy who followed me and harassed me for six months could also be. I wouldn’t feel safe.

Sadly, we live in a world full of shitty men who continue to make life difficult for everyone else.

2. Please stop with the whole “Daniel Radcliffe wrote Harry Potter” “Seamus Finnigan wrote Harry Potter” shit. Why? JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter while she lived in poverty, trying to recover from an abusive relationship and raise her daughter on her own. That’s fucking impressive. We don’t have the right to take that away from her. Has she done problematic things? Undoubtedly (Cho Chang’s name, anyone?), but she’s also done a lot of good. If you can forgive Percy, Sirius and Ron you can forgive her too. At the end of the day, we all know that if JK Rowling was in a room with a trans person, she would treat them with respect and dignity, use the correct name and pronouns.

I understand what she said was hurtful, I understand that she’s done some hurtful things, but I honestly don’t think they come from anywhere except a place of goodness. She’s trying her best (and yes, sometimes failing) to do good. Don’t forget that. You can be angry, you can claim HP for yourself and do with it what you will, but don’t take it from her at the same time. 

JK Rowling saved herself and taught us a lot of very important lessons along the way. Whatever else she is, she deserves to have her name on those books.

[harrypotterfirsttime]

Disclaimer: I have read Jk Rowling’s essay, three times, and even wrote a full rebuttal to the essay, point by point (plus an abbreviated version with only the points where I included sources). I am also a trans man, so while this affects me less directly than it affects trans women, it does affect me and my trans siblings.

I want to start right at your first point. Jk Rowling isn’t rightfully scared, she’s bought into and is further spreading the fear mongering created by transphobes, and more specifically TERFs (trans-exclusionary radical feminists) that predatory cis men will use “legal loopholes” to be allowed into women’s spaces. The reality is that if this is going to happen, it will happen regardless of whether trans women are openly welcomed into those spaces. Trans women cannot be blamed for the actions of predatory cis men (the same way that all gay men cannot be blamed for the actions of pedophiles preying on young boys, and this argument was and continues to be used by homophobes as a reason to exclude gay men from bathrooms and changerooms where young boys might be).

There are not many cases of predatory men trying to get into women’s bathrooms and changerooms to prey on people, simply because they know they’ll be caught, and very few if none of them try to claim to be trans women. The fact remains that even if they did, peeping and assaulting women continues to be against the law, and it would not be tolerated. I recommend watching Jammidodger’s video on YouTube, while very long, he breaks down JK Rowling’s essay piece by piece and includes multiple sources that have studied this specifically and found that there is just no basis for such an argument, it’s completely hypothetical.

Nobody is arguing that your safety shouldn’t matter and shouldn’t be protected. I personally support gender neutral bathrooms, but also gender separated bathrooms. It’s possible to have both (unless your high school is very small and only has one set of bathrooms, which is unlikely). One set can remain as is, and the other becomes gender neutral, with signs indicating whether it has stalls or stalls and urinals. My university did this in the main building on campus, and there have been no issues for at least three years.

Forgiving fictional characters for their imaginary actions isn’t on par with forgiving real people for real actions that have very real consequences. If you can’t tell from my blog title, I’m reading the books for the first time, so I haven’t reached parts where these characters make these mistakes we need to forgive. But I have seen JK Rowling’s mistakes, and they’re unforgivable. She’s strongly sided with gender critical and trans-exclusionary radical feminists, and straight up transphobes, over thousands of people desperately trying and offering to educate her on the reasons why her position is flawed. She praises Magdalen Berns and Maya Forstater while purposefully misrepresenting their views in order to gloss over their extremely deplorable acts (Maya created a hostile work environment with her hate towards trans people and refusal to respect a coworker’s pronouns, and Magdalen, among hundreds of other things, accused trans people of “dressing in blackface” and pretending to be women, and calling all trans women predators). This willful misinformation cannot be ignored and cannot be forgiven without a well written and genuine apology, which we have not seen, instead JK Rowling has doubled down on her views (and recently even deleted a tweet and unfollowed a fellow author who tweeted “trans women are women”).

The problem is that we don’t know that JK Rowling would treat a trans person with utmost respect if she was in a room with them. And that’s the problem. I’d speculate that if she didn’t know the person were trans (aka a “passing” trans person), she’d treat them fine, under the assumption they were cis. If she were in a bathroom with a trans woman who she recognized as a trans woman, we can’t predict her actions. Maybe she’d leave her alone, maybe she’d try to force her out, maybe she’d feel unsafe from her presence and call someone. If she had her way and trans women were forced into men’s bathrooms and I was forced into one with her, I would undoubtedly make her uncomfortable, potentially feel unsafe, and I’d also be scared for my safety, knowing that I don’t belong there and am not welcome there.

Many of the people claiming “Daniel Radcliffe wrote Harry Potter” etc are doing it as a coping mechanism, because these books were and continue to be sanctuaries for A LOT of LGBT+ people who do not want to give up something that brought them comfort and a sense of belonging (Harry came out of a closet under the stairs and lived his best life, we all just want to do the same). They want to be able to continue to do so without supporting someone who actively is campaigning and rallying support behind ideologies that put them in danger. Ultimately, it’s not hurting anyone. We all know she wrote them. We just wish literally anyone else had.

JK Rowling’s intentions in writing the things she has recently really doesn’t matter. And really, if it came from a place of goodness, it has failed miserably. She’s claimed to have thousands of supportive emails, while maybe true, she’s also got thousands more people begging her to step outside the gender critical bubble and listen to reason, logic and actual research debunking her entire view. Her resistance in doing so shows clearly that she has no desire to be fair and reasonable, only to be right, because then she is a victim and is being noble and brave by speaking up against the trans people trying to “erode” her rights.

Finally, and I think most disappointingly, JK Rowling seems to not have learned a single lesson from the books she wrote herself. None of the important lessons from the Harry Potter series (like not judging people, recognizing and celebrating differences, and so much more) are not reflected in any of her recent actions, and a two paragraph caveat followed by a “but” in her essay does not amount to supporting or respecting trans people. She’s got many other problematic views (anti-semitism and racism to name a few) that bleed very obviously into her writing, and attempting to ignore it isn’t useful or helpful, it only further endangers trans people because those sharing JK Rowling’s views are feeling more and more empowered and are being left unopposed.

[harrypotterfirsttime]

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Chapter 6 - The Portkey

Learning a bit more about Apparition was fun, it makes a lot of sense to set things up this way. I love how many sections of the Ministry of Magic there are, and how many things are just named by exactly what they do.

Arthur really is a good dad, he could apparate but instead he has to use the portkey with all his children and Ron’s friends because they need supervision.

Meeting Cedric again and his father was cool. Cedric again still believes he shouldn’t have won the Quidditch game when Harry fell off, even though his father is SUPER proud of him for beating Harry at Quidditch. The portkey is really similar to in the movie, but I think instead a spell is used to activate it.

One more chapter before the actual Quidditch game by the looks of the chapter titles!

[harrypotterfirsttime]

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Chapter 5 - Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes

Reading about life in the Burrow and life with the Weasleys is just so enjoyable. I would probably read a few novels about just the Weasleys and how they grew up with their family, Charlie and Bill when they were in school. But that isn’t what this series is about sadly.

I love that the twins are creating a business making joke candy and trinkets. That’s exactly up their alley. Molly has every reason to be annoyed by it, but obviously they’re going to succeed with it.

I wonder if reading the Quidditch in the World Cup will be as poorly written as the Quidditch at Hogwarts.

[harrypotterfirsttime]

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Chapter 4 - Back to the Burrow

I found most of this chapter amusing mainly because we got to see the Weasleys interact with the Dursleys. And what I mean by that is only the Weasleys did any interacting, the Dursleys were too scared.

Bless Arthur Weasley for trying to hard to hold a conversation, and explaining how he’ll fix the fireplace and leave as if they’ll understand a single word of it. Then Fred and George spilling toffees, knowing that Dudley will eat them, was pure genius.

I think the takeaway we get here is that the Weasleys are amazing and the Dursleys apparently are still mean, stupid, and fat. Good writing. /s

[harrypotterfirsttime]

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Chapter 3 - The Invitation

Can we take yet another moment to appreciate Molly Weasley and how pure she is? Imagine getting a letter completely covered in stamps because it was so important to her that you receive it.

I’m not sure if I like how indignant Harry is getting, and how much he’s using Sirius to coerce the Dursleys into things (even though they shouldn’t be withholding those things anyways). But he is 14 so I suppose it is to be expected.

I’ll never stop being annoyed at how JK Rowling describes the Dursleys. We get it, we’re not supposed to like them. If she starts every book talking about how obese Vernon and Dudley are, and reminds us one more time how much Petunia’s face is ‘horse-like’ I have to assume she just believes all mean people are ugly and all ugly people are mean.

[harrypotterfirsttime]

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Chapter 2 - The Scar

This entire chapter was JUST to reiterate everything that happened in the last book. Which I get, because if some kids only can grab one of the books and not the others in the series, blahblahblah. But doesn’t change that it feels like a complete waste of time, all I needed was about a page and a half for Harry to wake up, write the letter to Sirius, and update us on what’s changed with the Dursleys.

[harrypotterfirsttime]

JK Rowling’s essay about why she’s a TERF: Abbreviated

My last post was LONG, much longer than I’d intended, and difficult to read on tumblr I’m sure (if anybody would like it sent as a pdf please let me know). So I’m making a shorter post and only including the paragraphs that I responded to with links to a source, for people who are more interested in the places where JK Rowling provably lied in her essay.

“For people who don’t know: last December I tweeted my support for Maya Forstater, a tax specialist who’d lost her job for what were deemed ‘transphobic’ tweets. She took her case to an employment tribunal, asking the judge to rule on whether a philosophical belief that sex is determined by biology is protected in law. Judge Tayler ruled that it wasn’t.”

First of all, Maya didn’t lose her job. Her contract was simply not renewed by her workplace, something that she was not entitled to under any law. JK Rowling also continues to falsely assert that Maya’s belief was that ‘sex is determined biology’, when she actually asserted that under no circumstances is a trans woman a woman nor a trans man a man, and the judge ruled that it did not fit all five necessary limbs to be a philosophical belief (it actually only failed the last one). The judge ruled that the ‘under no circumstances’ part of her assertion was absolutist, and that is what ultimately failed the fifth limb. [source]

“All the time I’ve been researching and learning, accusations and threats from trans activists have been bubbling in my Twitter timeline. This was initially triggered by a ‘like’. When I started taking an interest in gender identity and transgender matters, I began screenshotting comments that interested me, as a way of reminding myself what I might want to research later. On one occasion, I absent-mindedly ‘liked’ instead of screenshotting. That single ‘like’ was deemed evidence of wrongthink, and a persistent low level of harassment began.”

First off, this goes against the statement a spokesperson made for her when this happened, stating that she had a ‘clumsy middle-aged moment’ and liked the tweet by ‘holding her phone incorrectly’. The tweet she liked also had no content that she could research, it was a baseless claim that men in dresses get more solidarity than cis women (which I won’t even dive into, we have so much more to cover). [source] I also won’t dive into the use of ‘wrongthink’ as if we are all characters in George Orwell’s 1984, simply because nobody is controlling her speech, she is simply facing consequences for the shit she chooses to fling at the wall.

“I mention all this only to explain that I knew perfectly well what was going to happen when I supported Maya. I must have been on my fourth or fifth cancellation by then. I expected the threats of violence, to be told I was literally killing trans people with my hate, to be called cunt and bitch and, of course, for my books to be burned, although one particularly abusive man told me he’d composted them.”

Can we salute the man who decided to tell JK Rowling that he composted her books, because that’s absolutely hilarious. But really, I just want to point out that no matter how many threats of violence JK Rowling thinks she is getting, transgender people are subjected to much more abuse both online and in real life, and it affects their wellbeing much more directly than simply being called a cunt or a bitch on twitter. [source] While JK Rowling thankfully isn’t killing trans people, she’s disappointing so many of her LGBT+ fans who looked up to her and found comfort during their childhood in her books that encouraged people to be brave and be themselves.

“What I didn’t expect in the aftermath of my cancellation was the avalanche of emails and letters that came showering down upon me, the overwhelming majority of which were positive, grateful and supportive. They came from a cross-section of kind, empathetic and intelligent people, some of them working in fields dealing with gender dysphoria and trans people, who’re all deeply concerned about the way a socio-political concept is influencing politics, medical practice and safeguarding. They’re worried about the dangers to young people, gay people and about the erosion of women’s and girl’s rights. Above all, they’re worried about a climate of fear that serves nobody – least of all trans youth – well.”

I’ll tackle this paragraph from top to bottom. Firstly, the reason you believe the overwhemling majority of people supported you is because many of those who don’t (myself included, until now) simply rolled their eyes and ignored you, because you are not worth our time. We have lives to live that are unconcerned with your bigotry. Second, I hope those people who were working in fields dealing with gender dysphoria and trans people have since left their jobs, because they have no business serving a community who they secretly harbour unsupportive ideologies about. And finally, the idea of supporting and helping trans people (specifically trans youth) is DANGEROUS to young people, gay people, and women’s and girls’ rights is simply false. No women’s rights have been repealed in favour of trans people’s rights (mainly because trans women continue to shockingly be women). In fact, trans youth with parents who are very supportive and affirming show a statistically significantly lower rate of both depressive symptoms and suicide attempts. [source] [specific graph]

“If you didn’t already know – and why should you? – ‘TERF’ is an acronym coined by trans activists, which stands for Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist. In practice, a huge and diverse cross-section of women are currently being called TERFs and the vast majority have never been radical feminists. Examples of so-called TERFs range from the mother of a gay child who was afraid their child wanted to transition to escape homophobic bullying, to a hitherto totally unfeminist older lady who’s vowed never to visit Marks & Spencer again because they’re allowing any man who says they identify as a woman into the women’s changing rooms. Ironically, radical feminists aren’t even trans-exclusionary – they include trans men in their feminism, because they were born women.”

The first two sentences in this paragraph are true. Viv Smythe, a trans inclusive cis radfem, is credited with coining the term TERF to describe her fellow radical feminists who are ‘unwilling to recognize trans women as sisters’. It has also become widely used to describe feminists who exclude trans women from their feminism, even if they are not radfems. [source] I don’t care about who has been called a TERF, all I need to know is that they are transphobes, which they should feel equally disgusted at the fact their behaviour warrants the label. Trans men do not want to be included in radical feminism because we were ‘born women’, and JK Rowling including this as if it is an excuse is appalling. Trans men are not women, therefore we do not appreciate radfems claiming to support us based on their obsession with what genitals we were born with.

“The fourth is where things start to get truly personal. I’m concerned about the huge explosion in young women wishing to transition and also about the increasing numbers who seem to be detransitioning (returning to their original sex), because they regret taking steps that have, in some cases, altered their bodies irrevocably, and taken away their fertility. Some say they decided to transition after realising they were same-sex attracted, and that transitioning was partly driven by homophobia, either in society or in their families.”

There is a lot to unpack in this paragraph. And I don’t have the room in this already much too long post to dive into detransitioning, so I’ll say this: it sucks that some people transition only to realize they shouldn’t have. But these people are a staggering minority of people who do transition, and there is no external person they can blame for believing them when they relay their symptoms (as doctors are supposed to do) and acting accordingly, with the patient’s consent. The issues I have here are the language JK Rowling uses to say young women are transitioning, purposefully misgendering trans masculine people. And implying that people are transitioning because they are gay, because their families or society push them to not be gay and instead transition, is absolutely laughable. Studies have already shown that society as a whole is much less accepting of transgender people than they are of gay people and lesbians. [source]

“Most people probably aren’t aware – I certainly wasn’t, until I started researching this issue properly – that ten years ago, the majority of people wanting to transition to the opposite sex were male. That ratio has now reversed. The UK has experienced a 4400% increase in girls being referred for transitioning treatment. Autistic girls are hugely overrepresented in their numbers.”

There are a number of factors that could have led to such an increase in referrals, and no studies have a definitive answer, though most speculate that the increase in acceptance and visibility of trans people is likely a major contributor. [source] Additionally, I personally believe that more trans women seeked transition years ago because it was impossible to be accepted as a trans woman without fully medically transitioning, whereas trans men could get by without transitioning and simply presenting as their gender. Now that transition is more acceptable and available, trans men do not need to hold themselves back from transitioning, but unfortunately, with more visibility has come more vitriol that is specifically aimed at trans women, and this could discourage them from transitioning or coming out at all. I won’t dignify the statement about autism in afab trans people being prevalent other than saying that cis people can be autistic, trans people can be autistic, and implying that neuro-atypical people cannot make informed decisions about their bodies and healthcare is abhorrent.

“The same phenomenon has been seen in the US. In 2018,  American physician and researcher Lisa Littman set out to explore it. In an interview, she said:

‘Parents online were describing a very unusual pattern of transgender-identification where multiple friends and even entire friend groups became transgender-identified at the same time. I would have been remiss had I not considered social contagion and peer influences as potential factors.’

Littman mentioned Tumblr, Reddit, Instagram and YouTube as contributing factors to Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria, where she believes that in the realm of transgender identification ‘youth have created particularly insular echo chambers.’”

Lisa Littman’s study can be read here. There are a multitude of issues with this study, and many big names in psychology and gender studies have spoken up about the issues in her conclusions and in the methods to begin with, which are unscientific and deeply flawed. [source] The biggest flaw, in my opinion, is that the study interviews parents of trans youth as opposed to the trans youth themselves, and takes the parents’ limited knowledge of their child’s inner thoughts and experience as fact without consulting the trans person at all. Additionally, recruitment for the study was mainly done through anti-trans organizations. All of this information is available in the original study and in the rebuttal. Because of this, I cannot take anybody who cites Lisa Littman or her study seriously, because it is not credible whatsoever.

“When I read about the theory of gender identity, I remember how mentally sexless I felt in youth. I remember Colette’s description of herself as a ‘mental hermaphrodite’ and Simone de Beauvoir’s words: ‘It is perfectly natural for the future woman to feel indignant at the limitations posed upon her by her sex. The real question is not why she should reject them: the problem is rather to understand why she accepts them.’”

More people than JK Rowling is probably aware of feel ‘mentally sexless’ in youth, because they have no crippling discomfort regarding their gender identity, and either do not feel pressure to prescribe to gender stereotypical behaviours or actively rebel against it. According to brain studies, everyone is technically a ‘mental hermaphrodite’ because there remains to be no such thing as a male brain or female brain. [source]

“I want to be very clear here: I know transition will be a solution for some gender dysphoric people, although I’m also aware through extensive research that studies have consistently shown that between 60-90% of gender dysphoric teens will grow out of their dysphoria. Again and again I’ve been told to ‘just meet some trans people.’ I have: in addition to a few younger people, who were all adorable, I happen to know a self-described transsexual woman who’s older than I am and wonderful. Although she’s open about her past as a gay man, I’ve always found it hard to think of her as anything other than a woman, and I believe (and certainly hope) she’s completely happy to have transitioned. Being older, though, she went through a long and rigorous process of evaluation, psychotherapy and staged transformation. The current explosion of trans activism is urging a removal of almost all the robust systems through which candidates for sex reassignment were once required to pass. A man who intends to have no surgery and take no hormones may now secure himself a Gender Recognition Certificate and be a woman in the sight of the law. Many people aren’t aware of this.”

First of all, the number of kids who “desist” from their gender dysphoria are not reliable. Mainly because the methods in these studies are not robust (ie one study defined gender dysphoria as exhibiting any behaviour that was not typical of their gender, such as boys playing with barbies and girls playing with monster trucks; another study classified subjects that did not return to the clinic and did not follow up as desisters without confirming). [source] Additionally, studying children who do exhibit true gender dysphoria, the main factor determining whether it will persist or desist seems to be the intensity, and not at all related to peer relations. [source] Trans people wishing to transition medically may no longer need to subject themselves to extensive and unnecessary therapy to convince medical professionals that they are who they say they are, but they still need to wait on very long lists for our turn to access hormone replacement therapy and surgeries, and can spend all of that time being sure that we are indeed trans and want these medical treatments. JK Rowling is also purposefully misreporting facts in regard to Gender Recognition Certificates. In order to get one, one must be over 18, have lived as their true gender for at least 2 full years, and provide two medical reports (one from a gender specialist and another from a general practitioner) citing that they have gender dysphoria. If they have not had any medical transitional treatments, the medical reports must state whether they are waiting for them or why they are not pursuing any, in direct contradiction of JK Rowling’s assertion that any man can get this certificate. [source]

“I believe the majority of trans-identified people not only pose zero threat to others, but are vulnerable for all the reasons I’ve outlined. Trans people need and deserve protection. Like women, they’re most likely to be killed by sexual partners. Trans women who work in the sex industry, particularly trans women of colour, are at particular risk. Like every other domestic abuse and sexual assault survivor I know, I feel nothing but empathy and solidarity with trans women who’ve been abused by men.

So I want trans women to be safe. At the same time, I do not want to make natal girls and women less safe. When you throw open the doors of bathrooms and changing rooms to any man who believes or feels he’s a woman – and, as I’ve said, gender confirmation certificates may now be granted without any need for surgery or hormones – then you open the door to any and all men who wish to come inside. That is the simple truth.”

‘Natal girls and women’ is another transphobic dog whistle. There is a non-offensive way to say this, which I am sure if JK Rowling has done all the reading she has claimed to do, she must have stumbled upon the word ‘cisgender’ at some point. It effectively communicates the same information without alienating trans people and implying they are less than cis women. Trans women are not ‘men who believe or feel like women’, and this long standing myth that cis men will use the guise of being a trans woman to gain access to public bathrooms and changerooms has been thoroughly debunked, because trans women have been using women’s bathrooms and changerooms for years with no issues. [source] And scroll up for the claim that Gender Confirmation Certificates are given out to any man who decides to be a woman for a day above, this is just more misinformation, no ‘simple truth’.

“On Saturday morning, I read that the Scottish government is proceeding with its controversial gender recognition plans, which will in effect mean that all a man needs to ‘become a woman’ is to say he’s one. To use a very contemporary word, I was ‘triggered’. Ground down by the relentless attacks from trans activists on social media, when I was only there to give children feedback about pictures they’d drawn for my book under lockdown, I spent much of Saturday in a very dark place inside my head, as memories of a serious sexual assault I suffered in my twenties recurred on a loop. That assault happened at a time and in a space where I was vulnerable, and a man capitalised on an opportunity.  I couldn’t shut out those memories and I was finding it hard to contain my anger and disappointment about the way I believe my government is playing fast and loose with womens and girls’ safety.”

First of all, JK Rowling is blatantly lying. The Gender Recognition Act Reform has been completely shelved by the Scottish government in light if the more pressing need to fight the coronavirus on April 1st, and I cannot find any updates on this being considered by the government. [source] The only trans related news out of Scotland I can find is that on June 5th, the Scottish government included trans women in the definition of women in guidance for school boards, which will have none of the effects that JK Rowling is fear mongering about. [source] Again, I am upset to know that JK Rowling is a survivor, but she is using this revelation as a weapon to make people fear that it will happen to others as a result of trans people gaining access to the same public spaces as their cis counterparts. Women’s and girls’ safety is NOT being put at risk by trans people using a bathroom or changeroom.

[harrypotterfirsttime]

JK Rowling’s essay about why she’s a TERF: Full Overview

Be forewarned, this is going to be LONG. I started reading the Goblet of Fire today and saw that JK Rowling has written and posted an ESSAY about why she’s speaking out about her blatant transphobia. I never intended for this blog to be about her, but since this is happening while I am attempting to read the series for the first time, I feel compelled to address it.

“This isn’t an easy piece to write, for reasons that will shortly become clear, but I know it’s time to explain myself on an issue surrounded by toxicity. I write this without any desire to add to that toxicity.”

I cannot fathom how she believed this would be a good idea and not add to the toxicity surrounding this issue. During pride month. When Black Lives Matter is protesting for equal rights. How is this necessary?

“For people who don’t know: last December I tweeted my support for Maya Forstater, a tax specialist who’d lost her job for what were deemed ‘transphobic’ tweets. She took her case to an employment tribunal, asking the judge to rule on whether a philosophical belief that sex is determined by biology is protected in law. Judge Tayler ruled that it wasn’t.”

First of all, Maya didn’t lose her job. Her contract was simply not renewed by her workplace, something that she was not entitled to under any law. JK Rowling also continues to falsely assert that Maya’s belief was that ‘sex is determined biology’, when she actually asserted that under no circumstances is a trans woman a woman nor a trans man a man, and the judge ruled that it did not fit all five necessary limbs to be a philosophical belief (it actually only failed the last one). The judge ruled that the ‘under no circumstances’ part of her assertion was absolutist, and that is what ultimately failed the fifth limb. [source]

“My interest in trans issues pre-dated Maya’s case by almost two years, during which I followed the debate around the concept of gender identity closely. I’ve met trans people, and read sundry books, blogs and articles by trans people, gender specialists, intersex people, psychologists, safeguarding experts, social workers and doctors, and followed the discourse online and in traditional media. On one level, my interest in this issue has been professional, because I’m writing a crime series, set in the present day, and my fictional female detective is of an age to be interested in, and affected by, these issues herself, but on another, it’s intensely personal, as I’m about to explain.”

Not much to say here, except that this paragraph is meant to tell us that she’s considered including this debate in a fictional book she’s writing for some reason, and that she has allegedly had time to talk to all of these extremely knowledgeable people who all failed to inform her that trans people don’t actually hurt her or take anything from her.

“All the time I’ve been researching and learning, accusations and threats from trans activists have been bubbling in my Twitter timeline. This was initially triggered by a ‘like’. When I started taking an interest in gender identity and transgender matters, I began screenshotting comments that interested me, as a way of reminding myself what I might want to research later. On one occasion, I absent-mindedly ‘liked’ instead of screenshotting. That single ‘like’ was deemed evidence of wrongthink, and a persistent low level of harassment began.”

First off, this goes against the statement a spokesperson made for her when this happened, stating that she had a ‘clumsy middle-aged moment’ and liked the tweet by ‘holding her phone incorrectly’. The tweet she liked also had no content that she could research, it was a baseless claim that men in dresses get more solidarity than cis women (which I won’t even dive into, we have so much more to cover). [source] I also won’t dive into the use of ‘wrongthink’ as if we are all characters in George Orwell’s 1984, simply because nobody is controlling her speech, she is simply facing consequences for the shit she chooses to fling at the wall.

“Months later, I compounded my accidental ‘like’ crime by following Magdalen Burns on Twitter. Magdalen was an immensely brave young feminist and lesbian who was dying of an aggressive brain tumour. I followed her because I wanted to contact her directly, which I succeeded in doing. However, as Magdalen was a great believer in the importance of biological sex, and didn’t believe lesbians should be called bigots for not dating trans women with penises, dots were joined in the heads of twitter trans activists, and the level of social media abuse increased.”

Just take a moment to laugh at the fact that she misspelled Magdalen Berns’ last name. But to clear things up, yes, Magdalen was suffering from a fatal aggressive brain tumour, but no, she was not a brave young feminist, she was an extremely outspoken transphobe, who regularly made videos misgendering, slandering, and twisting the words of trans people and trans activists in order to victimize herself. The vast majority of trans people will agree that you shouldn’t date anybody that you don’t want to date, or have any kind of sex with anyone that you don’t like. But Magdalen took it a step further, and said that NO lesbian could have sex with somebody with a penis and still be a lesbian, and NO lesbian could have a penis, despite trans lesbians continuing to exist to this very day. [for sources, Magdalen’s twitter and youtube channel remain active]

“I mention all this only to explain that I knew perfectly well what was going to happen when I supported Maya. I must have been on my fourth or fifth cancellation by then. I expected the threats of violence, to be told I was literally killing trans people with my hate, to be called cunt and bitch and, of course, for my books to be burned, although one particularly abusive man told me he’d composted them.”

Can we salute the man who decided to tell JK Rowling that he composted her books, because that’s absolutely hilarious. But really, I just want to point out that no matter how many threats of violence JK Rowling thinks she is getting, transgender people are subjected to much more abuse both online and in real life, and it affects their wellbeing much more directly than simply being called a cunt or a bitch on twitter. [source] While JK Rowling thankfully isn’t killing trans people, she’s disappointing so many of her LGBT+ fans who looked up to her and found comfort during their childhood in her books that encouraged people to be brave and be themselves.

“What I didn’t expect in the aftermath of my cancellation was the avalanche of emails and letters that came showering down upon me, the overwhelming majority of which were positive, grateful and supportive. They came from a cross-section of kind, empathetic and intelligent people, some of them working in fields dealing with gender dysphoria and trans people, who’re all deeply concerned about the way a socio-political concept is influencing politics, medical practice and safeguarding. They’re worried about the dangers to young people, gay people and about the erosion of women’s and girl’s rights. Above all, they’re worried about a climate of fear that serves nobody – least of all trans youth – well.”

I’ll tackle this paragraph from top to bottom. Firstly, the reason you believe the overwhemling majority of people supported you is because many of those who don’t (myself included, until now) simply rolled their eyes and ignored you, because you are not worth our time. We have lives to live that are unconcerned with your bigotry. Second, I hope those people who were working in fields dealing with gender dysphoria and trans people have since left their jobs, because they have no business serving a community who they secretly harbour unsupportive ideologies about. And finally, the idea of supporting and helping trans people (specifically trans youth) is DANGEROUS to young people, gay people, and women’s and girls’ rights is simply false. No women’s rights have been repealed in favour of trans people’s rights (mainly because trans women continue to shockingly be women). In fact, trans youth with parents who are very supportive and affirming show a statistically significantly lower rate of both depressive symptoms and suicide attempts. [source] [specific graph]

“I’d stepped back from Twitter for many months both before and after tweeting support for Maya, because I knew it was doing nothing good for my mental health. I only returned because I wanted to share a free children’s book during the pandemic. Immediately, activists who clearly believe themselves to be good, kind and progressive people swarmed back into my timeline, assuming a right to police my speech, accuse me of hatred, call me misogynistic slurs and, above all – as every woman involved in this debate will know – TERF.”

I can completely understand taking a step back from Twitter for mental health reasons (perhaps we all would have been better off if this had been an indefinite hiatus). To be clear, no activists are claiming the right to police your speech. People are speaking up against your speech because it is hateful and contradictory to current research about transgender people and the best way to treat and support us effectively. Some people maybe using misogynistic slurs, which I don’t condone, but let us be clear that TERF is not one of them.

“If you didn’t already know – and why should you? – ‘TERF’ is an acronym coined by trans activists, which stands for Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist. In practice, a huge and diverse cross-section of women are currently being called TERFs and the vast majority have never been radical feminists. Examples of so-called TERFs range from the mother of a gay child who was afraid their child wanted to transition to escape homophobic bullying, to a hitherto totally unfeminist older lady who’s vowed never to visit Marks & Spencer again because they’re allowing any man who says they identify as a woman into the women’s changing rooms. Ironically, radical feminists aren’t even trans-exclusionary – they include trans men in their feminism, because they were born women.”

The first two sentences in this paragraph are true. Viv Smythe, a trans inclusive cis radfem, is credited with coining the term TERF to describe her fellow radical feminists who are ‘unwilling to recognize trans women as sisters’. It has also become widely used to describe feminists who exclude trans women from their feminism, even if they are not radfems. [source] I don’t care about who has been called a TERF, all I need to know is that they are transphobes, which they should feel equally disgusted at the fact their behaviour warrants the label. Trans men do not want to be included in radical feminism because we were ‘born women’, and JK Rowling including this as if it is an excuse is appalling. Trans men are not women, therefore we do not appreciate radfems claiming to support us based on their obsession with what genitals we were born with.

“But accusations of TERFery have been sufficient to intimidate many people, institutions and organisations I once admired, who’re cowering before the tactics of the playground. ‘They’ll call us transphobic!’ ‘They’ll say I hate trans people!’ What next, they’ll say you’ve got fleas? Speaking as a biological woman, a lot of people in positions of power really need to grow a pair (which is doubtless literally possible, according to the kind of people who argue that clownfish prove humans aren’t a dimorphic species).”

I cringed hard at ‘speaking as a biological woman’, because that’s just the kind of language that TERFs consistently use to make it clear that they are NOT under any circumstances to be mistaken for trans. The notion that these people, institutions and organizations are ‘cowering’ out of fear of being transphobic as opposed to wanting to openly support and welcome trans people as they would any other person is extremely biased. And as a last note, people using clownfish are trying to show that sex is noy cut and dry binary, it varies between species, and there is so much more to it than ‘XX vs XY’ and ‘penis vs vagina’ like JK Rowling and company seem to think.

“So why am I doing this? Why speak up? Why not quietly do my research and keep my head down?

Well, I’ve got five reasons for being worried about the new trans activism, and deciding I need to speak up.

Firstly, I have a charitable trust that focuses on alleviating social deprivation in Scotland, with a particular emphasis on women and children. Among other things, my trust supports projects for female prisoners and for survivors of domestic and sexual abuse. I also fund medical research into MS, a disease that behaves very differently in men and women. It’s been clear to me for a while that the new trans activism is having (or is likely to have, if all its demands are met) a significant impact on many of the causes I support, because it’s pushing to erode the legal definition of sex and replace it with gender.”

I don’t think anyone will argue that JK Rowling’s charitable trusts and funds are a bad thing. But her need to specify that these have an ‘emphasis on women and children’, imply that survivors of domestic and sexual abuse cannot be men or trans people, and for some reason pointing out that MS can present differently in men and women, are all red flags that these are issues she’s injecting into her charitable efforts, as opposed to actual threats to the causes she supports. The fear that transphobes have over people being classified by the gender they experience and walk through life presenting with instead of the genitals they have underneath a few layers of clothes is ridiculous, especially when you strip it down like this.

“The second reason is that I’m an ex-teacher and the founder of a children’s charity, which gives me an interest in both education and safeguarding. Like many others, I have deep concerns about the effect the trans rights movement is having on both.

The third is that, as a much-banned author, I’m interested in freedom of speech and have publicly defended it, even unto Donald Trump.”

The movement to secure equal rights and protection under the law for transgender people will not have a negative effect on children or education, other than allowing kids to learn more about the diversity among people they’ll interact with throughout their lives. And once again, nobody is trying to tell you that you cannot say these things, only that you will face consequences for saying them, like Donald Trump does daily. Trans people and activists don’t even have the power to affect the right to freedom of speech, so this is a moot point.

“The fourth is where things start to get truly personal. I’m concerned about the huge explosion in young women wishing to transition and also about the increasing numbers who seem to be detransitioning (returning to their original sex), because they regret taking steps that have, in some cases, altered their bodies irrevocably, and taken away their fertility. Some say they decided to transition after realising they were same-sex attracted, and that transitioning was partly driven by homophobia, either in society or in their families.”

There is a lot to unpack in this paragraph. And I don’t have the room in this already much too long post to dive into detransitioning, so I’ll say this: it sucks that some people transition only to realize they shouldn’t have. But these people are a staggering minority of people who do transition, and there is no external person they can blame for believing them when they relay their symptoms (as doctors are supposed to do) and acting accordingly, with the patient’s consent. The issues I have here are the language JK Rowling uses to say young women are transitioning, purposefully misgendering trans masculine people. And implying that people are transitioning because they are gay, because their families or society push them to not be gay and instead transition, is absolutely laughable. Studies have already shown that society as a whole is much less accepting of transgender people than they are of gay people and lesbians. [source]

“Most people probably aren’t aware – I certainly wasn’t, until I started researching this issue properly – that ten years ago, the majority of people wanting to transition to the opposite sex were male. That ratio has now reversed. The UK has experienced a 4400% increase in girls being referred for transitioning treatment. Autistic girls are hugely overrepresented in their numbers.”

There are a number of factors that could have led to such an increase in referrals, and no studies have a definitive answer, though most speculate that the increase in acceptance and visibility of trans people is likely a major contributor. [source] Additionally, I personally believe that more trans women seeked transition years ago because it was impossible to be accepted as a trans woman without fully medically transitioning, whereas trans men could get by without transitioning and simply presenting as their gender. Now that transition is more acceptable and available, trans men do not need to hold themselves back from transitioning, but unfortunately, with more visibility has come more vitriol that is specifically aimed at trans women, and this could discourage them from transitioning or coming out at all. I won’t dignify the statement about autism in afab trans people being prevalent other than saying that cis people can be autistic, trans people can be autistic, and implying that neuro-atypical people cannot make informed decisions about their bodies and healthcare is abhorrent.

“The same phenomenon has been seen in the US. In 2018,  American physician and researcher Lisa Littman set out to explore it. In an interview, she said:

‘Parents online were describing a very unusual pattern of transgender-identification where multiple friends and even entire friend groups became transgender-identified at the same time. I would have been remiss had I not considered social contagion and peer influences as potential factors.’

Littman mentioned Tumblr, Reddit, Instagram and YouTube as contributing factors to Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria, where she believes that in the realm of transgender identification ‘youth have created particularly insular echo chambers.’”

Lisa Littman’s study can be read here. There are a multitude of issues with this study, and many big names in psychology and gender studies have spoken up about the issues in her conclusions and in the methods to begin with, which are unscientific and deeply flawed. [source] The biggest flaw, in my opinion, is that the study interviews parents of trans youth as opposed to the trans youth themselves, and takes the parents’ limited knowledge of their child’s inner thoughts and experience as fact without consulting the trans person at all. Additionally, recruitment for the study was mainly done through anti-trans organizations. All of this information is available in the original study and in the rebuttal. Because of this, I cannot take anybody who cites Lisa Littman or her study seriously, because it is not credible whatsoever.

“Her paper caused a furore. She was accused of bias and of spreading misinformation about transgender people, subjected to a tsunami of abuse and a concerted campaign to discredit both her and her work. The journal took the paper offline and re-reviewed it before republishing it. However, her career took a similar hit to that suffered by Maya Forstater. Lisa Littman had dared challenge one of the central tenets of trans activism, which is that a person’s gender identity is innate, like sexual orientation. Nobody, the activists insisted, could ever be persuaded into being trans.”

There are reasons clearly stated above why Lisa Littman and her work should be discredited for publishing this work and claiming it to be a study (especially because it was not published in any journal and was therefore not subjected to peer-review). Also, for argument’s sake, why do people like JK Rowling take people’s word for it when they report their sexual orientation, but not their gender? Why should one be recognized as innate, but not the other? Both can only be determined by the individual and their internal thoughts and feelings and urges and sense of self. Nobody can be persuaded to be trans any more than anyone can be persuaded to be gay, or lesbian, or bisexual.

“The argument of many current trans activists is that if you don’t let a gender dysphoric teenager transition, they will kill themselves. In an article explaining why he resigned from the Tavistock (an NHS gender clinic in England) psychiatrist Marcus Evans stated that claims that children will kill themselves if not permitted to transition do not ‘align substantially with any robust data or studies in this area. Nor do they align with the cases I have encountered over decades as a psychotherapist.’”

I didn’t think it needed to be said, but a single psychiatrist’s experience is not representative of the entire reality. Many people misquote studies in order to make them work for their agenda. Studies show that trans people have higher suicide attempt rates, not higher rates of actually killing themselves. To insert personal experience like Marcus Evans did, I attempted suicide multiple times, and experienced high levels of depression and anxiety directly tied to my gender dysphoria, all of which has been alleviated since being allowed to medically and socially transition. There are hundreds if not thousands of other trans people who will report similar struggles to myself.

“The writings of young trans men reveal a group of notably sensitive and clever people.  The more of their accounts of gender dysphoria I’ve read, with their insightful descriptions of anxiety, dissociation, eating disorders, self-harm and self-hatred, the more I’ve wondered whether, if I’d been born 30 years later, I too might have tried to transition. The allure of escaping womanhood would have been huge. I struggled with severe OCD as a teenager. If I’d found community and sympathy online that I couldn’t find in my immediate environment, I believe I could have been persuaded to turn myself into the son my father had openly said he’d have preferred.”

Comparing having OCD to suffering with gender dysphoria and all the side effects it can have (many of which she listed here) is offensive. So is saying that she, too, may have transitioned, because she clearly is very comfortable as a cis woman. Trans men do not transition to escape womanhood, we transition because at our core we know we are not women and this causes us deep turmoil, on top of all the sexism and misogyny we face as a result of moving through the world being perceived as women while in the closet. Comparing the admittedly terrible experience of growing into a world riddled with sexism and misogyny to that same experience topped with multiple deeper levels of emotional turmoil is just not a comparison any cis person can make or attempt to understand, which is difficult to hear and accept for JK Rowling I’m sure. If there were online communities when JK Rowling was struggling with severe OCD, she likely would have found sympathy in other people who have OCD. The following implication (out of nowhere) that there are trans people online luring in teenagers with unrelated mental health struggles trying to ‘persuade’ them to transition is just ridiculous and I cannot believe she attempted to make this comparison.

“When I read about the theory of gender identity, I remember how mentally sexless I felt in youth. I remember Colette’s description of herself as a ‘mental hermaphrodite’ and Simone de Beauvoir’s words: ‘It is perfectly natural for the future woman to feel indignant at the limitations posed upon her by her sex. The real question is not why she should reject them: the problem is rather to understand why she accepts them.’”

More people than JK Rowling is probably aware of feel ‘mentally sexless’ in youth, because they have no crippling discomfort regarding their gender identity, and either do not feel pressure to prescribe to gender stereotypical behaviours or actively rebel against it. According to brain studies, everyone is technically a ‘mental hermaphrodite’ because there remains to be no such thing as a male brain or female brain. [source]

“As I didn’t have a realistic possibility of becoming a man back in the 1980s, it had to be books and music that got me through both my mental health issues and the sexualised scrutiny and judgement that sets so many girls to war against their bodies in their teens. Fortunately for me, I found my own sense of otherness, and my ambivalence about being a woman, reflected in the work of female writers and musicians who reassured me that, in spite of everything a sexist world tries to throw at the female-bodied, it’s fine not to feel pink, frilly and compliant inside your own head; it’s OK to feel confused, dark, both sexual and non-sexual, unsure of what or who you are.”

Just to clarify for JK Rowling, trans men and trans women both existed in the 1980s, and long before that. If she had been a trans man, she would have been able to pursue a social or medical transition. Those trans people in the 80s also turned to books and music to get through their struggles. It has been long documented that women and girls have negative feelings towards their bodies that are mainly rooted in the misogynistic society we all have to grow up in, and it’s a battle that trans people fight to end alongside cis women. I think JK Rowling will also find that trans people are at the forefront of making it known that gender roles and stereotypes are not necessary and should not be the standard for being a man or woman; women do not need to like pink, frilly things and men do not need to like monochrome, masculine things. Trans people are also huge advocates for finding yourself and living your life in the way that is most authentic to you, without focusing on whether your body is ‘male’ or ‘female’ and fighting against stigmas surrounding that obsession.

“I want to be very clear here: I know transition will be a solution for some gender dysphoric people, although I’m also aware through extensive research that studies have consistently shown that between 60-90% of gender dysphoric teens will grow out of their dysphoria. Again and again I’ve been told to ‘just meet some trans people.’ I have: in addition to a few younger people, who were all adorable, I happen to know a self-described transsexual woman who’s older than I am and wonderful. Although she’s open about her past as a gay man, I’ve always found it hard to think of her as anything other than a woman, and I believe (and certainly hope) she’s completely happy to have transitioned. Being older, though, she went through a long and rigorous process of evaluation, psychotherapy and staged transformation. The current explosion of trans activism is urging a removal of almost all the robust systems through which candidates for sex reassignment were once required to pass. A man who intends to have no surgery and take no hormones may now secure himself a Gender Recognition Certificate and be a woman in the sight of the law. Many people aren’t aware of this.”

First of all, the number of kids who “desist” from their gender dysphoria are not reliable. Mainly because the methods in these studies are not robust (ie one study defined gender dysphoria as exhibiting any behaviour that was not typical of their gender, such as boys playing with barbies and girls playing with monster trucks; another study classified subjects that did not return to the clinic and did not follow up as desisters without confirming). [source] Additionally, studying children who do exhibit true gender dysphoria, the main factor determining whether it will persist or desist seems to be the intensity, and not at all related to peer relations. [source] Trans people wishing to transition medically may no longer need to subject themselves to extensive and unnecessary therapy to convince medical professionals that they are who they say they are, but they still need to wait on very long lists for our turn to access hormone replacement therapy and surgeries, and can spend all of that time being sure that we are indeed trans and want these medical treatments. JK Rowling is also purposefully misreporting facts in regard to Gender Recognition Certificates. In order to get one, one must be over 18, have lived as their true gender for at least 2 full years, and provide two medical reports (one from a gender specialist and another from a general practitioner) citing that they have gender dysphoria. If they have not had any medical transitional treatments, the medical reports must state whether they are waiting for them or why they are not pursuing any, in direct contradiction of JK Rowling’s assertion that any man can get this certificate. [source]

“We’re living through the most misogynistic period I’ve experienced. Back in the 80s, I imagined that my future daughters, should I have any, would have it far better than I ever did, but between the backlash against feminism and a porn-saturated online culture, I believe things have got significantly worse for girls. Never have I seen women denigrated and dehumanised to the extent they are now. From the leader of the free world’s long history of sexual assault accusations and his proud boast of ‘grabbing them by the pussy’, to the incel (‘involuntarily celibate’) movement that rages against women who won’t give them sex, to the trans activists who declare that TERFs need punching and re-educating, men across the political spectrum seem to agree: women are asking for trouble. Everywhere, women are being told to shut up and sit down, or else.”

I find it hilarious that JK Rowling believes that 2020 is more riddled with misogyny than the 80s, and even the 90s. There is only backlash against feminism that isn’t intersectional and purposefully excludes groups of people for reasons rooted in ignorance and bigotry, like TERFs. Her personal belief that things are worse for girls are not reflected in society as a whole for a multitude of reasons. Although I’ll give that Donald Trump being president is a failure of the American people and highlights the bigotry of Americans, it is completely unrelated to trans people, and I’m not sure why it is relevant. I’d even argue the existence of incels is due to the fact that women are no longer forced into relationships and marriages the way they used to, no longer have to find a husband because they can work and live without leaning a man for financial stability, and can say no to sex with less repercussions (except a very small minority of men throwing tantrums about it). Comparing trans people fighting against TERFs and wanting to re-educate them to incels, Donald Trump, and misogynistic men is just a blatant attempt to derail the conversation. JK Rowling refuses to see that she is not being told to shut up because she’s a woman, she’s being told to shut up because there’s a transphobe. (On a lighter note, this reminds me of the post of a comic where homophobes were told to hit a beehive like its a pinata, and Christians got upset for being targetted, without Christianity ever being mentioned....seems relatable here)

“I’ve read all the arguments about femaleness not residing in the sexed body, and the assertions that biological women don’t have common experiences, and I find them, too, deeply misogynistic and regressive. It’s also clear that one of the objectives of denying the importance of sex is to erode what some seem to see as the cruelly segregationist idea of women having their own biological realities or – just as threatening – unifying realities that make them a cohesive political class. The hundreds of emails I’ve received in the last few days prove this erosion concerns many others just as much.  It isn’t enough for women to be trans allies. Women must accept and admit that there is no material difference between trans women and themselves.”

I think all trans people will admit that people with vaginas have shared experiences because, well, they have the same body part, the same way all people with arms can relate to having arms. What we are arguing though, is that womanhood is not tied to having a vagina, or the struggles that come with having one, even though those experiences may be shared by many women. Many women may also share the experience of playing with barbies or being part of a soccer league as a child, neither of which have to do with being ‘biological women’. Pushing the absurd accusations of segregation and some weird political plan, trans people don’t pretend that we’re the same as cis people. There are material differences between trans women and cis women, and between trans men and cis men. There are also material differences among cis women and cis men. Our argument is that these material differences are not a valid excuse to exclude us from being women and men.

“But, as many women have said before me, ‘woman’ is not a costume. ‘Woman’ is not an idea in a man’s head. ‘Woman’ is not a pink brain, a liking for Jimmy Choos or any of the other sexist ideas now somehow touted as progressive. Moreover, the ‘inclusive’ language that calls female people ‘menstruators’ and ‘people with vulvas’ strikes many women as dehumanising and demeaning. I understand why trans activists consider this language to be appropriate and kind, but for those of us who’ve had degrading slurs spat at us by violent men, it’s not neutral, it’s hostile and alienating.”

Trans people are not claiming that being a woman is a costume, or an idea in anyone’s head, or a pink brain or any gender stereotype. Men do not know what it is like to be a woman. I have absolutely no idea what it feels like to be a woman, because even when presenting as one, I did not feel womanhood or any kinship with other women, because I knew that on a deep level I was not a woman. But on to less personal experiences. Inclusive language shouldn’t have quotation marks around it. Those you call female people (which I call afab, or assigned female at birth) do not all identify as women, and do not all like the label female. Therefore, using inclusive language such as ‘people who menstruate’ and ‘people with vulvas’ includes all the women who have vulvas and menstruate (because not all cis women do), and also includes the people who do not identify as women or associate the word female with themselves, despite menstruating or having a vulva. This is not an attack on women, this is not the same as misogynists using these facts to degrade women. It is simply language being used in a more encompassing way that in no way harms cis women, no matter how much JK Rowling or any other transphobe tries to play victim.

“Which brings me to the fifth reason I’m deeply concerned about the consequences of the current trans activism.

I’ve been in the public eye now for over twenty years and have never talked publicly about being a domestic abuse and sexual assault survivor. This isn’t because I’m ashamed those things happened to me, but because they’re traumatic to revisit and remember. I also feel protective of my daughter from my first marriage. I didn’t want to claim sole ownership of a story that belongs to her, too. However, a short while ago, I asked her how she’d feel if I were publicly honest about that part of my life, and she encouraged me to go ahead.

I’m mentioning these things now not in an attempt to garner sympathy, but out of solidarity with the huge numbers of women who have histories like mine, who’ve been slurred as bigots for having concerns around single-sex spaces.”

It goes without saying but obviously I am sad to learn that JK Rowling is a survivor of domestic abuse and sexual assault. It pains me to know she went through something so traumatic and that her daughter also either witnessed or experienced similar horrors. I do however have a problem with weaponizing these experiences as a reason to continue being a transphobe.

“I managed to escape my first violent marriage with some difficulty, but I’m now married to a truly good and principled man, safe and secure in ways I never in a million years expected to be. However, the scars left by violence and sexual assault don’t disappear, no matter how loved you are, and no matter how much money you’ve made. My perennial jumpiness is a family joke – and even I know it’s funny – but I pray my daughters never have the same reasons I do for hating sudden loud noises, or finding people behind me when I haven’t heard them approaching.

If you could come inside my head and understand what I feel when I read about a trans woman dying at the hands of a violent man, you’d find solidarity and kinship. I have a visceral sense of the terror in which those trans women will have spent their last seconds on earth, because I too have known moments of blind fear when I realised that the only thing keeping me alive was the shaky self-restraint of my attacker.”

Again, I am deeply saddened knowing that JK Rowling had experiences that caused lifelong struggles for her at the hands of someone she gave her trust to and had to endure throughout her first marriage. It is interesting that she feels she is able to sympathize with trans women who suffer similar abuses, despite her blatant disregard for trans people’s struggles on display throughout this essay.

“I believe the majority of trans-identified people not only pose zero threat to others, but are vulnerable for all the reasons I’ve outlined. Trans people need and deserve protection. Like women, they’re most likely to be killed by sexual partners. Trans women who work in the sex industry, particularly trans women of colour, are at particular risk. Like every other domestic abuse and sexual assault survivor I know, I feel nothing but empathy and solidarity with trans women who’ve been abused by men.

So I want trans women to be safe. At the same time, I do not want to make natal girls and women less safe. When you throw open the doors of bathrooms and changing rooms to any man who believes or feels he’s a woman – and, as I’ve said, gender confirmation certificates may now be granted without any need for surgery or hormones – then you open the door to any and all men who wish to come inside. That is the simple truth.”

‘Natal girls and women’ is another transphobic dog whistle. There is a non-offensive way to say this, which I am sure if JK Rowling has done all the reading she has claimed to do, she must have stumbled upon the word ‘cisgender’ at some point. It effectively communicates the same information without alienating trans people and implying they are less than cis women. Trans women are not ‘men who believe or feel like women’, and this long standing myth that cis men will use the guise of being a trans woman to gain access to public bathrooms and changerooms has been thoroughly debunked, because trans women have been using women’s bathrooms and changerooms for years with no issues. [source] And scroll up for the claim that Gender Confirmation Certificates are given out to any man who decides to be a woman for a day above, this is just more misinformation, no ‘simple truth’.

“On Saturday morning, I read that the Scottish government is proceeding with its controversial gender recognition plans, which will in effect mean that all a man needs to ‘become a woman’ is to say he’s one. To use a very contemporary word, I was ‘triggered’. Ground down by the relentless attacks from trans activists on social media, when I was only there to give children feedback about pictures they’d drawn for my book under lockdown, I spent much of Saturday in a very dark place inside my head, as memories of a serious sexual assault I suffered in my twenties recurred on a loop. That assault happened at a time and in a space where I was vulnerable, and a man capitalised on an opportunity.  I couldn’t shut out those memories and I was finding it hard to contain my anger and disappointment about the way I believe my government is playing fast and loose with womens and girls’ safety.”

First of all, JK Rowling is blatantly lying. The Gender Recognition Act Reform has been completely shelved by the Scottish government in light if the more pressing need to fight the coronavirus on April 1st, and I cannot find any updates on this being considered by the government. [source] The only trans related news out of Scotland I can find is that on June 5th, the Scottish government included trans women in the definition of women in guidance for school boards, which will have none of the effects that JK Rowling is fear mongering about. [source] Again, I am upset to know that JK Rowling is a survivor, but she is using this revelation as a weapon to make people fear that it will happen to others as a result of trans people gaining access to the same public spaces as their cis counterparts. Women’s and girls’ safety is NOT being put at risk by trans people using a bathroom or changeroom.

“Late on Saturday evening, scrolling through children’s pictures before I went to bed, I forgot the first rule of Twitter – never, ever expect a nuanced conversation – and reacted to what I felt was degrading language about women. I spoke up about the importance of sex and have been paying the price ever since. I was transphobic, I was a cunt, a bitch, a TERF, I deserved cancelling, punching and death. You are Voldemort said one person, clearly feeling this was the only language I’d understand.

It would be so much easier to tweet the approved hashtags – because of course trans rights are human rights and of course trans lives matter – scoop up the woke cookies and bask in a virtue-signalling afterglow. There’s joy, relief and safety in conformity. As Simone de Beauvoir also wrote, “… without a doubt it is more comfortable to endure blind bondage than to work for one’s liberation; the dead, too, are better suited to the earth than the living.””

This is misinformation. On Saturday evening, JK Rowling took issue with inclusive language being used in an informational and medical piece about coronavirus, which is in the best interest of getting the information out to the necessary people. I would stop reading an article that said it was concerning the health of women or females, because I do not consider myself a member of either category. I have, however, menstruated in the past, and continue to have a vulva, and if an article used that language, I would continue reading, because it would concern me. She then went on to strangely imply that trans people were removing the right of gay people and lesbians to be attracted to the same sex, which has never been true, and I don’t have time to get into the same-sex vs same-gender attraction debate, nor is it relevant to her original tweet. It’s ironic that Simone de Beauvoir’s quote relates more strongly to trans people and activists fighting for liberation instead of continuing to be bound by a transphobic society.

“Huge numbers of women are justifiably terrified by the trans activists; I know this because so many have got in touch with me to tell their stories. They’re afraid of doxxing, of losing their jobs or their livelihoods, and of violence.

But endlessly unpleasant as its constant targeting of me has been, I refuse to bow down to a movement that I believe is doing demonstrable harm in seeking to erode ‘woman’ as a political and biological class and offering cover to predators like few before it. I stand alongside the brave women and men, gay, straight and trans, who’re standing up for freedom of speech and thought, and for the rights and safety of some of the most vulnerable in our society: young gay kids, fragile teenagers, and women who’re reliant on and wish to retain their single sex spaces. Polls show those women are in the vast majority, and exclude only those privileged or lucky enough never to have come up against male violence or sexual assault, and who’ve never troubled to educate themselves on how prevalent it is.”

The only people who have any reason to feel any negative way about what a trans activist might say to or about them is a transphobe, so I can only assume the people JK Rowling is talking about are transphobes. The following sentence is just more fear mongering about ‘woman’ being redefined to include trans women, as if that somehow invalidates cis women or puts them in any more danger than they were in before. Predators are predators regardless of the existence of trans people existing. Trans people are not, nor do we have the power to, infringe on any right to free speech or thought, but transphobes will continue to face consequences for their speech, in way of trans people and activists exercising our own freedom of speech. The assumptions made about people who are okay with trans people in single sex spaces are baseless and completely unfounded, only biased assumptions that serve JK Rowling’s personal agenda. Even if these polls are true (she offered no sources), just because public majority agree with something does not mean it is right. History has multiple examples of this.

“The one thing that gives me hope is that the women who can protest and organise, are doing so, and they have some truly decent men and trans people alongside them. Political parties seeking to appease the loudest voices in this debate are ignoring women’s concerns at their peril. In the UK, women are reaching out to each other across party lines, concerned about the erosion of their hard-won rights and widespread intimidation. None of the gender critical women I’ve talked to hates trans people; on the contrary. Many of them became interested in this issue in the first place out of concern for trans youth, and they’re hugely sympathetic towards trans adults who simply want to live their lives, but who’re facing a backlash for a brand of activism they don’t endorse. The supreme irony is that the attempt to silence women with the word ‘TERF’ may have pushed more young women towards radical feminism than the movement’s seen in decades.”

Again, more fear mongering, because women’s rights are not being repealed or altered by granting similar rights to trans men and trans women. I find it entertaining that JK Rowling ironically fails to see that trans people are not the loudest voice, when she has clearly been the loudest voice internationally and has gained huge amounts of attention from her words, much more than any trans person has about this subject. Gender critical people feigning concern for trans youth aren’t excusing the harm their ideology does to trans youth (one example is the idea that trans youth must wait until 18 or even 25 to transition to be sure, and not ruin their fertility or body). Then comes the idea that the ‘good trans people’ who agree with JK Rowling and gender critical feminists and TERFs are getting a bad name from the trans people who just want to be allowed to change for the gym and pee in the right changeroom or bathroom. If more cis women are becoming transphobic, it has much more to do with loud voices like JK Rowling than it does with trans people, again, just fighting for equal rights and protections under the law.

“The last thing I want to say is this. I haven’t written this essay in the hope that anybody will get out a violin for me, not even a teeny-weeny one. I’m extraordinarily fortunate; I’m a survivor, certainly not a victim. I’ve only mentioned my past because, like every other human being on this planet, I have a complex backstory, which shapes my fears, my interests and my opinions. I never forget that inner complexity when I’m creating a fictional character and I certainly never forget it when it comes to trans people.

All I’m asking – all I want – is for similar empathy, similar understanding, to be extended to the many millions of women whose sole crime is wanting their concerns to be heard without receiving threats and abuse.”

I find it deeply troubling that JK Rowling chose this moment to come out as a survivor. It is extremely manipulative, claiming not to want sympathy, when she knows all decent people will feel hurt for her going through such experiences, and weaponizing it for her transphobic agenda. JK Rowling cannot expect empathy and understanding from any trans people or activists until she stops actively advocating and spreading ideology that directly works against the fight for equal rights and protections for trans people, that in no way infringes on the rights and protections for women. Until she stops trying to twist everything about trans rights into her own victimization, she will be stuck in the classification of transphobe, and TERF is she continues to align her views with radical feminism.

[harrypotterfirsttime]

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Chapter 1 - The Riddle House

This was actually a very enjoyable opening chapter. At first I was confused about what book I was reading, but it soon fell into place (it helps make the books a little less predictable that I don’t remember many specifics of the movies anymore, been too long).

The writing has significantly improved, though the biggest struggle seems to be when writing Harry near the beginning of the book, so that remains to be seen. But this chapter was well set up. It read a lot like some other fiction books that I’ve read that are meant to be for a slightly older audience than YA, which astounds me.

Looking forward to this book, a much longer read than the previous few.

[harrypotterfirsttime]

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Movie

Once again prefacing that I am commenting as I watch, so comments might be all over the place. Spoilers ahead.

Scenes with Aunt Marge are even more dramatic than in the book and we jump into them faster, so at least your attention is grabbed faster. Harry’s also hit puberty, he’s doing a better job of holding his emotions in while still having understandable outbursts. Daniel Radcliffe seems to have a slightly altered personality for Harry than the book has, and I still prefer movie Harry.

The street scene after Harry leaves the Dursleys where he sees Sirius as a dog for the first time is done very differently, but both in the movie and the book it seems a little out of place and random, guess they both did the best they could. Loading the Knight Bus is iconic, the bus they chose is phenominal. Ernie doesn’t talk and there’s a shrunken head that’s not in the book, but it adds to the oddness of everything.

Odd that the movie chose a hunchback to collect Harry at the Leaky Cauldron, I don’t think it was like that in the book. Cornelius Fudge wears significantly less eccentric robes and hats in the movie, and I think that’s for the best, the aesthetic of the movie wouldn’t suit it with his book wardrobe.

Weird that in the movie Fudge got Harry’s books for him instead of Harry getting them himself in Diagon Alley, and the Monster Book of Monsters wasn’t a gift from Hagrid at home, instead was just among his school books at the Leaky Cauldron. Small changes that aren’t super significant to the plot, but wew fun when the book had the extra time to give us context like that.

The plot moves extraordinarily fast in the movie, but I only know that because I know how much theoretically happened between all these things. Hermione and Ron have matured like Harry in terms of looks, they all look significantly older. Hermione’s already got Crookshanks and the cat is already tormenting Scabbers.

In the movie Arthur Weasley tells Harry directly why Sirius is out of Azkaban instead of overhearing him and Molly talk about it. Makes sense to cut some time out.

The hands of the dementors are just as grey and creepy and scaly as the book describes. Somehow the scene in the movie feels like it lasts longer than reading the passage in the book, which is really really poor, and specifically why reading this part was so underwhelming.

Ah the first appearance of singing in the movies. At least it’s not as cringy as in the book. And the new Dumbledore makes me sad, but at least he fits the look.

Professor Trelawney’s classroom is much larger than described in the book, but she’s just as strange and eccentric as expected, and the teacups are stacked in the background just as precariously. Her reaction to the grim in Harry’s teacup was more dramatic but more believable honestly.

The movie had Hermione randomly appear instead of disappear to show the time turner’s effects. It was just as weird if not more and very effective.

The location where they meet Buckbeak is very different than described in the book, but much better. And I like that there’s only one instead of multiple. Buckbeak also takes Harry on a longer flight than in the book, probably for all the beautiful shots of Hogwarts we get from it, so I don’t mind at all. Draco’s just as dramatic as in the book, and it’s just as pathetic.

We jump pretty quickly into the Defence Against the Dark Arts class with Lupin, which is done differently than the book, but just as much if not more effective. This is the first time we actually see them doing some practical studies. Alan Rickman having to wear the ridiculous outfit as a Boggart was amazing. I was right that Harry gets a turn with the Boggart in the movie but didn’t in the book, and when Lupin jumps in front of him we get to see it turn into a full moon.

McGonagall is strict but sympathetic, which is very similar to the book, but I think Maggie Smith adds a bit more understanding and sympathy even within her strictness that makes her so easy to love. We jump to Harry hanging out with Lupin while everyone is at Hogsmeade. The scenes seem disjointed, but because it’s a movie it gets away with it.

After finding the Fat Lady and her revealing that Sirius Black was in the castle, the castle being “secured” wasn’t something done in the book. We jump to everyone sleeping in the Great Hall that looks much smaller without the tables. Dumbledore and Snape have a really similar conversation to the one they had in the book.

Snape teaching the Defence Against the Dark Arts class is eerie, and shows that he has the potential to be a good professor for the subject but obviously isn’t because he’s chosen to specifically teach a lesson hoping that people will figure out Lupin is one. The note sent to him in class is silly and shouldn’t have been included.

The Quidditch weather is terrible, like described in the book, but we don’t get to meet Cedric (it doesn’t even look like the correct actor). Harry wears goggles instead of glasses that look ridiculous, it was nice seeing Hermione charm them, but we definitely didn’t have the time. Harry seems to fly just into the sky, much higher than he should.

We jump straight from the hospital wing to Harry with Lupin again. The movie gets away with it because movies do that, but this movie is moving faster than the book even with leaving so many things out which is wild. At least we get to see Lupin often.

The Weasley twins giving Harry the map was really cute and almost exactly like the book, but left out some of the extra dialogue about the passages that aren’t useable. I forget how they get to the Shrieking Shack without the passage under the Whomping Willow.

Hermione and Ron starting to have some romantic tension, first with Buckbeak, and now when talking about going to the Shrieking Shack. Harry in his invisibility cloak tormenting Malfoy was funny, but his head didn’t show, so that wipes out that meeting with Snape, even though it was pretty useless anyways.

They completely changed the scene where Harry overhears converastion about him in the Three Broomsticks. Instead of already being there with Ron and Hermione, he sneaks in with his cloak and Ron and Hermione are forced to stay outside. Harry doesn’t stay to hear everything and learns much less than he did in the book. I definitely preferred the book scene to the movie scene for this part.

Lupin teaching Harry to cast the Patronus Charm is really nice, and I like that in the movie they include Harry telling Lupin what he thought his happy memory was, and instead deciding to use one he’s not sure is real. He casts a successful Patronus with Lupin, which he doesn’t do in the book. I do like that in the book it’s more realistic in that he takes a lot longer to practice and get it.

The movie didn’t seem to include any of the time Harry and Ron stopped talking to Hermione. It does have that Crookshanks was accused of eating Scabbers, but other than that, it just jumps straight to Buckbeak being sentenced to death, which we know from the movie is when they made up. Harry still hasn’t received his Firebolt though.

I like that Harry spots Peter Pettigrew on the Marauder’s Map in the movie, something that definitely didn’t happen in the book. It’s a better way for him to get caught by Snape with the map. Better than him being caught coming back from Hogsmeade. Lots of scenes have been rearranged in the movie, and it actually works out really well this way. I think the times when this was happening were the chapters I was very frustrated with and felt weren’t going anywhere, and the movie fixed that by making it seem much more relevant.

Harry telling Lupin that he saw Peter Pettigrew is really funny, watching how confused Lupin gets.

Hermione punching Draco will always be an iconic scene.

Hagrid found Scabbers in his hut instead of Hermione, and I like that the stones being thrown were added to have them notice that people were coming down to the hut. Gives Harry and Hermione something else to do later.

So Ron is taken by the dog and dragged under the Whomping Willow like in the book, but instead of having a knot that turns the tree into marble, they have to fight their way into the passage. Maybe I don’t mind the marble, because being able to fight through it seems unlikely.

The actor for Sirius is very good, and the scene where Lupin and Sirius hugged was just as much a shock as the book. Hermione revealing he’s a werewolf is just as surprising too, but gets a bit lost in the chaos. Sirius’ iconic like of waiting 12 years in Azkaban is perfectly done and I’m shocked it wasn’t from the book. Snape showing up not in an invisibility cloak is nice, makes more sense, but he comes early and we don’t learn nearly as much as in the book.

The actor for Peter looks extremely rat like. He also only goes for Harry to convince him to not be killed. It feels so much more rushed without the long explanation, and we don’t learn why Peter was the one who caused the problems instead of Sirius 12 years ago. Peter tries to convince Ron and Hermione when they’ve gotten back to the Whomping Willow, which for some reason is just not attacking them.

The line “have you taken your potion tonight” makes sense to me now, but doesn’t without any other context that was given in the book. Snape actually protecting the three from Lupin as a werewolf is the kind of redeeming moment Snape needs, small moments throughout the series that show that he’s not just mean and evil to be that way. Unfortunate that the movie didn’t have these moments.

Harry alone runs after Sirius and Lupin, trying to protect Sirius. I forgot that someone howls to distract Lupin and pry him away from Harry so Harry can keep going after Sirius towards the lake where they run into dementors, alone, without Hermione, who was there with him in the book. Harry manages to cast a weak Patronus, but with so many dementors it’s just not enough.

The weird thing that looks like Sirius having his soul sucked out via a small glowing orb leaving his mouth was odd, instead of having a dementor actually kiss him. Then Harry sees the stag across the lake, the very strong Patronus, and the orb returns to Sirius’ mouth. Definitely different from the book, but not a bad rendition.

We don’t know from the movie what a dementor’s kiss is, so the line is meaningless to us. Dumbledore still comes and visits and believes them, and gives Hermione the cryptic instructions, along with an additional “retracing my steps seems to be a good place to start”. Interesting that going back in time takes them to 7:30pm, meanwhile in the book they go back 3 hours from 11:55, so it should be 8:55.

I feel like even though it was hinted in the movie, there wasn’t enough to make us wonder how Hermione is getting around. There likely wasn’t enough time, but the last movie was significantly longer than this one, I’m sure they could have included a few scenes.

Dumbledore somehow being aware of the fact that he needs to distract them to give them more time is amazing, and I’m glad that was carried over from the book. In this movie at least, Dumbledore’s actor has matched his book self very well. The addition of so many crows seems unnecessary.

In the movie a spell is what keeps the Whomping Willow from attacking Lupin when he follows them, I didn’t pick up on that the first time.

Buckbeak protecting Harry and Hermione from werewolf Lupin is a nice touch to show that Buckbeak has formed a bond with them. That’s made much clearer in the book than in the movie.

This time, when Harry’s down by the lake, he’s with Hermione, instead of her and Buckbeak being in Hagrid’s hut. Instead Harry has to make the realization that it wasn’t his father but instead him with Hermione there, which is strange but probably done so we can get some dialogue to help us figure it out. It jumps pretty suddenly to them riding Buckbeak through the night to rescue Sirius.

Dumbledore pretending to not know what Harry and Hermione are talking about is pretty funny, so are the few lines they exchange with Ron. I’m SO glad the movie cut out Snape wanting some award and blaming everything on Sirius, that tarnished his character in the book so much and was so frustrating.

Harry finally got his Firebolt, and had no note come with it except a feather from Buckbeak to show it’s from Sirius.

The ending of this movie is just TERRIBLE. What an odd scene to end it on.

Overall I think I liked bits of the movie more than the book and bits of the book more than the movie. If I had to pick just one, for the first time I would probably pick the book. I always remember this movie confusing me most when I watched it as a child because there was so much context left out that my mother had to fill in for me.

I think in my comments I highlighted the parts of the movie that I liked more than the book version, and if those parts were changed in the book, I probably would have enjoyed it much more. But the deep background that the book gives is definitely worth the boring parts. I really hope the next book is another improvement, though I’ve always loved the Goblet of Fire movie.

[harrypotterfirsttime]

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Full Overview

Begrudgingly, this is my favourite book of the series so far, despite the awful middle.

The beginning and last few chapters were fantastic. I’d say the first half was very enjoyable, lots seemed to happen, I could see things being set up to happen, everything was very enjoyable to read.

But just after the halfway point, everything kinda went to shit for a bit. The chapters were messy and boring, not much was happening, an awful lot of filler just for a few necessary plot moments to happen. I almost put the book down. In one night I read three or four chapters that were all awful and felt like giving up on the book.

Luckily, I did pick it back up, and the book finally delivered. It was well put together, all the loose ends felt tied up (even Trelawney’s prediction, which I’d completely forgotten about). The last few chapters didn’t feel rushed, they didn’t feel overdone or underdone. They were captivating and kept me reading right to the end, almost not wanting to do chapter opinions so I could just keep reading faster.

I was worried that not enough was left of the book to pack in everything that still had to happen, but it all happened at a reasonable pace and didn’t leave me feeling any whiplash. Even the last chapter was better done than usual, hopefully JK Rowling’s writing is finally improving.

[harrypotterfirsttime]

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Chapter 22 - Owl Post Again

Well I had to eat my words in the second line of the chapter, it turns out Hermione was wearing a watch that whole time, just hadn’t used it.

Snape was FURIOUS that Harry and Hermione had managed to get Sirius out safely, but of course he had no ground to stand on because in their timeline, Harry and Hermione had been in the hospital wing the entire time.

It was very sad to see Lupin leave Hogwarts, but of course this was the most realistic thing to have happen after everything that went down this year. I love the friendship/bond that he and Harry have, and this definitely solidified him as one of my favourite characters. I’ll be happy to read about him in future books. And Harry has the Marauder’s Map again!

Leaving Hogwarts was the least annoying that it has been so far. Harry got a letter from Sirius on the train, delivered by a very small but lively owl. He told Harry that he’s hiding with Buckbeak, that he got the Firebolt as a birthday present to make up for the last 13 years, signed a permission slip for Harry to go to Hogsmeade, and gave the owl to Ron. I can see why Sirius is a fan favourite too.

This was also the least eye rolling reuniting that Harry’s had with the Dursleys. Finally Ron and Hermione stopped asking “but won’t they be so proud of you?” so Harry has to say “they’ll be disappointed that I didn’t die.” But offhandedly summarizing Sirius Black’s escape, the fact he’s Harry’s godfather, and that they keep in contact was quite a funny ending.

[harrypotterfirsttime]

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Chapter 21 - Hermione’s Secret

Wow! That was by far the best chapter of the entire series so far!

I knew we’d eventually learn that Hermione had a time turner, but I forgot all the specifics of what happened with it.

Dumbledore (I picture Richard Harris when reading the book, I do wish he’d been able to play Dumbledore throughout the movies) coming to speak to Harry and Hermione was so well done, and so smart.

Hermione has a reason for maturing so much this year, and it’s that she’s had access to a rare form of magic, and been trusted with it, and taken that very seriously. Being the rule follower that she is, she was luckily able to convince Harry over and over again not to interfere, even though he wanted to and thought it was that simple.

They still managed to save Buckbeak, which has to be one of my favourite moments (I think I cried the first time I saw the movie and thought he’d died). Then had to watch the action unfold at the Whomping Willow.

Harry told Hermione what he thought he saw across the lake, that someone cast a very powerful Patronus, and he thought it looked like his dad. Hermione of course reminded him that his dad is dead, then had to convince him not to try to catch Peter, and they moved to Hagrid’s cabin.

Harry convinced Hermione to let him go see who casted the Patronus charm, and of course, it had been himself. Here is where he learns that his father is Prongs when he sees his own Patronus. I wish this had been able to be included in the movie in more detail, it was really amazing.

Then we get to experience Harry and Hermione ride Buckbeak to rescue Sirius Black, and they fly off together. I was on the edge of my seat reading this chapter despite ultimately knowing most of what was going to happen, and a lot of the chapter was filler between the action, but it was still such a fun read.

Two notes though: Madam Pomfrey’s first name being Poppy is adorable and I love it, and also why does nobody own a watch at Hogwarts? They’d be able to know when it was five to midnight to get back to the hospital wing. Are watches not magical enough for wizards?

[harrypotterfirsttime]

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Chapter 20 - The Dementor’s Kiss

This chapter did actually get a bit better than the last one, with a few distinct differences from the movie.

First they went through the passage, which was awkward with Peter attached to Ron and Lupin, and Snape just flowting along. As they walked towards the castle, Sirius offered to let Harry live with him, because officially Sirius is Harry’s godfather. Of course Harry said yes because the Dursleys are terrible.

But of course it didn’t last. The full moon came out from behind the clouds, and Lupin hadn’t drank his potion. He started transforming, and Sirius had to turn into the dog to fight him off. Peter escaped by turning into a rat, and Harry, Ron and Hermione planned on bringing Snape up to the castle, until they heard Sirius.

Harry and Hermione ran to the lake, where Sirius had been cornered by a Dementor, who of course was still looking for him and intending on giving him a kiss (hence the chapter name). Harry went over and tried to teach Hermione the Patronus Charm in a few seconds (if he hadn’t mastered it yet, how did he expect her to? But in a panic, I understand why he tried).

Here the book differs from the movie. In the movie, I believe Harry does successfully produce a Patronus. But in the book he doesn’t, and he sees a Dementor with the hood off, realizing it intends on kissing him first to get to Sirius (which would surely result in Dumbledore going mad at the Ministry, and a whole lot more problems for the school and Ministry that a student had been kissed by one).

Then something saved him, a silvery figure on the lake. Of course I know what it was, but I’m curious how long in the book until it’s made clear exactly what it was.

[harrypotterfirsttime]

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Chapter 19 - The Servant of Lord Voldemort

The beginning of this chapter wasn’t as good as the previous one, but it picked up a bit. I think the last chapter was the climax and it won’t be quite as good here on out.

Snape and Harry were just eyerolls in the way they interacted. Snape once again was barely capable of human emotions and was just written to be mean and evil, and Harry, caught between being upset with Sirius and Lupin and hating Snape, chose hating Snape as more important, seemed just eager to stand up to Snape without getting into more trouble than he already was.

At first even the excuse behind Peter being the one who told Voldemort and Lily and James was rocky and unbelievable. But the further into the chapter I got, it became more believable, as more pieces were added. Sirius was supposed to be the Secret Keeper, but said to switch to Peter because Voldemort wouldn’t suspect him.

Of course, Peter had been secretly been working for Voldemort the whole time. He didn’t do anything to Harry in the last three years because Voldemort hasn’t been powerful, and he wants the most powerful person to be there to protect him.

I’m oversimplifying it, but overall Peter is a total coward. Nobody knows a spell other than Expelliarmus apparently. Luckily near the end Lupin knows the spells to tie up Peter, splint Ron’s leg, and get Snape back to Hogwarts.

Peter begging each person individually to stop them from killing him was exactly as portrayed in the movie. He tried Ron, then Hermione, then Harry, and Harry ultimately made the call to not kill him and instead bring him back to be taken to Azkaban. I’m not sure if he thought this through enough that the Dementors will have to listen to them long enough to not go after Sirius first.