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J.K. Rowling at the Fantastic Beasts: The Secret of Dumbledore world premiere at The Royal Festival Hall on March 29, 2022 in London, England.
The author turned TERF ghoulishly celebrates the UK ruling defining 'women' by emulating a man. The irony.
It’s no surprise that notorious anti-trans activist J.K. Rowling is celebrating a major UK Supreme Court ruling against trans rights, but the way she’s going about it truly underscores how out of her depth she is with this entire gender crusade she’s been on in recent years.
On Wednesday, the court declared that the legal definition of "sex" in the 2010 Equality Act refers strictly to biological sex, not gender identity — even legally recognized gender identity. While the full extent of the consequences of this ruling have yet to be determined, it’s expected to make it easier to legally prevent trans women from having access to things like domestic violence shelters and women’s health care.
Rowling ghoulishly celebrated this blow in her usual way — by being obnoxious on X.
"I love it when a plan comes together," reads one of her posts, helpfully tagged with #SupremeCourt and #WomensRights just in case there was any doubt this was about her gender essentialism.
It also included a photo of her smoking a cigar and sipping whiskey as if she’s partaking in some bizarre fusion of Mad Men and The White Lotus.
Because nothing screams "real woman" quite like channeling the energy of a villainous hedge fund bro, right?
The irony is palpable. Rowling has built her public persona around rigid definitions of gender, but suddenly, there’s nothing untoward about playing with gender norms and embracing patriarchal symbols — as long as you have XX chromosomes, anyway.
Rowling has poured money into anti-trans groups, including For Women Scotland, the organization behind this case. She’s repeatedly insisted that acknowledging trans women’s rights somehow infringes on her own—despite all available evidence pointing to the contrary. Her version of feminism demands strict borders around womanhood and an army of lawyers to enforce them.
And make no mistake: this is exactly what J.K. Rowling’s feminism is and has been. It’s all about exclusion, elitism, and a complete disinterest in perspectives beyond her own. We’ve seen that in how she’s targeted trans people on social media, taking digs at the Harry Potter actors who dared to do anything other than kiss the ground she walks on, and lashed out at asexuals for absolutely no discernible reason.
While there may well be a part of her that believes she’s championing women, her crusade feels more like an exercise in ego and desire to stomp out those with less power and privilege if they don’t fall in line. And opting to celebrate something that actively harms so many people who are already fighting battles she will never understand really drives home just how delighted she is in her own villainy — not that Rowling has the self-awareness to see it that way.
No matter how much she thinks she’s giving the patriarchy the finger with this little theatrical display of co-opted masculinity, at the end of the day, all the once-lauded author is doing is helping to uphold the same power structures that worked to oppress women — all women — for generations.
Rachel Kiley is presumably a writer and definitely not a terminator. She can usually be found crying over queerbaiting in the Pitch Perfect franchise or on Twitter, if not both.
Rachel Kiley is presumably a writer and definitely not a terminator. She can usually be found crying over queerbaiting in the Pitch Perfect franchise or on Twitter, if not both.
