Muggle Shaming, Book Shamers, & Problematic Authors

You're either a HP fan or you're not.

*Prepares myself for angry comments and losing readers*

I never read a chapter, not a line, nor seen a movie about the famous wizard who captured the hearts of young bookworms decades ago.

JK Rowling and Harry Potter did a lot to grow the bookworm community, getting children to read and discover the magic of getting lose within pages.

So why won't I read JK now? Because she is a problematic author and since I have no connection to her from my childhood, I don't owe her a thing. Supporting her work means I am not giving the right focus to the community she has attacked and hurt.

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She has damaged herself and has not learned from her mistakes. When others called her out, instead of listening to the Trans Community, she talked. As a white, straight woman, she talked over them when she should have shut up. Rants and rambles was not the way to handle things. This was an opportunity to learn and be open-minded. Instead, she took the voice she had to reach where the Trans Community are struggling to, and spread more negativity.

She made a post on her website, which can be summed up as "But what about me and my problems?"

"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." 

​She is putting fear where it shouldn't be, jumping on the band-wagon of bigots and racists, including Donald Trump.

"As a much-banned author, I’m interested in freedom of speech and have publicly defended it, even unto Donald Trump."

Instead of learning herself to pass this on to her fans, she has made the decision herself, thinking she knows what being Trans is like and that it will do harm.

"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."

She mocks and isn't sympathetic to those who are struggling with their identity.

"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’."

This doesn't mean you need to burn the books you've carried and moved around since you were a child. You don't need to question your happy memories that you have with each book you patiently waited to come out.

Wear your house colours and make inside jokes that us non-Potters (Or as I discovered through research, Muggles) won't get. Binge-watch the movies until you know each line by heart.

What it means is whether you want to support other problematic authors in the future and to do your research. 

A fantastic blogger, The Literary Phoenix made a post on different levels of problematic authors, why they are, links, proof, and what you can do, such as donating to certain charities that the author wouldn't support instead of purchasing their work.

I encourage you to go over her list, focus on authors who are doing good and trying to be as inclusive and understanding as they possibly can. 

Their words they share within the book cover isn't the only thing we listen to, but what they say and do, hopefully being an ally.

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