JK Rowling is quickly becoming as well-known for her Twitter clapbacks as she is for her best-selling series, Harry Potter. Well…not quite, but the author is definitely not afraid to let the world know how she really feels through her tweets.
Last week, Rowling announced that she unfollowed Scottish author John Niven because of a tweet he posted about British Prime Minister Theresa May. There has been recent uproar in England over some actions May has taken, which concern the upcoming Queens Speech as well as a deal she apparently made with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in order to stay in office for another two years.
Niven, who is known for expressing his political views through Twitter, used the word “whore” to insult May when he took to the social media platform to criticize the prime minister’s recent political actions.
Rowling immediately fired back, posting, “Just unfollowed a man whom I thought was smart and funny, because he called Theresa May a whore. If you can’t disagree with a woman without reaching for all those filthy insults, screw you and your politics.”
Rowling identifies as a liberal, but still strongly believes that there is no excuse for resorting to misogynistic language to insult someone. Unfortunately, this type of verbal abuse happens all the time to women everywhere. Men are not entirely to blame, because women can be guilty of doing this to other women, as well.
Just this past February, Rowling herself was under fire on Twitter for making some comments about President Trump, to which she received messages from “ex” fans threatening to burn their Harry Potter books and DVD’s over their disagreements with the author’s views. Some were even calling her a whore because of her opinions. It seems that no one is safe from internet trolls “who hide behind a cartoon frog,” as Rowling tweets.
“Every woman I know who has dared express an opinion publicly has endured this type of abuse at least once, rooted in an apparent determination to humiliate or intimidate her on the basis that she is female,” said Rowling. “Femaleness is not a design flaw. If your immediate response to a woman who displeases you is to call her a synonym for her vulva, or compare her to a prostitute, then drop the pretense and own it: you’re not a liberal.”
To the fourteen-thread long barrage of tweets meant to shame him, Niven responded with a simple “my bad,” which is hardly an apology for his use of misogynistic language. However, he has not since used misogynistic language in his recent tweets.
Rowling’s thread received over 162k retweets and more than 854k likes, so it is safe to say that she is being praised for her opinions and willingness to call out misogyny.
If you would like to read Rowling’s entire Twitter thread, click here.
Featured Image by Daniel Ogren on Flickr
Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)
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