JKR screaming about the importance of “fertility” reminds me how every female character in HP is judged solely on her maternality

Lily: 10/10, mother saint, died for child
Molly: 9/10, fully devoted to childrearing but committed slight error in aging
Tonks: 8/10, was queer a while but redeemed herself having a baby and politely dying

McGonagall: 7/10, no biological children but knows her place, schoolmarm, raises other people’s kids, bit strict tho
Narcissa: 6/10, Death Eater but puts her son first, bringing her to average
Fleur: 5/10, Floozy but sticks by her man

Alice: 4/10, disability framed by how it affects her son
Petunia: 3/10, abuse & having a fat son framed as equal ‘failings’
Umbrage: 2/10, evil but possesses decent femme aesthetics
Bellatrix: 1/10, no kids but would probs get preggo out of wedlock, get abortion, etc

Characters too young to have kids excluded, obs, but even Hermione is framed primarily by how useful she is to Harry and Ron and denied romantic agency at every turn

Every adult male in HP is defined by their career, their friendships, their family, and most important their moral choices. Female characters are defined by how well they perform traditional gender roles

Rowling isn’t a feminist because she’s a woman with lots of money. Her books—and her beliefs—insist a woman must be first and foremost a good wife and mother, with her own dreams occupying a secondary, lesser place in her life

An uncomfortable truth—at least for me, who loved HP once—is that the books promote the lie that social progress is a simple matter of defeating Nazis, a black-and-white battle easily won by ‘loving enough’

It’s easy to write “this book empowers girls because the GIRL is the smartest one” but harder to craft a book where girls don’t need to be inherently “the best” to be worthy to stand beside two frankly mediocre boys (who treat her poorly)

The hard work of progress—activism, conflict, and examining structures of oppression and privilege—are erased with a lie. The problems in society are the *Slytherins* (and also partially the fault of oppressed minorities bringing it on themselves.)

If you’re not a Slytherin, you’re a good person. If you’re not in the KKK, you’re not racist. If you write one heroic female character, you’re not sexist. If you say you care about trans women, you’re not a TERF

Harry Potter’s success derives, I believe, in a large part, because it promises easy solutions to social problems and absolves readers of any guilt they may have in furthering them

One last thought? "It is our choices that make us who we are, far more than our abilities ..." isn't a useful maxim. Rarely does someone wake up in the morning and say "I choose to be a dangerous, evil bigot today!" This obscures how racism and prejudice function in a system

For ex, Harry doesn't actively choose "let's be racist" when he and Ron treat the Patil twins like crap in book four--but it's still incredibly hurtful, because he exists in a society that enables him to treat WOC badly.

He has the ability to cause harm, even though he doesn't conciously 'choose' to, and he is excused in the text because he's a Gryffendor/liberal/Good Guy

Anyway, here's some great books to support! https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/149210.Trans_Nonbinary_Science_Fiction_Fantasy

Donate to bail funds! https://mobile.twitter.com/The_Red_Nation/status/1279198069423312902

I’ve got a book about a trans boy challenging his ex boyfriend for Homecoming King coming out next year, you can pre-order the ebook from Amazon here or find links to add it on Goodreads https://mobile.twitter.com/ZREllor/status/1277643671278620672