The Book that Murdered JK Rowling

[@anothertwunt]

Rowling's idea of trans people is the only original fantasy creature she has ever written.

[@thequacken3226]

Heck, even that isn't original.

[@preciousinfinity]

Even protego ain't gonna protect her from that burn.

[@Cheesecake_666]

Wow need a ice spell for that burn.

[@arazimargas9045]

As a Harry Potter fan: I love this 😂

[@anothertwunt]

@@Cheesecake_666 it's a liquid nitrogen burn. Ice won't help.

[@alliecat6281]

"the simple trope of a serial killer disguising himself as a woman to commit his crimes" yes Julie, that's the problem, the fact that it's an established trope

[@myenemysenemy1043]

It’s a storytelling device. It’s not a comment on the trans community. Nobody is watching / reading that content and inferring all trans people are serial killers. Get over it

[@virginiaweir-hj1rt]

The character was a man dressed as a woman, not a transwoman.

[@teylawhite687]

Man, people will literally blame trans people for anything, huh. Like, no graham, your wife leaving you because you wouldn’t stop throwing out money you didn’t have to harm a group of marginalised people doesn’t mean those people „took your family“

[@sebastianvelcro]

Nah. We deadass with our own hands went into his home and guided his family away. So dumb XD Of course his family makes their own decisions! We don't control them. Nobody does but them. What a baby. To whine about how it was the fault of somebody else that their family chose to leave. Someone else made their family's decision for them? If that is how he views them, no wonder they left.

[@shockofthenew]

that clip with him saying "they took my family"..... I have literally never felt less sympathy for a person who was crying. The sheer entitlement to see your partner and family as 'belongings' who were 'taken from you' by trans people rather than independant people who chose to get the hell away from you because you got radicalised into a cult and started causing massive harm to a marginalised group. The incredible dishonesty of doing a big 'boohoo poor me' about being 'attacked' for 'simply speaking up for women' compared with the reality of things he's actually said and done. I'm genuinely undecided if he believes his own bullshit and is living in delusion, or if the whole thing was a cynical performance.

[@sunyavadin]

@@shockofthenew his wife, his property, was stolen from him! Anyway, he really cares about women's rights!

[@shizachan8421]

@@shockofthenew According to the world view of reactionary types like him, men categorically don't cry and are usually defined by being emotionally stoic and strong, so I'm not sure if I should refer to him still as he or use she/her pronouns, as I want to be respectful to his personal believes and values.

[@suitov]

@@shizachan8421 That's brutal and I love it. We gotta be respectful! We stole Graham's chattel so we owe Graham at least that!

[@hannamakela6989]

I am a cis-gendered woman and I can see many threats coming my way but transwomen are not it. Patriarchalists of any gender who masquerade as feminists and seek to pit cis-women against transwomen or against people with non-binary gender identities ARE one such threat. Love and respect, and thank you again for your always life-affirming posts! :)

[@LittleMissHobbitFace]

The way TERFS describe Trans women, especially facial features, shoulders, etc, makes me SICK. It shows just how limited their view of what aesthetically defines "woman". Many of descriptions of "sharp jaws and shoulders and thin hair" can apply to me, an AFAB person. It's just so sad that they chose to waste their energy tearing others down when there are so many people in the world who need solidarity and love and support right now.

[@beetrootbaby3477]

A book by JK Rowling under a different name “The silkworm” describes a trans woman like that (unsure if she was a teen or not), I was so confused when the description of the character came up I was like 😐 Edit: Damn the book was mentioned, I now remember the transfobia just like it was read yesterday 🥰

[@mariam19554]

You can choose to describe anyone as grotesquely as you want. You can even describe JKR in the same way. The emphasis is on the choice and all the TERFS choose to view and describe trans women like that.

[@maggiebrave9354]

What does afab person mean?

[@LittleMissHobbitFace]

@@maggiebrave9354 assigned female at birth

[@grandsome1]

Yeah, those are euro-centric, patriarchist view of what a cis AFAB person should look like.

[@pitdarkangel2961]

As a cis guy, it's a bit harder for me to pick up on transphobic language without the help of content like this one, but what always astonishes me about the language TERFs use, is just how sexist it is, to both men and women, both trans and cis. Like, how can you call yourself the "real feminists", while at the same time writing about how disgusting you find a woman for not having a conventionally attractive body and looks or simply for having features that are generally considered masculine? If I get a bit uncomfortable by reading that, it must be horrible actually having them be directed towards you. Hope you stay safe and keep making great videos!

[@lazydroidproductions1087]

Yeah, it’s like, have they never seen a woman that isn’t a fucking hourglass-twig? Do they not know about women body-builders? Like even the ones that aren’t directly calling for return to traditional gender roles fail to grasp that they’re calling for traditional gender roles. Not to mention how ignorant they are about actual biology when it comes to sex even though “biological fact” is their primary argument. If you’re gonna talk about science, know the science, but they can get away with it because those around them don’t know shit either so they can perpetuate their BS.

[@yeenbean3318]

This is so accurate. Idk why terfs hate cis women too.

[@Critic115]

Let's not forget the racism, ableism, and fat phobia!

[@pitdarkangel2961]

@@almostd3ad540 It's an adjective, it describes reality. I am both a guy and cis, both of these are true

[@Donnagata1409]

@@almostd3ad540 Trans guys are also guys, right? Just being precise. I am a cis woman. A woman, and also cisgender and lesbian. 🏳️‍🌈

[@Kunabee]

"Jk Rowling is someone who cares about people on the bottom rung of the ladder" Tell that to Jewish people, Irish people, women who see her support anti-woman groups, trans people...

[@johnvinals7423]

Wait, has she supported anti-women groups even outside of her giving money to TERDs?

[@pixelpulse0755]

What did she do to the Irish?

[@onbearfeet]

@@pixelpulse0755 Among other things, the primary Irish character in the HP books, Seamus Finnegan, is a pyromaniac who is constantly making things explode. Considering the last few decades of Irish history, particularly the bits that happened right before Rowling sat down to write the books, it's, uh, not a good look. If you're not familiar with the history in question, it's often referred to as "the Troubles" and yes, a lot of explosions occurred, but they weren't just for funsies. For similar reasons, a popular drink made from Guinness and Jameson's is now getting a new name in a lot of American bars.

[@chazbertino6102]

@@onbearfeet A few notes, Seamus was likely a Dubbie(Dublin) than a Nordie(Northern Ireland) and the troubles was almost exclusively in North Ireland. Seamus has a knack for pyrotechnics and had some mishaps involving such spells, but to call him pyromaniac would be a stretch. His knack for pyrotechnics may or may not be a references to the Troubles, but Seamus is a kickass and great character and not some vile Irish caricature.

[@NeasCZ]

@@onbearfeet The explosions by Seamus were a movie addition, weren't they? I don't think there were any of them in the books.

[@shelbypowell9919]

I’m sorry, but “underwhelming prose” isn’t a criticism a Rowling simp ought to make

[@arklestudios]

Honestly, the more time passes since I read those books I find myself only more and more perplexed at how much I'd enjoyed them at the time.

[@TheWizardofOzymandias]

Sbe was always painfully mediocre and derivative but whatever that's least of the novels' problems. If you haven't already super highly recommend Sean's video expose on just how much of her work is seriously sus morally speaking. The claim her writing from the jump was somehow good and ethical simply doesn't hold up to scrutiny.

[@shelbypowell9919]

@@arklestudios It's because the books are very accessible fantasy escapism. Something like Tolkien is a lot of work to engage with, but HP is like movie popcorn. You can power through those books in a few afternoons. It's an adventure anyone can take part in, especially since Rowling sits in the goldilocks zone of mediocrity, where she's good enough a storyteller to add interesting ideas into the work, but not quite good enough to flesh those ideas out, so readers have something to think about when they finish the books.

[@shelbypowell9919]

@@TheWizardofOzymandias love me some Shaun

[@TheWizardofOzymandias]

@@shelbypowell9919 💯 and ty for correcting my sp of Shaun 👍

[@DonkeyBoyVids]

I find it amusing how Julie describes TERF as "highly derogatory"... when it's literally the most cut and dry, unbiased, possibly too nice description of these people.

[@gorilla-grip-pussy-support7976]

Didn’t she link an Etsy shop that had merch that had TERF on it? Can she make up her mind on wether it’s a derogatory term or not.

[@elbruces]

Plus they made up the term themselves. And when they got pushback for their views, they assumed that rebranding would fix everything.

[@hildegunstvonmythenmetz6095]

„Exclusionary“ is a very, very, very nice word. „Phobic“ or „Hating“ fits way better, although TPRF and THRF doesn’t sound so good.

[@juhaniseppala]

Any abbrevation aimed at people who consider themselves to be part of the majority is considered derogatory. Just look at how many people consider the term CIS derogatory.

[@Thiefnuker]

Wait until she hears about Feminism Appropriating Radical Transphobe

[@VultRoos]

I'm a cis woman with double the amount of testosterone than I should. Even though that's still miles below comparable levels with cis men, the elevated hormones has fucked with my health my entire life, causing a lot of unnecessary pain. It's only recently that I found an obgyn who specialized in PCOS and gave me spironolactone. So I did a double take when you mentioned spironolactone for trans people. It makes so much sense! It's helped me so much and I'm so glad it's been able to help some trans people as well. It also certainly validates my belief that at least where trans women are concerned, trans rights and women's rights are tied together. If any lawmakers try to attack trans women through certain medication like spironolactone, I as a cis woman would be attacked as well. It's always been really frustrating when transphobes who don't understand how varied women and women's bodies are end up making claims about my biology and use rigid categories that would completely shut someone like me out in their conception of womanhood in their efforts to attack other marginalized people. It's doubly disgusting when it comes from other women because like. They have even less of an excuse to be so ignorant.

[@MS-we9gn]

The two (women’s rights and trans rights) also intersect in the sense that trans men and some non-binary people need abortions and birth control too. Trans men make less than the average cis woman and cis man, while trans women make less than all of us. We’re rarely included in conversations about the wage gap or reproductive rights, though

[@jodiekeenan3005]

It's so funny that when JKR wrote her TERF Wars essay she claimed that she would gladly march beside trans people if their rights were being infringed upon, and she literally threw that brunch while there was a march because of trans rights being infringed. She really is quite the fiction writer.

[@iantaakalla8180]

It is said that storytelling is highly linked with the ability to convince people that your point of view is correct. JK Rowling proves that despite not being that good of a storyteller.

[@ladygagarin1660]

But SoMe oF hER bESt frIENDs are trans!

[@fenrisvermundr2516]

@@iantaakalla8180 Many have already proven. Karl Marx for example convinced hundreds of millions that his beliefs would work.

[@charliekahn4205]

@@fenrisvermundr2516 He didn't have a solution. He proposed a removal of capitalism, and created an ideology based on that, but did not provide something to replace it. Despite his most famous work being called "The Communist Manifesto," said work only expresses the benefits that a post-capitalist system would provide, without providing any detail as to what a post-capitalist system would be.

[@Pi-Mae]

JKR lol Abbreviation for Joker?

[@StrangeAesir]

Jessie, give that poor comedian his family back, kidnapping isn't the solution.

[@kkimsey5866]

🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@DZrache]

It's not funny laughing at the poor man, his whole family got transed :'c /jk

[@GoblinoAlaMode]

She can’t because I got dibs on that comedian’s grandpa and we’re going to go fishing while I trans him by trans osmosis.

[@imsmolandangery4274]

That paragon of women's rights doesn't respect his wife's autonomy to divorce him, she couldn't have made that decision without someone else making her

[@thedreamer4761]

I laughed so hard at him crying that trans people and their allies took his family. Dude, what do you mean?

[@evelawless5480]

I'm reminded how when April Daniels wrote Dreadnought (an excellent novel about a trans superhero), she had to tone down the language Grey Witch used because nobody believed it, despite word for word quoting real terfs.

[@TheNumnutRandomness]

[SPOILERS] It's funny how the sequel's main villain's main motivation basically boiled down to, "I'd rather MILLIONS OF WOMEN DIE rather than see ONE TRANS GIRL HAPPY!" Which chillingly reflects how GC TERFS are happy to cozy up to anti-choicers and fascists because "At least THEY know what a women is!"

[@acarter9806]

I was going to mention those two books (it has a sequel too) as something Jessie might want to cover if they like doing book reports/reviews, cause they're really great.

[@loki1456]

Omg I've never seen anyone talk about Dreadnought! I love that series.

[@Lucifersfursona]

Gaslight gatekeep girlboss

[@xenosbreed]

@@TheNumnutRandomness 100% I was yelling at TERFs yesterday and then it suddenly struck me when I was providing data and studies that nearly 99% of people transition do not regret it and the vast improvement in the quality of life and how they don't perform better in sports and they kept focusing on minute side effects or the 1% of detransitioners when it struck me, they would literally rather those 99% of trans kids suffer, nearly half dying, than see a single, what they consider 'real' woman, be hurt. They would destroy all of women's sports to make sure trans women don't compete, let thousands of trans women be denied abuse shelters and be hurt in men's spaces than let a single one get help. It was so bizarre, one provided me with sources, one from Marci Bowers, who disproved multiple TERF talking points, just to make a point about one side effect that needs more research. The source was such a good resource it affirmed my beliefs harder but they are so hateful they will only listen to what they want, even if it means plucking the only thing they want to hear out of a conversation surrounded by trans affirming data, and disregard it all for the single talking point to wield like a hammer

[@nekolies7581]

As a trans man this book made me very uncomfortable. Testosterone being portraited as poison that will hurt and disfigure my body is the main reason I didn't go on hormones. Also trans men in the book are grouped in the same category as women which is very common in progressive spaces.

[@chrissy9997]

My agender partner struggles similarly with the grouping thing. It feels like trans men and non-binary people often get perceived as woman-lite which is very uncomfortable for those people. Me and my partner sometimes try to address it with our friends and acquaintances if it comes up. I hope it gets better for you.

[@dinofeino1811]

I agree with that statement, I personally like the general story but I also understand why it was written that way.

[@artsleep8586]

Yeah I couldn't finish it too because of the portrayals of trans people and sa. Fran had sex with Beth, just using her, even imaging her as man. Even though Beth is a trans women and has a crush on fran. Then Beth gets raped, which was too detailed and sexualized in my opinion. Then Fran has sex with Robbie, which is even more triggering after Beth has been asalted and it was a plane disgusting way to treat Beth. The sex scenes are pornographic and frequent, no gentle questions of what do you call your genitals, just dick for cis men and trans women, and the c-word both for cis women and the trans man in the book. Need I explain why this is problematic and insensitive. And c-word is such an aggressive word. And don't get me started on the non binary character, the disregard of their humanity, it disgusted me and I couldn't take anymore. The sex scenes reminded me of straight porn sights depicting trans people as opposed to lgbt+ made and owned sights. And Fran fantasising about having sex with terfs just Renforcing how the terfs were talking. The terfs speeches could of been more transphobic and the trans characters didn't speak on any femist ideals, just a lot dysmorphia and hornyness. It seemed like kind of book that would create more terfs.

[@nosyDetective]

I felt the same way. Especially because I've been seeing both TERFs AND trans women promote shit like ''I survived testosterone poison''. Really? Sometimes I feel like trans women forget we exist.

[@NoReplyAsset]

it's not a poison... :"3 I hope you got over this fear. T is only horrific to people who don't want it in their body, you don't have to relate to that struggle since you WANT it

[@apolloisabnormal1001]

I feel like one thing that isn’t disscussed either is that JK Rowling only ever fights for other white cis woman just like her, and that she is incredibly racist on top of being transphobic. And do we ever see her “fighting” for the rights of physically and mentally disabled woman? Hell, do we ever see her trying to actively involve any POC, disabled, or even simply infertile woman into her TERF groups? She’s exclusionary not only to trans woman in her “feminism” but to pretty much every woman that isn’t like her.

[@WiIIowisp]

hey! She tried to claim Hermione was black that one time even though she describes her as pale in the book smh my head

[@equidistanthoneyjoy7600]

@@WiIIowisp The 'pale face' thing was a bit of a flop argument, it was just saying that she was scared. However, she did a drawing of all the characters, and not only did she not draw her black she drew her blonde; which does make sense, considering she says she based Hermione off herself. i.pinimg.com/736x/8a/f8/eb/8af8ebd252ef35316441e5757fc2a7a3--movie-characters-harry-potter-characters.jpg

[@WiIIowisp]

@@mimiruss8444 it's not a lack of inclusion though, it's active exclusion

[@mook_butt8037]

@@mimiruss8444 “I place biological reality over subjective self identity” ….what?

[@fairsparrow871]

Tbh as a white cis woman, I never noticed her fighting for my rights either. Maybe should add "rich".

[@rowanatkinson3594]

"Her heart is as big as a country" Wow is that why she campaigned so hard against Scottish independence? It was gonna shrink her heart like the Grinch?

[@johnvinals7423]

Are the Scottish an oppressed, colonised people in Britain? They seem pretty privileged to me.

[@rowanatkinson3594]

@@johnvinals7423 It's what's referred to as semi-colinization, I think. They're clearly worse off than the English and are a distinct culture but still primarily speak English and fight in their wars a bunch

[@rowanatkinson3594]

@@johnvinals7423 It's what's referred to as semi-colinization, I think. They're clearly worse off than the English and are a distinct culture but still primarily speak English and fight in their wars a bunch

[@golwenlothlindel]

@@johnvinals7423 tell that to the majority of Scots who voted remain: and are now facing a bleak economic future because of a decision made in an entirely different country. They have a painful choice, between dissolving the Treaty of Union and restructuring their entire economy on short notice. And that’s not even getting into the history where Scots fought and died for their relatively lenient treaty with a nation that was and still is definitely a colonizer. The symbol of Scottish royalty was literally stolen and is held in Westminster Abbey. Just because it happened before 1700 doesn’t mean it wasn’t the exact same shit that English people pulled in the Americas. I mean, where do you think they learned how to do it?

[@dooksouls5423]

Our language was made illegal by the English, and to this day it remains a dead language that very few know or speak. Schools don't even teach it, despite it being our heritage & our cultural language. However, I wouldn't say we are opressed the way minority groups are opressed, it simply isn't a fair comparison.

[@marthia8015]

This was probably cut for time but I want to add something re: the celebrity death scene The reason the fire started (or at least the reason the characters assume since everyone just got the story passed down by at least three degrees) was that one of the women in her shelter castle has pcos and got zombified, which personally, I read as commentary on the idea that excluding everyone they deem as masculine would keep them save from predators. She died because the simplistic woman = security and man = threat mindset failed her. It's still a very brief paragraph and barely the focus of the novel but it feels incomplete to not mention that her death was, at least in part, caused by biology being complicated Excellent video anyway and good job on the zombie tumor lol

[@fridayhawks-spangenberg8979]

Weird, I'm a 30 year old trans woman with almost no public profile and I *also* don't get invited to universities for speeches! What the heck has this world come to?! It's almost like institutions need to pick guests which appeal to their audience!

[@ladygagarin1660]

But it's telling which celebrities they pick

[@huckthatdish]

I’m a cis dude, I haven’t been invited to speak at any universities either. By Bindel’s logic, I guess we’ve defeated the patriarchy. Congrats everyone glad we did it

[@silverghostcat1924]

@@huckthatdish the sad thing some people can't or won't acknowledge is that the patriarchy hurts everyone, by forcing them into narrow roles that don't allow for their individual brilliance to show through and help everyone to evolve mentally and spiritually.

[@pizzapower3166]

My message to Rowling. "WHEN WILL YOU LEARN?! WHEN WILL LEARN THAT YOUR ACTIONS.. HAVE CONSEQUENCES?!?!"

[@cisrot]

Fun fact! Rowling, for some ungodly reason, recently posted a picture of my therapist to her Twitter page… because my therapist is a trans woman with a beard. Her name is Alex and she’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met and the vast amount of genuine help she’s provided me with during our sessions has been irreplaceable. When I first met her I asked her what her pronouns are (I’m a trans guy myself so I wanted to make sure I made her feel as comfortable as she made me feel) and she said “she/her” while also explaining that she understands that her beard means that her face isn’t considered conventionally female by societal standards, and that it doesn’t bother her. She said she loves her beard and having it makes her feel confident. She said that she understands if she gets misgendered because of it but she doesn’t let it get to her. Of all the people to randomly target… Alex was such a bad fucking choice lmfao. I remember so many comments from terfs and other transphobia focused cults saying how they’d be afraid to see her in the bathroom because of fears of sexual assault / immediately labelling Alex as some sex pest / pervert / a drag queen / whatever. They immediately labelled her a menace to society and a danger to women everywhere.. despite the fact that Alex is, again, one of the nicest, level headed, confident and committed people I know. She has a family, she’s happy, she has hobbies she pursues and is an advocate (and possible partner?) in Stonewall. If you want to send some love to her, her name is Alex Drummond (I feel comfortable sharing her full name because her internet presence has it on full display alongside some fantastic interviews she’s been in). I stopped seeing her right after covid first hit and now everything seems to be returning to… a shadow of what life was before the lockdown I absolutely want to go back an finish some of our major points we went over in therapy.

[@cisrot]

On another note tho, it hurts to see how so many terfs claim that terfdom is synonymous with feminism. I’m a feminist, I understand what it’s like to be objectified, harassed, denied services, etc. Before I started my transition I identified as a woman up until I had my lightbulb / egg crack moment when I realised the correlations between my feelings and how trans folk feel. Before all of that, I had creep shots taken of me more than once. In school a male classmate of mine took a photo up my skirt as he walked behind me on the stairs, and then teased me with it until I was on the verge of tears. Looking back, I should have immediately reported him for inappropriate sexual behaviour, but at the time I was too afraid of these pictures being passed around, maybe even posted online that I begged him to delete them. He said he did, but he gave me this awful smirk to suggest “or did I?”. That was awful, I felt powerless. Another time I was in Japan with my school and I bent down to look at an art piece. As soon as I bent down I heard the shutter of a camera go off before a man scurried away. My friends on the trip who were all boys immediately told me what had happened and comforted me. They were furious that happened to me and I felt used.. again. I’m quite big chested and pre-top surgery, and I’ve had multiple men cat-call me, whistle at my chest, stare, etc… all while I was underage. I’ve been denied services, ignored and berated. Feminism is supposed to be against that kind of harassment for all, not just conventional cisgender women. TERFs like to forget that cisgender women are also completely capable of sex crimes and being abusers. They like to ignore all the red flags from their self proclaimed martyrs and focus all their energy on being as anti-masc (both cis and trans) as possible. Their enemy number 1 is absolutely transgender women and their reluctance to advocate for the safety of all speaks volumes. Their entire ideology reeks of conservatism and gender inequality, and yet they all see themselves as heroes, despite the fact that their mere existence in society is a major contribution to the violent attacks transgender people face on a daily basis. Their ideology is based on very traditional white and western concepts of what a woman is. They reject other cultures concepts of gender and identity and try to simplify it to a purposefully ignorant and backwards concept. Terfs care not for intersex folk, for non binary folk, for people who don’t adhere to societal standards of what a woman *should* (in their eyes) be. The LGB alliance is the first step into segregating a community that prides itself on being an umbrella for all the people who aren’t cisgender or heterosexual. They’ll campaign to “get the T out”, which leads into a slippery slope of more in-fighting in the lgbtqa+ community. What’s to say that these TERFS will stop with trans people? What about bisexual people, gay people, agender and asexual people? They try to pull us apart under the guise of progress. They are conservatives through and through.

[@EpitomeEpic]

Knowing JK Rowling's supporters this is like putting a massive target on that persons back like advertising a hitlist its disgusting. your therapist Alex sounds amazing she dosent deserve this

[@emmettdonkeydoodle6230]

I googled her. She’s beautiful and from what you wrote, she sounds like a wonderful person!

[@farribastarfyre]

Hopefully she doesn't mind people joking about her being like a dwarf from the Lord of the Rings, since I can only imagine she gets that a lot lol

[@cisrot]

@@farribastarfyre that’s.. a really weird and mean thing to say??

[@hopsonkim4952]

Honestly, given Rowling’s ability with names, I’m surprised she didn’t write “Troubled Blood” under the pseudonym “Transslayer Beat DeQueersup”

[@hildegunstvonmythenmetz6095]

„My name is Transslayer Beat DeQueersup Dark‘ness Dementia Ravenway“

[@Thiefnuker]

I read that as "Beat DeQueersoup" :D

[@dongiano]

...doesn't the main character get murdered after accused of being transphobic? Lol bunch of gross weirdos. Thank God most of you are still too physically and emotionally weak to ever be a lone threat. That's why you NEED the left

[@alim.9801]

"Beat DeQueesup" oh my God 😭😭

[@alim.9801]

​@@hildegunstvonmythenmetz6095 YOU STOP THAT RN 😂😂

[@caraxkins]

I love how you drew the line between misogynistic expectations on how women should look and transphobia. I am a cis woman but have always been extremely uncomfortable and self-conscious in my body. I find myself relating a lot to trans men pretransition, but instead of glowing up into a guy I want to be the beautiful woman I've always wanted to be and feel as if I'm expected to be. Being healthy and happy is more important than looking ~Just So~, and that applies to cis and trans people🌈🖤.

[@beep3242]

I understand this completely. As an early-transition individual, I have a hard time looking at myself as "me." I'm just like a weird, pudgy little caterpillar entering my chrysalis and hoping to emerge into myself. The feeling is odd. Sometimes it's numbing, sometimes it causes dissociation, sometimes it makes me cry.

[@sandpiperr]

I'm a cis woman who's recently been discussing my issues with gender dysphoria in therapy. It took me a while to talk about it because I felt that I kind of had no right to! I'm cis gender after all. My identity matches my assigned gender at birth, what do I have to complain about? However, I've been plagued ever since I was a kid with not feel like I'm feminine enough and want to be...idk, more of a woman? And, yes, if we're honest I want to be a beautiful woman. In how I felt about myself, I've always related to both trans women and also racial minorities in certain ways. I remember one was a scene from Precious where she briefly fantasized about herself as a slim blonde white girl...which I used to do as young as 5 years old and I am a white girl even! But I was always too big, too tall, had too dark eyes because it was always the kids with beautiful blue eyes that would get compliments from teachers and such, but then people would glance at me with my dark brown eyes and say nothing. Another was an article from an Asian writer who said she spent half of her life wanting to be a beautiful white girl, and the other half wanting to be a beautiful Asian girl. Like...yeah, I never experienced wanting to be a different race (and, yes, that's what white priviledge is), but same on everything else! I didn't realize until I was older that Reflection from Mulan spoke to a lot of trans people, but it had always spoken to me from childhood about just this feeling of not being happy with your outward self.

[@symonewest5449]

"Given twitter's new...musk" and then the violin playing over Graham crying...Jessi is one of the nicest people on the internet but flashes of petty came out and I am into it.

[@charisma-hornum-fries]

Same.

[@ladygagarin1660]

If she did get tempted to enrol in Petty University, who would blame her?

[@RobertVlcek]

As a British citizen, Julie Bindel (and JK Rowling) should know that, like other European nations, when we talk about "free speech" we are actually talking about the freedom of expression. Legally, many European countries don't hold up the literal "free" speech as a value as it can be used or better abused to cause harm. You can express your thoughts in speech and writing or otherwise but you cant hide behind the shield of "freedom of speech" if you want to harass, humiliate etc. other people. Europeans sensed that the absolute freedom of speech can lead to undermine other people's freedoms like just not being the victim of hate speech. The freedom of an individual needs limits in order to NOT violate other people's more essential freedoms. Such as dignity. That's literally the very first paragraph in the German constitution. Everything else ranks below that. So, I hope Mrs Bindel is aware of this difference and not confounding our views on human rights with America's view. Again, "freedom of speech" is fine in the sense of expressing yourself. Talking sh!t about others, verbal and therefore psychological harassment... Is a big no-no.

[@neoqwerty]

Freedom of speech doesn't mean you're free from the consequences of saying what you did, basically. If you say bad shit and a human decides you need to get your words clapped to the shadow realm, maybe it's less censorship and more that people are more aware of the paradox of tolerance and how you don't have to be tolerant to intolerance! (Used a general you, do not worry Mr Robert sir I wasn't talking to you, just borrowing your excellent soapboax for a second.)

[@rhil4838]

People misunderstand freedom of speech here in America all the time too. It does not mean that you can say whatever you what to whomever you want. It means that we have the right to criticize and speak against our government without fear of being prosecuted or harassed. It is becoming more and more I can say whatever I want and nobody can stop me, especially if it is harmful to anyone else.

[@joearnold6881]

@@rhil4838 no no no Here in America, freedom of speech is as the *Founding Fathers* intended… The right a corporation has to buy politicians. 😞 (If you aren’t from the US, know that that this is literally true. It was ruled by the courts that a corporation is a person, and a campaign donation is speech. its part of why we are the way we are now)

[@theaveragecomment1014]

Today I learned that Germany is far more based than I thought.

[@meriotheart]

The consequences thing is what a teacher told us once too. I personally also feel like people phrase things like facts too often. 'I think chocolate is gross' and 'chocolate is gross' are two completely different things. Here in the Netherlands you have freedom of speech, but it's more freedom of stating your opinion. Speech makes it sound like you can go around saying whatever you want, while you definitely can't. Besides the people taking offense, discrimination is illegal and so is getting people to hate others/do violent things. You can say that you don't like a building, but you can't say that people should definitely go blow it up.

[@c4tl4dy76]

The description of Ramona's PTSD reminds me of some of the accounts I've read and seen from former Nazi soldiers who had to take part in mass executions. Very similar bodily responses. Not many of them enjoyed what they were doing, but they were told they were doing it for the greater good so a lot would just drink or drug themselves up afterwards to cope. Kudos to the author for making "the Baddie" a fully fleshed human. It's so easy to rely on empty caricatures, especially for the baddies. But it is so much more interesting when the baddies are humans with conflicting emotions.

[@bookworm209]

I can see why this book is powerful, but boy is it not for me. Bodyhorror and r*pe are some of the rare things that I can't stomach in non-visual fiction, so thank you for letting me learn about it and its message in a way that I could handle!

[@Ancusohm]

I started this book, but it hit me a little hard. One of the main characters is a trans woman who's over six feet tall, broad-shouldered, and a self-described 'brick'. Her internal narration, the way she thought about herself, I just couldn't take it. I was largely okay with the rage zombies, but the self-hatred hit me too hard.

[@suitov]

Now that's a completely valid take. I can completely imagine that hitting hard. Please enjoy some self-care on the authority of a random internet stranger.

[@NeroIML]

29:40 So Bindel ponders if the portrayal of JKR dying when her castle burned down could be considered incitement of violence. Does she thinks JKRs portrayal of implied sexual assault of a character she based on one of her own teachers by a gang of centaurs is worth pondering as well?

[@jamie1602]

I could see that. We could bring up a lot of questionable things in her book. Her vilification of people with autism, sexualizing Asian girls (CHILDREN EVEN! CHILDREN!), British prejudices against certain groups that many of us Americans don't understand that are really lazy descriptions... Harry Potter now reads as misogynistic, racist, and steeped in old British thinking. It may be her wishful thinking of a "white Britain" and "the good old days". Considering how she votes now, I'm...afraid that may be true.

[@MovieEggman]

That moment when you really that Dolores Umbridge got gang raped and Rowling wrote it like it was a good thing. I know everyone hates Umbridge but nobody deserves to be raped whether they’re good or not.

[@grell5108]

Wait, what?! I haven't read many of the books and only once saw the last part of a movie with a woman in pink that drove me nuts... How? Why? In a kids novel? What happened?

[@personnemay2692]

@@grell5108 i think it was umbrage ?

[@grell5108]

@@personnemay2692 YES! That's the one. I truly hated that fictional character with my whole soul (no offense to the actress)

[@frazkintsukuroi5836]

As an AMAB, I find myself weirdly validated by being "cast" as the zombie monsters of this specific apocalypse. The virus that causes the men to mutate into zombies clearly symbolizes the impact toxic masculinity has on men. And this "worst case scenario" paints men in a way that is essentially a hyperbolic version of how some perceive AMAB bodies in real life: belonging to a person who is innately predatory, subjugated by their own "biology". Which highlights an observation that I rarely ever hear people talk about when it comes to TERFs. Their rhetoric only makes sense if you assume that the desire to be violent towards women is a biological inevitability that is baked into "being a male". Which puts your point on TERFs accepting patriarchy in an even grimmer perspective: they aren't compliant because because they can't beat the patriarchy, they are compliant because they believe that specific narrative of the partriarchy to be true.

[@kisislenain]

tbf as an amab and not a man, seeing this plot kinda... saddens me. Triggers me, actually. I'd prefer not know at all about this book plot, one of my fear being painted true in a fictional world only reinforce it and it sucks.

[@decodyg484]

*drops the mic

[@Megan-cd6sh]

Fraz, what an incredible point! I love reading everyone's thoughts down here in the comment section. This is the first video that I've seen on this channel and I can tell by the comments what an intelligent and thoughtful community this is. I am so happy to have found this channel!

[@fatcat1414]

I thought the premise of the book was flawed because adding a material threat to testosterone goes against what the book is trying to say, but your perspective is interesting to consider.

[@hannajung7512]

@@fatcat1414 the point of the book was to create a world in which the TERF's somehow have a point when they talk about men. Because this allows for a way to deliver critic but also develope empathy that otherwise is impossible, without villainizing actual men. After all this virus is clearly fiction, everybody can see this. This is called a Metaphor. And I absolutly see how an amab like op could feel validated by seeing someone notice how much they are vilified by TERF narratives, purity culture etc.

[@Broeckchen]

I really adore how you symbolized the humanisation of trans people through your perspective by slowly de-zombiefying throughout the video. That must have taken some time to do, and the effect is amazing!

[@spongecakes1986]

I'm so glad you pointed this out, because I definitely was not paying attention to the visuals enough to notice. I guess this is what I get for trying to watch a cool video and be hyperfixated on DnD at the same time.

[@Broeckchen]

@@spongecakes1986 Jessie would understand!

[@mercedeswalt6621]

Omg, I totally missed that!

[@cherhorroritz3298]

I’m only several minutes in, but I just wanted to touch upon Julie Bindel. I’m a cis full service s*x worker in the U.K. Julie Bindel is also a massive SWERF. I’ve been trying to engage with her on Twitter for years (or had been, I gave up years ago). None of these women care about women unless they fit the ridged mould of what they think women should be. In their eyes trans women, s*x workers and allies who will stand with us are ‘handmaidens of the patriarchy’ It’s really sad because you can see that regular women are getting swept up by their rhetoric. It reminds me of the online indoctrination of incels/MRA’s etc. Public figures with agendas use regular folks’ anxieties against them and a hateful movement is created, or bolstered at least. The only time JB ever replied to me after years of me trying was to respond to my tweet about full decriminalisation for SW’ers safety by telling me “Tell that to the victims of Steve Wright!” Steve Wright was a U.K. serial killer of SW’ers in 2006. The workers he murdered were vulnerable outdoor workers who are not currently protected by any legislation in the U.K. which is literally the reason why we’re asking for full Decrim. She doesn’t actually care about those workers, she doesn’t listen to workers or know the reality of what we face. She is not knowledgeable or invested. She’s simply drowning in internalised misogyny which she seems to direct squarely at trans women and s*x workers who are asking for rights. Solidarity 🖤 Right I’m gonna finish the video, your makeup is killing me it’s so good.

[@beth7935]

With the version of "acceptable" womanhood they're pushing, they're the freaking DEFINITION of handmaidens of the patriarchy themselves! It's no wonder they end up besties with far-right groups. I'd bet most TERFs are also SWERFs- intersectional bigotry, & that's their kind of "feminism". I grew up with sex-positive feminism in the 90s & I HATE the TERF "feminism" that actually ends up hurting women, as in your example of opposing the legalisation of sex work. It should be legal & safe, end of.

[@DeaDiabola]

My pea brain cannot comprehend how swerfs even exist. Its so counterproductive and absurd.

[@AvatarBowler]

The rigid mold you’re thinking of is white, cis, bourgeois women (or at least have a bourgeois background) who have “respectable politics”. Anyone else is cast aside like a piece of trash.

[@wattthefaqameye1146]

Isn't Julie Bindel also accused of SAing multiple women? Or is that another SWERF?

[@DeaDiabola]

@@wattthefaqameye1146 Different TERF/SWERF.

[@markh.williamsauthor7286]

As someone who is not trans, but has body dysmorphia from an eating disorder - I would never, ever want someone to have to go through this. People should have the right to be who they are including and not limited to medical assistance. It's no one elses decision. What is wrong with our culture that we want to trap people, not letting them express who they are? The real monster is someone who judges and abuses others.

[@markh.williamsauthor7286]

and.. the whole XX vs. XY argument. Who cares... some of us aren't one of these 2 options - there are X, XXX, XXY, XYY, and more. 1 of 500 men are XXY - most don't even know it. It only shows up if they are infertile and get tested (and that's usually XXY not XXY Mosaic individuals). Let people be express themselves and be who they are.

[@markh.williamsauthor7286]

Jessie - you are my hero. You are living your true self and helping others to understand and find acceptance. What could be more important? Congrats on your surgery moving up!!!

[@ladygagarin1660]

Thank you. My ED also led to my being repeatedly misgendered and twice attacked on public transport. It really opened my eyes to what actual trans people face on the daily

[@rahadianramadhan5554]

Jessie, i know talking about this topic isn't easy but the way you discuss the problematic aspects about this "novel" and the problems of JKR's viewpoints is nothing short of a masterpiece. I am in a great deal of distress as an anti LGBTQ+ legislation is about to be passed in my country and it's harrowing just how much popular media often plays a hand in the demonization of queer communities. Stay strong and much love.

[@PIB2000]

It's a lot more constructive and effective than cancelling someone. No one is a monster because of their biology.

[@brianapereira2694]

It's depressing and heartbreaking to see the hypocrisy of TERFs going "just cuz JKR wrote about it in a book, doesn't mean it affects anything" straight on to "OMG it's in a book! It means something!"

[@chiefs2pretty4radio]

💜🧡💜

[@docwhiskey8309]

Couldn't have said it better myself. Wonderful video!

[@isleofdead1337]

Didn’t realise their name was Jessie, so I thought this was just a Breaking Bad meme wtf is wrong with me

[@wellybelle]

that clip of marjorie taylor greene is just like imagine being unable to register how callously evil it is to admit your grown-ass adult husband would beat a child to death or near-death

[@lamp9160]

I'm pretty sure that she was talking about some imagined camp counselor, even though no camp counselor is sleeping in the same cabin as let alone showering with the campers, even if they're of the same gender. It's just an imagined enemy she created for the sole purpose of justifying violence against trans people.

[@AsaanVesh]

@@lamp9160 She is very much talking about a trans child rather than a counselor, given her language and word choice. This is one of those times where 'benefit of the doubt' or being the devils advocate is not warranted.

[@lamp9160]

@@AsaanVesh I'm by no means giving her any benefit of the doubt nor playing devils advocate. I was saying that she was making up a bullshit scenario to attack trans people. I thought that I had seen that clip from another video abs I was pretty sure that was what she was saying, given the use of the word man rather than boy. Regardless of which she meant, she is 100% in the wrong and nothing more than a disgusting bigot attempting to encourage violence against trans people.

[@ladygagarin1660]

Jesus, Mary and fucking Joseph!!!

[@chilljelloton2089]

its to try and hide how horrifying her words are. its easier to blame the minor victims when you adultify them, it also paints a very different picture than the reality of two or more childern, both/all girls, sharing a cabin. it also erases the trans boys who would be forced to coed with her daughter, because you cant demonize trans mascs without validating their genders. not with the narrative these people use

[@nicotbh8304]

It’s kind of amazing how a human can so viscerally critique patriarchy and the way it affects women while simultaneously going on story-length tirades describing how a woman who shows the slightest sign of masculinity is a disgusting fetishistic monster. I absolutely loved your analysis about privileged women and womanhood when relating to TERF ideology. I had never thought of it like that before, especially as a man myself. I know this is probably a hard topic for you to talk about, so I give you many thanks for this video. Kudos to ya!

[@firebreathingllama]

I love it. "I deserve the red carpet being rolled out by publishers to peddle hate." Self-publish. If your ideas are so high-quality and your platform is already so large, then self-publish.

[@that2amvagueexistentialdread]

I'm a cis(... ish) lady and don't consider myself overly sensitive about such things but god, I couldn't listen to the excerpts, they were too upsetting. Lots of love and respect to you for the analysis, it's important, but I imagine it's still a bit uncomfortable to read even if it's fiction And then having to brave the non-fictional hate in addition to that just sounds draining at the very least. Hope you're doing well ❤️

[@beth7935]

Yes- I'm glad Jessie has said in a few vids that she knows how to look after herself, like she has self-care routines & a good support system, but it still must be hard sometimes- & yet, she always responds with fairness, empathy & intellectual honesty. She's a total legend ⭐ ...I'm interested what you mean by "cis(...ish)", but ofc only if you want to explain 😊

[@that2amvagueexistentialdread]

@@beth7935 oh it's me being a bit glib about the fact that while I could probably consider myself some flavor of non-binary, I mooostly align with my gender designated at birth... so I don't think it would be worth it to unpack the questionable gender feelings too much when they're just not that big of a deal for me lol

[@shockofthenew]

​@@that2amvagueexistentialdread I'm in a similar boat (quite a lot of us there I think).... I'm maybe a step further down the spectrum because I've always had some negative feelings around filling in forms as 'woman' 'ms' etc. and in situations where the 'two genders' were separated into groups and I was stuck in one of those groups. Also more recently when I've started using they/them pronouns in some situations (after a lot of wavering) it really does make me feel better and more 'real' or 'seen'.... but on the other hand I don't have any major dysphoria or any wish to change my body/presentation/mannerisms etc. so in a lot of situations I end up aligning myself with cis women (e.g. talking about lived experience) because it makes sense, and I still go by she/her in a lot of circumstances. I feel like as trans struggles go mine is probably the very lightest of the light, but it is a bit uncomfortable being in that in-between place where I don't quite fit with one group or the other. I also wonder if I might have ended up presenting as 'more trans' if I was raised in an environment with stricter gender roles. I've mostly coasted through comfortably because I was raised in a very liberal family & social environment, which is why it took a long time for me to realise that 'nonbinary' was the best way of describing my identity.

[@wrenmassey6876]

Terfs really love to put Rowling on a pedestal for being a Terf while ignoring all of racism throughout her most popular series. Even if you ignored the transphobia, Rowling literally condoned slavery and made a mockery of a character for trying to emancipate slaves in a book for children!

[@johnvinals7423]

Did you know she literally made it so that the Indigenous wizard children in her world get to go to a magical British-style boarding school to learn Proper British Magic instead of the fraudulent stuff created by the evil Medicine Men who persecuted True Wizards?

[@OllamhDrab]

I find the 'racism' more ambiguous. As an English 'public school' story, everything *isn't* supposed to be right with the world, or the school as a microcosm. Obviously Rowling has her insensitivities, but she could as easily be argued in most cases to be trying to represent or at least show some dynamics as troubling. The way she's gone politically just means less benefit of the doubt. She does treat sex-segregation and heteronormativity as kind of an even more unquestioned 'law of physics' mostly. Especially if you look at the shapeshifters, and when they're unhappy and when they're not.

[@wrenmassey6876]

@@OllamhDrab I simply have to disagree bc the main character literally owns a slave and that is never questioned in the story. There is never any second thought given to the characterization of the goblins, not to mention her shitty naming abilities. Had this been a book for adults, maybe the absurdity of the slavery could be the point of it, but to say that a certain race is best kept enslaved is just not a message that should be in a children's book and promotes racism

[@OllamhDrab]

@ᴄᴏᴜʀᴛɴᴇʏ ᴡʜɪᴛᴍᴏʀᴇ All the characters that end up happy end up staight-married with kids, though. Even GInny and Cho and Luna. See the other message? (As for Cho, that is actually pretty commonly how actual Asian smart girls adapt to a school like that, if they're taught to be quiet at home and ignored by louder mostly Anglo people around. I mean, no, it's not all, but a lot of Asian girls *are* shy. Especially when actually in Asia. Often expected to be. It doesn't mean that's a 'racial' trait, you could ask a girlfriend of mine from MIT that definitely described those pressures but was having little of it in her case . Not shy. But allowed to be. Sometimes things are about what we bring with us, is all.

[@OllamhDrab]

@@Canuovea If you mean the house elves, that thing was pretty ham-handed like Hermione was having a 'PC' phase, but a lot of what you'd see from a folkloric point of view is the notion from fae-lore that house-hobs do their thing for their own reasons and by their own rules. Hermione's mistake is applying that to human slavery, just like bad wizards abusing them do. Treating them like human slaves is not good. Treating them like they ask to be is supposed to be in their nature. Folklore in general says you shouldn't make them feel awkward with overt gratitude or try to exploit them, laugh at yourself about any pranks and kind of keep to the rules. Cause they're actually more powerful and will use those rules against you if you try to bind them too hard by it. The implication is that the wizards have systemically been prone to do that and Dobby in particular has had enough and has been actively undermining that system. Anyway, it would be problematic if people say 'Well, some people are happier being slaves,' ...but the point of those fables is 'Don't treat do-gooders like slaves.'

[@dragondahl3828]

I'm 5 minutes in, but I have to say this: JK does not care about the bottom rung of the ladder. Period. Having re-read the books as an adult, her descriptions of people just come off as vitriolic and vile. The way she describes people who don't fit into the norms of beauty is incredibly judgemental, from Dudley to Snape. And that's not to mention how she describes people from marginalized communities.

[@brianapereira2694]

Right? I wish an adult had taught us kids how to write, and use JKR as an example of how NOT to write. How did no one mainstream call out her racism and other bigotry?

[@yeenbean3318]

I was always weirdly put off by her description of the main fat people in the book. She makes them out to be these disgusting blobs. I'm not saying she has to have a token good fat person. But I don't think it's necessary to brutally roast a whole body type of people right out the gate like that. Even as a 4 year old, I was confused about why they were portrayed that way. As an older child, I realized she probably just hates a lot of different kinds of people.

[@dragondahl3828]

@@brianapereira2694 To be as fair as I can, I think describing villains and antagonists in children's lit (ESPECIALLY in the 90s and 00s) as fat or hideous is incredibly common, so it's not all on JK. Even though I think it's damaging, because it encourages associating physical traits with character which is... not something kids should be learning. At all.

[@CodecrafterArtemis]

I mean, JK cares about the bottom rung of the ladder so much, she made the main character filthy rich in her novels.

[@dragondahl3828]

@@CodecrafterArtemis The Weasley's poverty only existing when convenient is honestly worse

[@mysticmongrel1289]

As someone still often perceived as masc, and who was genuinely abused and repeatedly falsely accused by cisgender women when I still thought I was a cishet men, this book looks like a full trigger fest for me by just framing men as monsters for their biology. Your view involving this with transfemmes mostly, however, is helpful. But the idea of men being defaulted as monsters contributes to the under-recognized, under-reported, and under-validated situations of abusive women with male victims. I don't know how to approach a book like this because being born male having an automatic association to evil is a living nightmare.

[@blahblahblah6783]

I'm a very non-passing trans woman and I did read the book. I had to cry for quite some time afterwards and few time during it. It's definitely got a lot of triggers, but it also, 100% confronts that women both can be and are abusive. You don't have to read it, but it is a very nuanced take on gender and violence (to the point it even acknowledges the existence of cis woman chasers!) underneath the gore.

[@sageseeker9197]

She doesn't even REALLY support women, look at how she describes ANYTHING feminine in her HP books (the only books I will ever read by her). Fleur is bashed, Lavender is bashed, Rita is bashed, the Parvati sisters, not to mention how she describes the girl's actions. She shrieked. He bellowed. She giggled. He snickered. She screamed. He shouted. She cried. He yelled. Ginny and Hermione, the "cool girls" actively bash the 'other girls' as well for doing anything remotely feminine. Like, wear pink? Ugh so basic. Like dresses?!?! Ugh... Be... PRETTY?! HOW. DARE. YOU. Like she also writes Molly as this hysterical woman half the time, and her only personality trait is "Mum."

[@kha30s22]

Right! I never thought of it that way.

[@solsikkeridderuhyre5172]

The most vapid thing to me is that Hermoine is a textbook Mary Sue, and imo, an EXTREMELY boring character, defined mainly by her ability to always be good at things. Where's the character development in that? To be fair though, I've never read the books. Please correct me, because I'm sure (at least I'm hoping lol) she's given more development there.

[@jongya]

In my own personal canon Hermione is a trans woman bc if the author who must not be named can retroactively change these characters then so can I

[@jongya]

@@solsikkeridderuhyre5172 she’s like kind of condescending at times but that’s like her only flaw I can think of

[@solsikkeridderuhyre5172]

@@jongya Agreed. That's what makes her a Mary Sue, though. 🤣

[@hilloneko101]

“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out- Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out- Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out- Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me-and there was no one left to speak for me.” - Martin Niemöller A quote that makes me want to stand up for everyone’s rights. If these Terf’s win the same horrible people that platformed them and called them friends will soon go after them once they served their purpose. It is moronic they don’t understand this simple fact. Trans rights are women’s rights!

[@suitov]

You're exactly right. As you and that classic piece point out, they won't just stop at trans people. The TERFs will continue to go after other gender noncomformity, bi and pan people, and generally anything other than white, 'respectable' gay and lesbian couples. Meanwhile, the far right groups they're allying with against trans people will then steam forward and come after gay marriage, reproductive rights, women's rights, and generally anything other than cis white straight rich men.

[@TasDAmour]

This was .... A lot of pain here. I am a Cis Gender Male & father of 3. I love you. I LOVE YOU ALL. YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

[@godocs11]

For real Jessie, this topic isn't easy to cover without giving bigots something to point at and say, "See! They're the REAL intolerant ones!" and you did a masterful job. You possess a brilliant talent and I hope you have as much support as you need to weather the vitriol that you must endure to be a public figure such as you are. You're beautiful and you deserve happiness and good fortune.

[@charity6372]

Jessie is a gem!!💎 Quality through and through.

[@Cure_Hana]

If I had a nickel for every time a controversial piece of media titled “Manhunt” was heavily misunderstood and slandered by critics, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird how it happened twice (first time being the video game duology by Rockstar).

[@ddjsoyenby]

agreed.

[@Spookybluelights]

It’s very funny to me that when I was still a boy, teenage gay in a small town in 2008, I had someone tell me to my face “I want to line all of you up and let a firing squad give you judgment.” And hearing that said about myself as a trans woman in her 30’s I feel so old. Like, it’s true what they say, the more things change the more they stay the same. All I want as a trans woman is to fly under the radar like I managed as a gay man. Maybe this is the white privilege talking, but I’m so tired of fighting for my right to just fucking exist without being bothered.

[@onyxtheowl24]

I’m 14 years old. And I am none binary. And yeah, I relate. I wish my family wasn’t so conservative and would shut up about how “hysterical and insane the left and trans people are”. My brother is also genderfluid but mostly wants to present and be called in masculine terms when he is was AFAB. I hate feeling so politicized and used. Seeing so many people make so many comments about how predatory supporting young trans people is and how young trans people are just brainwashed. It makes me so upset. I don’t feel like I can trust myself. Am I really brainwashed? Is what I ask myself everyday. While my own parents, my own fucking parents, the people who are supposed to be my biggest comfort in this world makes me feel unsafe and like I can’t trust them with how I really feel. I can’t even show them any of my negative emotions or how much I wish they would change their ways. Because then they would just take my phone which has my biggest comfort on it with people like Jesse gender and other queer activists. Who I feel seen and accepted with. I know I will never have a good childhood now because I don’t ever feel like a girl. I’ll have to cut off ties from my parents. And I feel guilty about it too. They don’t know. My whole family other then my brother doesn’t know that I’m not conservative and cishet like them. They won’t know why I even cut them off. I know they aren’t good for me mentally but it doesn’t matter. I still feel terrible. Sorry for rambling though. I just wish I could exist without feeling guilty about its

[@moxiebombshell]

@@onyxtheowl24 fuck I'm so sorry 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

[@Lawnie]

I've seen a few people make comments on here about how the language of transphobia mirrors the language of racism, but I haven't seen anyone mention yet how it mirrors the language of fatphobia. Fat women are also portrayed as vile, gross creatures who don't fit the narrowly defined role of the feminine while also being at tremendous risk of harm from society at large. The disgust they seem to feel for fat bodies isn't the same as the disgust they feel for trans bodies - they don't see fat people as dangerous to them, for example - but it's definitely cut from the same cloth and it's viscerally upsetting and painful. The way TERFs treat women who don't fit into the patriarchal ideal of womanhood is so violently cruel, discriminatory and anti-feminist and it's horrifying.

[@Lawnie]

@@kaiyodei There are people in every demographic who aren't very admirable. What's your point?

[@actualgoblin]

@@kaiyodei have you ever had a good take in your entire life?

[@OliveCupcakes]

@@actualgoblin they really on this whole video just saying dumb shit

[@cygnahoshiko4629]

Absolutely agree. JKR describes fat people and trans women in the same way, with the same disgust and obsession with our bodies. It doesn't have the same violence, but it reduces all of us to unfeminine meat.

[@valumtimes]

Fatphobia is deeply ingrained to every flavor of bigotry. It's so pervasive in large part *because* of racism, too. Sabrina Strings, Ph.D.'s _"Fearing the Black Body: Racial Orgins of Fat Phobia"_ is an enlightening book on this subject. It highlights the sobering truth of marginalization that Manhunt also hammered home (particularly with Indi as a large fat main character): it's all intersectional. Fatphobia cannot be extracted from transphobia, nor transphobia from misogyny, or misogyny from racism. Being hateful of one will inevitable mean hatred of others.

[@ahuman6277]

Honestly sounds like totally-not-Rowling got off easy. Also this book sounds awesome, thank you for spreading the word.

[@johnvinals7423]

I’d have made the Trans Exclusionary Radical Determinists fetch Rowling’s skeleton from wherever she died and placing it inside a golden statue so that they can worship her as a Goddess in their horrid imperialistic Theacracy.

[@nomisunrider6472]

To be frank, when I first saw the accusations I thought that the novel had England getting bombed and TERFs immediately ran headlines saying "EXTREMIST TRANS ACTIVIST BURNS J.K. ROWLING ALIVE". And this isn't much worse honestly. In a novel full of body horror and gorn, an offhand comment that you died is a slap on the wrist.

[@CorwinFound]

Trans guy. Had top surgery 7 months ago and I'm so happy with the results. Alone in front of the mirror I'm proud. But I swim a lot. Public pools. I don't wear a shirt and my scars are hyper obvious. There are a lot of looks. No one says anything but I can see the side long glances, the double takes, the occasional almost cartoonish stare of astonishment. Recently the pool I used regularly closed for maintenance until fall. So I have to use a new pool. At the old one the staff and regulars knew me and I didn't feel as watched. At the new pool I'm... a freak again. All the looks. They don't mean to but each person who looks is saying, "Be ashamed. You are marred and scarred and not like us." Yes, I know that's my own head saying that. But a minority of society *does* want me to think that because that's what they believe. Trans people live daily with body horror. Alone, in a vacuum we are proud and happy with our bodies as much as we possible. But when we take those bodies out into society it's hard to not see the horror we fear reflected back from the eyes of the astonished, confused, ignorant, and hateful.

[@RedSpade37]

Thank you for living your Truth. People will come around, one day. Until then, keep on keeping on!

[@yeenbean3318]

From what I've read online, your scars will get less noticable after a while. I think there are things you can do to speed that along. Maybe after they've faded a bit, you can get some cool tattoos to cover it up. Regardless, be strong my dude! You've already gotten so far!

[@CorwinFound]

@@yeenbean3318 Thanks. The point of my post isn't that I have a problem with my scars. It's that the people around me do and their reactions create a response in me that I don't like. Yes, they will fade... to a point and within a very looooong time frame. I'm 46 years old with extremely fair and sensitive skin. Although not allergic to silicon I do react to it with a mild rash. My reality is that there is a good chance my scars are never going to be completely inconspicuous. And they could remain hyper obvious for the rest of my life. All that noted, I said this in my post. I'm proud. The tattoos I've considered make use of the scars, not hide them. Sometimes people make me feel like a freak. And it's not my responsibility to change. Society needs to get better. In the mean time, I'll continue to not hide my scars and just suck it up and deal emotionally with the crap. A last thing to note. It's not just the scars. For legal reasons I can't change my name for at least another year. (I'm involved in a financial thing. It's not bad but a legal name change right now would cause major issues.) So almost daily I'm in the situation of having to juggle my birth/legal name versus real name. I am daily outing myself to total strangers. 90-95% of the time this isn't an issue. But I've had people look at my birth name and flat out say that it isn't me. At which point I have to say very firmly, "I'm TRANSGENDER!" My point isn't that I want to figure out how to make my body/self more acceptable to society. I don't think that's the point of the book either. It's the realization trans people have daily that a lot of the world doesn't find us and our bodies acceptable... and the world can go screw itself. Not every trans person has scars that will fade, the ability to pass, the option to change their legal names, and that's okay. We have to learn to be proud while people purposefully or inadvertently make us feel like freaks.

[@neoqwerty]

@@CorwinFound if it makes you feel a bit better, my dad was cis and he loathed his legal name with a passion (religious and childhood trauma). EVERYONE knew him by his chosen name (a nickname he got from his first bandmates when they saw the bitch faces he pulled at his legal name), and at his funeral we had to tell the priest not to use the legal name because no one knew who that was. So, just saying... You don't have to use your current legal name unless you're literally talking to government people or for bank account name purposes, you can just say "my legal name is X but I prefer being called Y" and it's not just a trans thing. (I thought you might appreciate knowing that there's cis guys out there whose legal name and preferred name don't match and it's not just a trans thing, I know that my dad and his unofficial real name help me feel more normal when i have to address my legal name not matching my IRL name that I prefer to be called.)

[@Megan-cd6sh]

Hi Corwin! Your post has brought me to tears. I'm a cis het woman, so I do not know the first thing about your struggles. I just want to thank you for your raw honesty. You painted the picture of your experience through your vulnerable words. I hope that your life is filled with all of the love and support that you deserve! Your writing is poignant and made me want to tell you that you're amazing. Anyone who does not see and understand the beauty in someone being brave enough to live authentically is pitiable and sad. Best wishes!

[@elizabethdespair]

at the part where you talked about fran and her dysphoria had me literally sobbing , the normalcy of life compared against the bleak outlook of an apocalypse compared to the world we live in right now i just- no other novel has ever spoken to me on such a deep , soul blazingly personal level before , no other video essay has ,, well done , seriously..

[@fatcat1414]

"Women's sex-based rights" ah there's the problem: the implication that women are owed rights based on their body parts and not their humanity. Quite the weird take to have, even if it's meant to exclude trans people.

[@alim.9801]

I've never thought about it like that specifically but damn that is very well said. I'm gonna have to remember that, that's the perfect summation of the ick that I feel with rights being attached specifically to body parts like that

[@cofeejoe2882]

Everyone say "THANK YOU JESSIE", For another beautiful, thoughtful and empathetic video. I can't stomach media that reflects too painful a realities, so i appreciate you talking about this book because I would t have been exposed to it otherwise.

[@ConvincingPeople]

47:22 One particularly juicy irony here for me is that maybe the most viscerally repugnant novel I've ever read, filled with horrific sexual violence and revolting body horror to the point that I wound up putting it down about a third of the way through out of exhaustion, was This Symbiotic Fascination by the late splatterpunk great Charlee Jacob-a cis woman. This assumption that extravagant gore and depravity in fiction are solely the province of "male perverts" is, in all honesty, incredibly sexist! But then, there's a reason that the brilliantly perverse fantasy author and whip-smart feminist critic Angela Carter took aim at certain of her contemporaries in her essay The Sadeian Woman: If you define womanhood exclusively in terms of victimhood and violation, it becomes difficult to acknowledge transgressive catharsis as even being *possible* from a distinctly feminine perspective, let alone see how it can be liberating.

[@suitov]

I definitely want to read Carter's essay now.

[@legrandliseurtri7495]

Who enjoys books like This Symbiotic Fascination anyway? I don't really get the point.

[@personmcdudeguy]

@@legrandliseurtri7495 I probably will! gross stuff is cool

[@CanIswearinmyhandle]

Julie really said "of course you have blue hair and pronouns" at the people who didn't publish her book

[@reptilianviolinist]

that monologue about fran dreaming about finishing her transition literally made me start crying, a great showcase of how horror should be used to express emotion and ideas

[@user-wh8qx1xi3k]

SO GLAD you brought up Dante’s Inferno, as soon as I heard about this I thought, “lol this has literally been happening for hundreds of years have they not read Dante’s Inferno???” Honestly one of my favourite parts of the entire thing was that Dante put the people he disliked in hell. It feels insensitive to say it was funny to realise that… but it kinda was. 😂

[@johnvinals7423]

Hell, he pretty much tears into the entire Guelph and Ghibelline political system of his society. And advocated for separation of church and state in “De Monarchia”.

[@mammoneymelon]

i love how divine comedy, one of the most well-known literary works ever, was more or less the original self-insert fanfic

[@merri-toddwebster2473]

He also put some people he liked and respected in Hell... unfortunately, it was cos they were gay. Or heretics. My homeboy had his flaws. He's still my blorbo.

[@c.djinmyr]

@@mammoneymelon I thought he put some of his buddies in his work to poke fun at them, kinda like messing with your friends. Like if I were a horror director and I give my friend an entertaining death in a movie I make

[@mammoneymelon]

@@c.djinmyr he definitely did that and also added a ton of public figures because political commentary since he was yeeted out of florence but the fact that he wrote about him becoming friends with his hero virgil the poet screams self-insert fanfic to me not that that's a bad thing, i love divine comedy and i think it had a lot of really interesting ideas and concepts (also i write fanfic so it'd be hypocritical to say it's a bad thing), i just think it's funny that he basically made an isekai self-insert fic hundreds of years before it really became a thing

[@QuetzalOvejasElectricas]

Oh my God, the "based on a screenplay by JK Rowling" is the funniest shit. Thanks for this video!

[@gonzalo4722]

Hola Quetzal!

[@gonzalo4722]

To receive a heart for that tells me that she doesn't read the messages, or she just likes giving them. Either way thanks.

[@QuetzalOvejasElectricas]

@@gonzalo4722 She reads the message and we are collaborating in future videos.

[@JessieGender1]

I read them ❤️

[@gonzalo4722]

@@QuetzalOvejasElectricas ... QUE?!! Bacan 🙂

[@MadameTamma]

I hope that person who canceled their slot is okay. When you hear that a person would cancel that kind of surgery there's a few different things that could mean for them. But on another note, YAY! CONGRATS ON YOUR UPCOMING SURGERY! That's exciting for you! I wish you well, that everything goes great and your recovery goes smoothly afterwards when it's all done. Lots of love!

[@CDN_Bookmouse]

There are lots of mundane reasons someone would cancel a surgery, just for practical reasons. It is sad that whatever the reason is, they'll have to wait to get it themselves. Hopefully they can reschedule soon!

[@jackcrowley2640]

Read something along the lines of "you can't burn down the patriarchy by plying the pyre with other women" and it's something that's stuck with me.

[@Alma_Muri]

One thing that is always very telling is when a person gives the reason they are so hated by trans community and their "just because I did/said X" is far from what actually happened. If you can't even name the thing that you did without lying, maybe you are the baddie.

[@kiradeki3561]

Sometimes I watch things like this, as a Trans-man...and it fills me with like...terror and anxiety and disgust and nausea...and I wonder "why do I keep watching things even when I know it will trigger me". But then I remember what's going on in the world around me. About the views of my friends and family. And I remember that even without this stuff triggering me, I'd be freaking out and curled in a ball, probably crying. I hate this. Can someone please stop this ride? I wanna get off.

[@thebuilder5271]

If “terf” is a slur then I expect so is “racist”, “misogynist”, “bigot” and etc 💀

[@chazbertino6102]

By definition yes. They are all slurs. Your point? Slur noun: "an insinuation or allegation about someone that is likely to insult them or damage their reputation."

[@neoqwerty]

@@chazbertino6102 Well yes, but actually no. It's a paradox of tolerance thing; if you tolerate intolerance, then intolerance will push tolerance out of its own spot. These words are used to assert social pressure against what people see as morally repugnant, using group shaming and peer pressure to reject those. It's like the word that rhymes with grape with an ist, or the one that rhymes with PDF files, or that other one for people who diddle dogs. It's a stance that's found as morally repugnant and gets outcast (and for rather sound reasons). Edit to further my definition to include where slurs and purposeful insults differ: the key difference is in who it harms. A slur being used is intended to cause harm to a specific group for unfounded and usually irrational reasons. Social shaming is used to COUNTER the irrational harm done by a group who share a behavior, to those we see as vulnerable; racists attack POCs and ethnic groups, misogynists attack women and people who don't abide by allocisheteronormativity, etc.

[@escher10000]

@@chazbertino6102 In the context TERFs are using "slur" they mean it as a derogatory, offensive term for a morally neutral trait, like a racial slur. They want "TERF" to be treated like using vicious language at someone because of their skin color. When it is a term like "racist" or "bigot", a neutral description of a morally ugly trait. A black person not wanting to be called a racial slur is not making the same complaint as a racist demanding you not call them a racist.

[@fangsabre]

@@escher10000 which is all the funnier when you find out that TERF was the name THEY came up with. And "gender critical" is just the new makeup. Much like "western chauvanist" or "identitarian conservative" are for fascists and neo nazis

[@CharlotteSWeb-oh7ou]

@@chazbertino6102 That's not what definition means.

[@andrewklang809]

Wow! You look shockingly different. What's your skincare regimen? Exfoliation? Moisturization? Iron supplements? You're bursting with vitality.

[@JessieGender1]

Brains 😜 haha but actually I use a salt scrub mostly

[@samuelwolch1302]

@@JessieGender1 the key to true beauty is complete global saturation

[@Callimo]

Making Kim K's blood facial look like a spritz of mario badescu toner :3

[@HiBuddyyyyyy]

@Samuel Wolch I read that in Wesker’s voice. I hope that was a resident evil reference, or I have embarrassed myself.

[@samuelwolch1302]

@@HiBuddyyyyyy it was. No worries

[@aloyminimum]

The amount of times I said “Jesus Christ” when the quotes of irl people talking about unaliving trans people is astonishing I’m sure he would’ve came back by now lol

[@doggytheanarchist7876]

He's Jebis. 😅 Not Candy Man.

[@sosocasualty]

Literally just finished saying "Jesus Fucking Christ" out loud myself.

[@Udontkno7]

@@sosocasualty famous american rapper j cole??!!!??

[@suitov]

She's on her way after she gets her eyebrows threaded.

[@kakonthebed]

Wait, when was that? Im video essay in the background gang, so i probs missed it

[@l.p.5703]

I love saying “facial harmonization” instead of the alternative. Love this channel, I’m always learning more and getting excellent perspective here. Congratulations!

[@sconesandjam]

The POV of the TERF on the Trans Women followed by the irl quotes is making me tear up. Another terrific video, Jessie, well done. Also, Christ that call to lynching made me nauseous. 😥

[@sarahhirsch8919]

The real call for lynching was unreal. I was like, Jesus Christ these are actual nazis. Wtf...

[@CorwinFound]

What makes it even worse is that the author, Lily Cade, was a key person quoted in the anti-trans BBC article. They eventually pulled her quote because yikes but they kept the article up. On top of all that, Lily Cade has been credibly accused of sexual assault by other women in the adult film industry. She corroborated those accusations herself by publicly apologizing for the numerous assaults. So the BBC quoted a woman accused of sexual assault who called for the deaths of all trans women. The BBC is explicitly anti-trans at the cost of any reasonable journalistic standards. Can't recommend the Shaun videos on this topic highly enough.

[@UsenameTakenWasTaken]

Yeah, Lily is a sick woman. Reading her screed actually made me vomit when the BBC was still trying to ignore that they supported it.

[@ladyredl3210]

@@CorwinFound also she bragged about SA minors (14 year old girls) in bathrooms. So yeah she's a pedo, and trying to act like trans people are the predators. Projection much?

[@pjaypender1009]

@@UsenameTakenWasTaken Lily is hateful. "Sick" implies an illness, rather than something she chooses to be. Lily isn't sick. That's ableist. People don't choose mental illness. Lily chooses to be hateful and threatening. Actually mentally ill people are more likely to be victims of that kind of hate, not perpetrators. Why is it okay to associate them with her?

[@mirandawhittaker8481]

As as cis woman who's a tad high in the T department (and broad-shouldered, hairy-armed and chinned...thank you so much Eastern European peasant genes), knowing this book exists puts the way I flirt with my partner (calling him "delicious") into a very dark light...

[@mirandawhittaker8481]

In all seriousness: This paranoid obsession of TERFs...assuming that Transwomen are out to get them and non-TERFs are too...how long before they start peering at any woman who looks too masculine to them and pointing fingers? Weird Alpha Bros online are always evaluating women in the public eye, pointing out "bone structure" or height or hands or feet that look too manish to them. The Woman box seems to be shrinking until it only fits those who look like them or agree with them...

[@sandpiperr]

Yeah as a woman with PCOS, I do wonder where I'd fit into this world...probably no where good!

[@suitov]

Fuzzy PCOS gang rise up and eat raw flesh... wait, no, not the second part! I'm vegetarian!

[@emexdizzy]

I'm having a really bad day from my family's transphobia and this made me cry, a rarity for me, but I think I needed that. This post apocalypse is horrific in a very particularly trans way. I'm AFAB, so its impact on me would be different, but never getting top surgery and never getting HRT are fears that have left me so depressed lately. I live in a "good" state for trans people, but that doesn't make trans-discriminatory insurance illegally denying my HRT, make it easier to navigate my transition care with no help from the transphobic family member I rely on due to severe disability and lack of transportation, or that same family member demanding I take my "trans rights" sign down from my window easier.

[@alisaurus4224]

💙💜💚

[@Junosensei]

MtF trans woman here. I also have discriminating self-insured insurance that gets around our state laws requiring coverage for trans people. I've been at this job for so long and have earned myself into a position that pays too well to quit without undoing so many years of hard work. But it's an option if I can find someone else that values me more than this place now does since I transitioned socially. Always consider it and make sure you are hired elsewhere before you quit (of course).

[@user-xy7yx8zv5m]

i'm right there with you. your situation sounds so much like mine that it hurts :') know that someone out there in the wide world understands you, loves you, and wishes you the best

[@AJ-jf1lt]

10:36 In a conversation on Reddit the other day, I disclosed how despite being a lesbian, I was once raped without protection by a man, so I'm really worried about reproductive rights and birth control, since I know that decision can be taken from you so easily. I got messages from several Redditors mocking my rape. So, I know exactly how horrible the Internet can be to women. However, it upsets me that you HAVE to give this caveat. The fact that the Internet is hostile to women (cis and trans) has nothing to do with TERF harassment and demonization of trans women. But if you didn't add this segment, TERFs would blast this whole video as minimizing the dangers women face, and that's just sad. You shouldn't HAVE to add caveats about the harassment all women face when you're trying to talk about issues specifically experienced by trans women.

[@iantaakalla8180]

It is sad that in order to make a point you have to add all the necessary qualifiers. “Yes, it is specific about TERFs. No, the fact that they are TERFs means I am using this as a way to further misogyny. No, the fact that I am qualifying “TERF behavior is not like women behavior” is not ignoring trans women, or even trans men if we are being gender essentialist.” The Internet censors itself because people are horrible, and the fact that it even possible to further necessary nuance to even say what needs to be said like in this video is amazing, and given how the US is trending may soon be a miracle.

[@sandpiperr]

In my early 20s I did an internship a clinic that, among other things, provided abortion. On the paper work there was an option section to fill-in your sexual orientation if you wanted to share that info. I saw people come in for abortion who put "lesbian" as their orientation. I don't know if they were rape victims or not, if someone disclosed that they were pregnant from an rape, we'd put that in their chart to make sure their comfort was given extra consideration. None of the abortion patients I ever saw, who had disclosed being lesbian, had also disclosed being raped. I don't know how they got pregnant, and, really, it's none of my business. The point is, though, that you really never know who might seek abortion and even if you never do...good people care about others, not just themselves!

[@vaughnhaney7020]

As a trans man who still has a fully functioning uterus (well, I think I have unrelated health issues, but I have no reason to think I can't get pregnant) I worry about this as well. I'm gay, and I'm not having consensual sex until I've had a hysterectomy. But that's no guarantee that it won't happen non consensually And I have tried to take birth control, to stop my periods mainly but also to protect me from that possibilities. I got violently ill. My doctor tried several different prescriptions and they all made me extremely sick. I'm trying to get a hysterectomy within the year, particularly because of insurance reasons (wish me luck...) so I'm not going to try the pain of an IUD for only that long, plus I've been told by my doctor that it'd likely make me sick too, and because of my muscle atrophy down there I couldn't get something like that inserted anyway I've been told that if I get pregnant then I'm just being irresponsible, but that's so not true.

[@ddjsoyenby]

that is awful i'm so sorry it happened to you *hugs*

[@annakilifa331]

​@@sandpiperr some lesbians are also trans, so sometimes cis lesbians are in a relationship or otherwise have sexual contact with pre-op trans women. While hrt usually makes people (close to) infertile, things can still happen. So that would be one way for a lesbian to have an unplanned pregnancy without r*pe being involved. And I guess a woman might have had consentual sex with a man and figuered out by doing that, that she is not into that and is in fact a lesbian. I guess that would be another option. 🤔

[@FrozEnbyWolf150]

I have to disagree with Jessie on one point. Transphobes love the patriarchy and authoritarian power structures, because they benefit from it slightly, and can wield those systems to harm trans people. A lot of people will defend the systems they know are harmful to themselves, because it hurts the minorities they hate even more. The benefits outweigh the risks, in their minds. This is why Rowling would die on the hill of capitalism, which historically has depended on the subjugation of women and the strict enforcement of traditional gender roles, because it's the system that made her rich. It's like how the conservative evangelical women who are most vocally against the right to choose are also the ones who end up needing it the most, because they come from communities with poor sex education and a lack of contraception. Yet they'll vote for anti-choice politicians to assuage their guilt. Trans exclusionists have been known to side with the same politicians, and go along with the same policies that harm women, because to them it's worth it and they're privileged enough to avoid the worst of the consequences.

[@animeotaku307]

Considering the overlap with TERF ideology and other bigotries (racism, classism, etc.), I’m not surprised. Reminds me of a quote someone said, how WOC are treated like work animals while white women are treated like beloved pets. All that matters is that they’re treated better. Never mind that in both cases the woman is not perceived as a human being.

[@spliffyrodgers4266]

the trans people took my family dude has me howling like I'm imagining a bad ass group of trans and none binary people performing a stealth raid with uneccisary feats of skill and athleticism like they're jumping over a laser grid he doesn't even have getting his family out of the house one by one waking them up saying "come on your safe with us"

[@suitov]

"There's room for you all on the Down With Cis bus!"

[@Cube-xm6vt]

I'm not sure, but I heard that the context is that his wife left him because he was too obsessed with trans people.

[@nukiradio]

@@Cube-xm6vt ...wow..

[@ThatFlamingFroggo]

Misogyny is experienced by trans women, women, non-binary fem folk, and just about anyone deemed as a woman. This includes many trans-men. Misogyny is at the heart of much bigotry, and often homophobic ideology too. Anything fem, anything seen as not masculine or masculine enough, experiences it. Though, women and more feminine people get the brunt of it.

[@neoqwerty]

Also WOC, who gets extra shit for their cultural take on femininity not aligning with white anglo-saxon women gender roles and get called "manly". I'm still baby at ally but learning to see misogyny as enforcing "ACCEPTABLE" WHITE FEMININITY ALONE really helped me out with figuring that this gender roles system's garbage and I want it to all burn down so we can clear out the debris and build something that works for EVERYONE instead of trying to force one culture's take as the norm.

[@actualgoblin]

the patriarchy has no gender tbh

[@ThatFlamingFroggo]

​@@actualgoblin Do you mean the concept itself, or the reaching effect that the Patriarchy has? I'd agree that the harm the Patriarchy has on people, covers all of the gender spectrum, but I would say that the patriarchy itself as a concept is typically very much gendered.

[@actualgoblin]

@@ThatFlamingFroggo yeah i guess i was more referring to the effects

[@UtopianMagic1408]

Legit truth!!!Thank u for wording it so well

[@CoreenMontagna]

1:07:45 wow, this is so well said. I’ve not heard that explanation for TERFism before, but it rings so damn true! When the true enemy is overwhelming, focusing on a smaller more vulnerable target is just so much easier and provides a sort of pyrrhic comfort.

[@OllamhDrab]

It's rechanneled grievance, sometimes causing people to become the abuser. Shows in the profile of those Second Wave feminists trying to tell riotgrrls to be upset about high heels when ...no, actually we aren't wearing em and don't feel obligated to. They were literally saying we were all 'sexualized' by those shoes when we're like, 'Uh, look down, lady,' cause we were in like COnverse and combat boots and skater sneakers. :) They'd attack the independnt record stores if something offended them, but not touch the malls with the pervasive misogyny and no lesbian or feminist music.

[@michaelaegger3260]

This is what I've always assumed about these "feminists". They must feel so very helpless against the patriarchy that they take out their frustrations on trans people without realising that they shit on all marginalised groups' rights in that way. Their issues are almost always with cis men, not with trans women.

[@iantaakalla8180]

What comments were made here that were deleted?

[@DrZaius3141]

Always remember children: The F in TERF stands for "fuckwit".

[@GothicSillyBat]

Ex TERF here, and i'm so glad I have realized I was stupid. I grew up in a very conservative family and I used to have a very distorced vision on trans people. There was this time were I was strugling with dealing with sexism on the internet and I was so angry that it made me follow this TERF midia. Now I realize that trans folks suffer as much as us cis women with sexist steryotipes. I'm glad I grew out of it. Many of my friends are trans and they had turned out to be the most loving and caring people I've ever met. I'm happy to say that I'm now an ally :)

[@GothicSillyBat]

@ᴀꜱᴜᴋᴀ ᴀꜱᴜᴋᴀ Thanks dude :) I can also say that I relate to your experience, it really helps me feel less guilty

[@zinkheroofyoutube8004]

@𝕯𝖔𝖗𝖔𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖆 𝕬𝖗𝖓𝖆𝖚𝖑𝖙 God, that happened to me as well. I can never look back to that period without cringing

[@DeepWaterLeviathan]

I can't speak for all trans people, but I appreciate you guys more for having to fight against the programming and coming to the realization that you were wrong and taking steps to fix that. It's not easy to admit you were wrong. I respect that.

[@cherusiderea1330]

One hour twenty minutes, oh Jessie, I already love it. I can barely imagine how much work goes into videos like this but know that it it noticed and appreciated. Much love ♥

[@idknemore525]

My trans friend was just recently attacked with a rock by a complete stranger in the alley behind his own house and is still recovering from the concussion. But yeah, terf's feefees are the real victims here.

[@yeenbean3318]

All my support and get well wishes to your friend! ♥️🏳️‍🌈

[@jp9707]

That's very scary 😔 I hope your friend recovers ❤️

[@thehuman2cs715]

@@elsanox2365 Cis moment

[@neoqwerty]

@@elsanox2365 Ah yes. "YOU'RE LYING TO FURTHER THE AGENDA". No desire to actually go check if there's studies about physical violence against minorities and about transgender people, nope, it's not true because you didn't see someone get the SHIT beat out of them right in front of you, it's just emotional manipulation! What you did is called a thought-terminating cliche. You're dismissing something instead of investigating it because you KNOW your personal position is too shaky to handle something that might disagree with it.

[@TVeldhorst]

@@elsanox2365 Why are you so angry? CIS is a slur now?

[@buzzkill_thebich1382]

Watched this in one sitting, as someone also living in the uk it hurts me to see the transphobia brewing around me transphobia that although I am mostly safe from being [mostly] cis-gender I dearly empathise with the trans people who *are* suffering due to transphobic organisations and influences like J.K Rowling. I've faced aggression purely for being gender non conforming, I can't imagine what it feels like to be actively targeted because your gender is not the same as your sex and that makes others mad from some reason

[@CorwinFound]

It's the ultimate hypocrisy. When gender criticals call out trans women for "not being woman enough" they are drawing lines on what exactly *is* woman enough. It invariably leaves huge swaths of woman (including cis ones) outside of their little boxes. Gender non-conforming cis women are the ones who are getting hassled in bathrooms. Most trans women fly under the radar as they are typically (although not exclusively) more likely to conform to stereotypical gender expression. It's vital to remember that gender criticals are hurting *all* woman. JK herself is a perfect example. On International Women's Day what did she post? A link to a wonderful women's organization? A shout out on a historical feminist? A call to action for women's reproductive rights? Nope. Instead a whiny sentence about "...today will become We Who Must Not Be Named Day." On freaking International Women's Day all she had to contribute was a whinge over trans women. It's pathetic.

[@ellie6665]

Julie Bindell also racially abused the journalist and feminist Ash Sarkar and eventually had to apologise and pay defamation charges. So yeah there is pattern of abuse, harm and attempted silencing. It would be funny (if it wasn't so depressing) that she and her kind are the champions of free speech

[@starfydusty]

You've convinced me to buy this book. As a cis woman, I've always tried to be accepting of Trans women, but I never realized the ugly, unique form of self-hatred and disgust they feel towards their own bodies. It's painful to think about, and living through it? I can't imagine. You are braver than anyone I know, and you are ENOUGH no matter how much or how little you have transitioned.

[@TheDawnofVanlife]

I will never read this book, cause I can’t read body horror and most horror In general, but I applaud you for actually digging into the text and providing a balanced view of what this book is actually doing without all the vitriol.

[@marthajburns]

Body horror is a strong no for me as well. I snack too much when reading.

[@spacecattabby2050]

Body horror is not my thing either, but I feel compelled to read the book because I know I'll be able to identify with the intense descriptions of dysphoria, & somehow I think that will feel very validating for me.

[@alygatornado]

Funny how my main issue with the book would probably be me banging my head against a wall, saying, "That's not how spiro works! It doesn't lower testosterone! It blocks androgen receptors! Taking estrogen is what lowers testosterone production!" Also, wouldn't the solution for everyone with testes just be orchiectomies? Also, oof, that's a brutal world to be a trans man who uses testosterone if it has those effects. Edit: Oooh! The issue is the old idea that trans women have to go off estrogen before surgery because of risk of blood clots! Sorry, hyperfocus. I very much enjoyed the video!

[@alicedeligny9240]

It's interesting that Ramona says the trans woman she looks at could "not be mistaken for a (cis, I presume) woman", but that sentence contains a contradiction since Ramona does not misgender her as she says it. Ramona says "she".

[@blahblahblah6783]

Absolutely nothing Gretchen Felker-Martin does in this novel is without purpose. The curtains are *never* just blue in Manhunt.

[@MoramothHauntz]

Catching up on your videos and praying that the 'What is Woman?' Commercial doesn't show up. So far so good

[@JessieGender1]

I blocked that ad so please let me know if you see it

[@MoramothHauntz]

@@JessieGender1 Oh that's cool. I felt ambushed this morning watching MCU speculation and comic book vids.

[@99sins]

To the Dante's Inferno comment: It never stopped. Even in the rest of the trilogy (yes there are two other books) Dante CONSTANTLY brings up political issues in Florence and have cameo's of political figures at the time. He literally wrote his dad in only for his dad to start bitching about the state of the church in florence and even had the highest angels suddenly jumpscare (as far as text can jumpscare) the reader by having them all get pissed and have the sky turn blood red when the state of affairs of the church was brought up. (yes I saw the Wendigoon vids)

[@ashannaredwolf8485]

As a cis-woman, I can't wait to read a book where an out-of-touch billionaire TERF is crushed by the weight of her own metaphorical castle. Seems fitting.

[@The_Skrongler]

Sorry, I know this book has a lot to say and the premise has an emotional realism coming from a trans woman author, but honestly I have some pretty big reservations about the whole T zombies idea as a transmasc person. It sounds an awful lot like the whole "testosterone is litterally poison, why would you ever want that in your body? Do you want to be a roided up sexually aggressive monster?" narrative which shows up to haunt us both inside and outside the queer community. I know there's a trans guy in the story, but I don't really know how much that could help with the premise being what it is. I don't trust like that, y'know?

[@neoqwerty]

People have no idea what testosterone DOES!!! and also don't know how vile oxytocin, the "love hormone", is from a rational standpoint; oxytocin is the culprit for all the negative social experiences haunting you. Oxytocin is released after EVERY social interaction and REINFORCES how it made you feel... but it works TWICE AS EFFECTIVELY when you get a negative experience. It's what causes humiliation and makes social shame WORK. Testosterone? It's a social hormone and it spikes when you're SEEING SOMETHING THAT YOU PERCEIVES IS SOMEONE TREATING YOU UNFAIRLY. It drives you to reciprocate when someone helps you, and to call out bullshit if you do something nice and people don't scratch your back in turn! THat's part of its function! It's not encouraging aggressivity, it just makes people more likely to be assertive when in situations they see as unfair! At worst it makes teenage boys have dumbass ideas like "let's tape Dave to the signpost for shiggles and a photo op" or "let's go shit in the crotchety old man's flowerbeds".

[@TheBonkleFox]

Honestly I do wonder why I never see many trans men in lgbtq+ circles. I've never seen a good deep dive into that (that doesn't come from transphobe circles.) I wonder if I just missed one because I genuinely want all trans people to feel valid no matter what.

[@fern7225]

@@TheBonkleFox Many trans men do end up being stealth after finishing their medical transitions. I don’t blame them, many of us just want normal lives and testosterone allows us to do that pretty easily.

[@zamis769]

I honestly took it more like.. It isn't necessarily that "Testosterone bad" but the metaphor for toxic masculinity, also literally. We're forgetting that the first victims of this Apocalypse were cis men dying of this toxic masculinity in order to become the monsters. It's ugly lumping trans men with the women, but that also seems to be highlighting the issue as to how trans men are viewed as that 'women lite' \ 'confused butch' by society. I hope I'm describing my perception correctly; I didn't think the author literally shares that opinion that T=bad or trans men aren't truly men by any stretch but rather that is just the reality we are subject to constantly irl.

[@suitov]

Also transmasc, and just about to read the book so that I have the right to talk about its message, but from what I hear so far I believe that is literally the point of the book - not an unexamined thesis that "T bad", but a satirical extrapolation of "T bad" to its extremes and where that viewpoint leads. Which is to dehumanisation. The message of the book is NOT the same as its dust-jacket summary. (Some books with similar premises are complete trash though yeah so we're right to be cautious.)

[@darylchurch2115]

Hey Jessie, I didn't know whether to comment this but I think I need to. I'm a cis male, I think I'm bisexual but not sure. I found you ages ago because I love science fiction and you do great Star Trek videos. I knew vaguely what being Transgender was but didn't really understand until I saw your videos. You've really taught me about being Transgender and opened my eyes about the hardships Transgender people go through. I want you to know that for every cruel TERF who finds your videos and makes threats, there's another person who learns about life and hardship and themselves and gender and how to make other people more comfortable. Thankyou for that Jessie, and I'm excited for you to get your surgery! (Also thanks for the book recommendation, sounds like a good book!)

[@suitov]

Glad to have you in the Jessie Federation! LLAP.

[@darylchurch2115]

@@suitov Glad to be here! Edit: Spelling

[@kakonthebed]

Welcome to the jessie cinematic universe i guess!

[@fighting.words.ma.library]

Just got 'round to watching this. During the reading of the passage where the character was lamenting that she would never get facial surgery, I was reminded of your own announcement a while back. I'm glad I stayed until the end of the video. I'm SO HAPPY for you! Also, enjoyed the clever nod to the etymology of "hysterical".

[@levilev2415]

The way those terfs write is so scary, how can you hate a human person you never even met so much... i'm even sorry you even had to read any of this, it must have been very hard :( thank you for your hard work in this video, take care of yourself.

[@nonameronin1]

As a hipster with a beard, glad to know "my kind" is seen as pro-trans rights :).

[@daisyfox2452]

With all of the negativity around this book you would have thought instead of 3 sentences, not-JKR was tortured and savagely abused for half the book before a gruesome murder! Thank you for the honest review.

[@angiep2229]

When you first described this, my mind immediately jumped to World War Z, which you did mention. No one seemed too concerned over Max Brooks offing some pundits in his book. The degree of anger I feel in the direction of Rowling and other TERFs is immense. It's the anger of a parent whose child is being threatened, because that's exactly what my situation is. I'm not capable of being fair or charitable about any of it. I should, but my brain just shuts down every thought but, "These people would harm my loved ones." I am unable to hear anything else. You are one of the kindest, most thoughtful and nuanced youtubers around, a truly beautiful person, inside and out. I'm so grateful for everything you do.

[@marocat4749]

Real people get roasted all the time in media and i dont know enough but i am sure authors have their own dissing going on. Yes its roasting rowling but in an actual well written way and not just for the sake of it. And people get roasted in media all the time, especially celebreties, one of whom, she is. But its scary true, but also have they , it realy shows ho much a cult terfs are not allowing any critical thought about that maybe , that is normal?! To celebreties! And she has just to stomach it as doo her terf stans.

[@GlobsterAGoGo]

Ma’am, I cannot thank you enough for this, it’s so much deeper and more wonderful than I expected and it was so brave and beautiful of you to tackle such sensitive and painful issues for the trans community head-on, especially as one of its most vulnerable members. I’ve only discovered your channel just today, but your frankness, creativity and earnest presentation of the subject matter touch my heart deeply. Thank you for making me aware of this wonderful book and giving me hope even in such a bleak environment for those of us who are trans (binary or non-binary). PS, congrats on the surgery being soon! I clapped about it IRL. C: Very excited for you. Much love from a vaguely transmasc enby in a super transphobic state.

[@muunwulf4706]

53:40- OOF this particular fear hits so close to home for me, as a trans man who has been desperately clawing my way to surgery for the last eleven years and is finally going to have it at the end of this month. This last year in particular has been hell, it feels like every waking moment has been spent fighting nonstop for this surgery with more and more people and laws and complications getting in my way and immediately needing to be resolved lest I lose the surgery. With everything going to crap, I'm genuinely paranoid that the world will end or that our rights will be radically revoked immediately before my surgery. Even if that doesn't happen, I've already had one cancellation and one near cancellation due to circumstances completely irrelevant to me that I could not control (like, they had nothing to do with me at all other than that they resulted in the cancellation and rescheduling of my surgery. I did everything right and they still happened). Even if one of those circumstances doesn't arise again in the next eighteen days, if I test positive for COVID the day before my surgery then it will suddenly be snatched away from me again and I'll have to restart the long and arduous cycle of seemingly-infinite phone calls, lab work, testing, breaking my ribs and smothering my lungs just to do the things that other people force me to do because they can't empathize with my physical pain, etc. So this particular section... wow that got me tearing up.

[@dogdad1997]

Did things work out okay for you?

[@bogwife7942]

I hope your surgery went well!

[@MyrnNecromanson]

These people would hurt my mom and sister without a second thought. They're both afab (my sister is nonbinary so hesitate to say cis) but are very tall, broad, with strong features and a surplus of body and facial hair. But have been target by people as "men in disguise" which is ironic since my mom would be a terf were she a feminist.

[@dianaburn2474]

If your sister is nonbinary, then they aren't cis, in terms of how the community generally uses that term - signed, a random nonbinary on the internet

[@MyrnNecromanson]

@@dianaburn2474 thanks for the clarification! Sis is comfy with being referred to as she/her as well so I wasn't sure

[@crowqueenamps]

​@@MyrnNecromanson I have seen some NB folks use her/them or he/them to show they present feminine or masculine but are still NB. I can't say that's true for everyone, but it's something I noticed.

[@johndoe4110]

I think it's weird that transgender men would be left behind in this world because I am a trans man and according to my last lab report, I have as much testosterone as the average cis man, thanks to hrt.

[@icequeen694]

The ones who are on T turn into aren't left behind they turn aswell. The only reason the trans guy in the story didn't turn was cause he was off T while he was recovering from top surgery. Theirs a scene where he's in the hospital crying because the apocalypse means his whole freind group and last surviving family are doomed and also he'll never be able to go back on T.

[@johndoe4110]

@@icequeen694 Thanks for explaining. I haven't read the book yet but I'm kinda considering it now 🤔

[@Uhohlisa]

@@johndoe4110 This is why it's bad to jump to conclusions about a novel before reading it

[@johndoe4110]

@@Uhohlisa Yeah I was just going off what Jessie said, she didn't specify. I'm going to have to read the book now lol

[@doobieddooo]

Not all trans men are on testosterone.

[@authordistopia4379]

Something I find to be interesting is how transphobic people use similar language to racists. A great example of this is how they adultify trans children by calling them “Men”. This is similar to how young poc are framed as men and women when violence is directed towards them as a way of minimizing the harm against the children and enlarging the danger they pose. They do this with trans youth by saying things like “ if my daughter went to a camp and had to stay in the same cabin as a ‘Man’ thinking they were a woman” they are talking about children as “dangerous adults” WHEN THEY ARE NOT. I live in a conservative place and I have noticed something that might inform their views. Conservatives (mainly conservative evangelical Christians) hate men despite how they might clame they value it. They view masculinity is a similar way as the book discussed. They see it as a caged beast that men must live with, accept, or ignore. They devalue introspection done by men as “not as complete” as introspection done by “emotional women”, and view trans women as trying to ignore the “beast” within. Conservative men especially live with a fear of themselves and what they might do and push this insecurity on trans women. Men and women are told in these spaces that evil is fundamental to human nature while foisting the capability of violence solely on men. This “fear of the beast” drives younger men in these circles to defeatist violence, aggression, and rage. While pushing older men to be constantly scared of falling back into these patterns. With their lack of personal security and the forcing of women in these circles to suffer under these patterns of self hatred and violence, they are scared of what it means for trans women to be able to throw off these shackles. Their deep insecurities fuel their blinding hatred and dehumanization. Sorry if this was too long and thank you for reading ❤️ -I hope the best for everyone 😊

[@AZ-ty7ub]

Very insightful comment, I'm going to be thinking about that. Evangelicalism really is anti-humanist and it's deeply tragic to think of how people who may have grown up to be lovely and well-adjusted are indoctrinated to hate themselves and hate others.

[@ixxie999]

Thanks for your words and insight!! I really liked them and they were valuable to read. My perspective = expanded

[@notNajimi]

This is very insightful!

[@authordistopia4379]

@@ixxie999 thank you 😊

[@OllamhDrab]

Even more interesting is how Rowling presents people demanding 'original pure blood' as the very bad guys in her world, but demands just the same 'blood purity' about civil rights in the real world when it comes to binary sex, even if real biology ain't that binary either.

[@wonderingalbatross2400]

Thanks! please keep the good work!! i leave it here because i don't have this option in conspiring against the state video (AKA andor)

[@picahudsoniaunflocked5426]

How can Jessie make even GORE look good*??? (*yes, I considered "gorgeous" but it felt like too cheap of a pun for such high quality gore-practical-FX) EDITED TO ADD: Aw, the evolution back to nerd-chic cutie-pie vest look was also fab.

[@The-Seal-Of-Approval]

So Rowling wasn't beaten to death with a book? I feel cheated by this title, Jessie. I truly do.