WYD J.K Rowling

There is a long running debate about whether as a culture consumer, you can separate works of art (whether painting, literature, film, TV, music etc) from the life and views of its creator.

Such debates have found renewed relevance recently, particularly for people around my age, so many of whom came of age reading J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter books.

Rowling has made news over the past few years for what are sometimes referred to as ‘TERF’ – Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminism – views. Put simply (and probably too crudely), proponents of these views argue that transgender women are not women in the same sense as those born with female genitals, and thus should not necessarily be included in broader feminist movements.

Rowling would surely argue (and has, in various posts and articles) that she is not anti-trans and supports the rights of people who suffer from gender dysphoria to transition into the gender in which they feel truly themselves. However, she has made arguments that are similar and indeed often accept the logic of distinctly anti-trans groups, about the alleged high numbers of trans people who regret their transition, and about the dangers that trans-women pose to cis-gendered women in both public and private spaces.

At its core, Rowling's most famous work – Harry Potter – is a story about belonging, about finding something special within yourself that no one (even you) can easily acknowledge, and using that power to motivate and power you to do extraordinary things. Rowling’s story is infused with a kind of modern liberal acceptance that people should be their ‘true selves’, fight discrimination and that we are, intrinsically, human and thus entitled to kindness and fair treatment.

The fact that Rowling’s own work so effectively undercuts her more contemporary forays into culture-war, anti-trans rhetoric, leads me to argue that we can justify some separation between the books and their author. This has been evident in any number of fans tweeting sections of her own books at Rowling, and Daniel Radcliffe, who played Harry in the films, releasing a statement denouncing Rowling’s anti-trans views. Radcliffe put it well when he said:

“To all the people who now feel that their experience of the books has been tarnished or diminished, I am deeply sorry for the pain these comments have caused you. If you found anything in these stories that resonated with you and helped you at any time in your life – then that is between you and the book that you read, and it is sacred. And in my opinion nobody can touch that. It means to you what it means to you and I hope that these comments will not taint that too much.”