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[cw: contrapoints, jk rowling, transphobia]
i feel like i'm going to say a couple words about her.
i feel like i'm going to say a couple words about her.
so, these are not deep cuts or hot takes.
there's no insight here, no special level of observation happening.
there's no insight here, no special level of observation happening.
these are all just base-level facts,
obvious,
staring us in the face.
obvious,
staring us in the face.
they shouldn't be controversial.
they're not debatable.
this isn't something i'm interested in having any kind of fucking "argument" about.
they're not debatable.
this isn't something i'm interested in having any kind of fucking "argument" about.
go talk to a fucking wall.
everything i'm about to say is just fundamentally true.
contrapoints has more empathy for jk rowling than she does for other trans people.
flat-out.
flat-out.
whatever else she has to say about jk rowling,
her *starting point* is that jk rowling is a human being.
her *starting point* is that jk rowling is a human being.
that's already more than she gives most of us.
but not even *just* a human being -- a fundamentally *good* human being.
human,
and compelling,
understandable, sympathetic,
human,
and compelling,
understandable, sympathetic,
someone who has been forcibly *driven* to this because she had One Bad Day
(not literally, you know what I mean),
(not literally, you know what I mean),
and now it's Good and Vital and Necessary for us to reckon with her story, as she tells it,
taking her at her word,
so we can understand where she's coming from.
taking her at her word,
so we can understand where she's coming from.
bullshit.
that is *infinitely* more empathy than contra had for an autistic trans woman
who just got mad
when she got misgendered,
in public,
over and over and over and over, no matter how much she corrected them.
who just got mad
when she got misgendered,
in public,
over and over and over and over, no matter how much she corrected them.
or an autistic non-binary person who said it was bad
to go out of your way
to whitewash the *known* history of a bigot, abuser, con man.
to go out of your way
to whitewash the *known* history of a bigot, abuser, con man.
or a Black autistic non-binary dude who talked about contra's own history
of on-air racism.
of on-air racism.
or or or or or or or.
the list goes fucking on.
the list goes fucking on.
i didn't get to be a human who deserves to be engaged with on human terms.
i got to have my identity forcibly stripped away from me
as two million people
fucking clapped, and gif'd it,
i got to have my identity forcibly stripped away from me
as two million people
fucking clapped, and gif'd it,
and bent over backwards to give her 3,000 *more* dollars,
every month,
because she did it so fucking stylishly.
every month,
because she did it so fucking stylishly.
then i got to lock my account for the next two fucking months
because i got the gift of hate mail and doxxing attempts.
because i got the gift of hate mail and doxxing attempts.
over and over and over again,
contra tries to draw these parallels between herself and jk rowling.
contra tries to draw these parallels between herself and jk rowling.
and the apologist point would be that she's drawing these parallels as a makeshift foundation
as she works to a bigger point,
as she works to a bigger point,
but i don't give a shit about that.
i care about one angle here.
she's wrong, but she's also not wrong,
you know?
she's wrong, but she's also not wrong,
you know?
like, contra has 13,000+ people giving her money every month.
conservation estimate,
13,000 people means 13,000 dollars.
conservation estimate,
13,000 people means 13,000 dollars.
actual estimate,
vastly higher, considering the fact that she has hundreds of people in her highest tier,
and *thousands* in the mid-range ones.
vastly higher, considering the fact that she has hundreds of people in her highest tier,
and *thousands* in the mid-range ones.
you know, she's wealthy.
she's powerful.
she's also less than a fucking *dust mite* next to jk rowling.
she's powerful.
she's also less than a fucking *dust mite* next to jk rowling.
talking about jk rowling like she's *just* another *pretty* well-off e-celebrity
who *just* made a bad video
is callous,
self-centered,
irresponsible, and neglectful to the point where i do not know how to fucking describe it.
who *just* made a bad video
is callous,
self-centered,
irresponsible, and neglectful to the point where i do not know how to fucking describe it.
at the same time, i kinda get it.
like, i've made this comparison, myself.
'cause here's the thing about being a billionaire --
you don't have to *be* a billionaire to be so rich you will never, ever, ever, *ever*
*ever*
have a single actual, tangible, physical problem again.
'cause here's the thing about being a billionaire --
you don't have to *be* a billionaire to be so rich you will never, ever, ever, *ever*
*ever*
have a single actual, tangible, physical problem again.
that's why people single out billionaires --
because you could take away 99% of what they have,
and they'd *still* never want for anything.
because you could take away 99% of what they have,
and they'd *still* never want for anything.
you don't have to *be* a billionaire to be so rich, money stops mattering.
[cw: suicide]
you don't have to *be* jk rowling
to know that you could literally use your platform to drive a trans person to suicide
and completely get away with it.
you don't have to *be* jk rowling
to know that you could literally use your platform to drive a trans person to suicide
and completely get away with it.
you just have to be contrapoints.
so, i get it.
anyway, i guess my bottom-line point, nat,
if you're reading,
is that the fact
that you feel *any* kind of personal connection
or class solidarity
with a genocidal billionaire
is the most fucking pitiful, but least surprising, thing I've heard in a while.
if you're reading,
is that the fact
that you feel *any* kind of personal connection
or class solidarity
with a genocidal billionaire
is the most fucking pitiful, but least surprising, thing I've heard in a while.
- anthony elisa.
