J.K Rowling sent out a thread of tweets earlier this week on how female politicians, specifically British Prime Minister Theresa May, are being treated. The U.K.’s recent general election on June 8 is likely what caused Rowling to speak out about the important issues that female politicians are still facing today.
Just unfollowed a man whom I thought was smart and funny, because he called Theresa May a whore. 1/14
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 9, 2017
Rowling went on for a few more tweets, expressing how liberal men usually get away with their blatant sexism towards female politicians.
If you can’t disagree with a woman without reaching for all those filthy old insults, screw you and your politics. 2/14
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 9, 2017
I’m sick of ‘liberal’ men whose mask slips every time a woman displeases them, who reach immediately for crude and humiliating words 3/14
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 9, 2017
While many people saw Rowling’s tweets as support for Theresa May, it’s the complete opposite. The point that Rowling and many other women are trying to get across is that if you’re going to speak out about a politician, call them out for their character or their weak policies rather than their gender or their race. You can still be critical of Theresa May without using degrading and misogynistic terms.
Rowling carries on to bring attention to other women that have experienced the same abuse, like Hillary Clinton.
I don’t care whether we’re talking about Theresa May or Nicola Sturgeon or Kate Hooey or Yvette Cooper or Hillary Clinton: 11/14
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 9, 2017
Hillary Clinton faced lots of sexism during the 2016 U.S. election, as expected. Some believe it’s the reason why she lost the election completely, even Hillary herself seems to believe so. When she was asked earlier this year about whether she believes sexism still exists in America, Hillary and the whole audience began laughing. Mainly because the election showed us that sexism in the U.S. is still extremely present and to ask Hillary a question like that is laughable.
I don’t think that Theresa May or Hillary Clinton are amazing politicians, but that’s for multiple reasons that have nothing to do with their gender. And to make their gender such a big deal completely erases every other aspect of their character and what they’ve accomplished or haven’t accomplished. For example, people would tell Hillary supporters during the election all the time that the only reason they’re voting for her is because she’s a woman. Women would get asked extremely insulting questions like “would you still vote for her if she was a man?” That’s extremely degrading as you’re stripping her down to just her gender while ignoring the millions of other reasons someone would choose to support her. These women are so much more than their gender and it’s time for men to start treating them just as they would treat and respect any other politician.
