By Sheila Mckenzie-
Highly accredited and best selling authour ,JK Rawling, has fired back at Vladimir Putin, following his mentioning of her name in an attack against the West’s wide ranging sanctions against his cruel regime.
Putin had been on a rant against the comprehensive sanctions taken against Russia over the war in Ukraine, and said: ‘They [the West] cancelled JK Rowling, the children’s author – her books are published all over the world – all because she didn’t satisfy the demands of gender rights. They are trying to cancel out country – I’m talking the progressive discrimination of everything to do with Russia’.
However, Rawling responded to the rant by sharing a BBC article about Putin critic Alexei Navalny saying :Critiques of Western cancel culture are possibly not best made by those currently slaughtering civilians for the crime of resistance, or who jail and poison their critics’. She added the hashtag: ‘#IStandWithUkraine’.
Putin attempted to associate modern-day cancel culture to Nazi book burnings of the 1930s, claiming such things would never happen in Russia , overlooking his own hampering of free speech in Russia which can see dissidents who refer to the invasion as a ‘war’, jailed for 15 years. The Russian dictator has also spoken of ‘cleansing’ everyone from Russian society who is too Western or harbours western thoughts.
Britain, the US and the EU have bombarded Russia with broad sanctions in the wake of Putin’s attack on Ukraine which have crashed the rouble, including cutting it off from banking systems and trade, at the expense of the Russian economy.
Putin was particularly incensed with the decision of some Western institutions to remove works by Russian artists, authors and composers in response to the war.
The Russian president had cited the Harry Potter author as an example of what happens in the West, adding that it likes to cancel people and compared that with cancelling Russia.
Putin said Ms Rowling was cancelled “just because she didn’t satisfy the demands of gender rights”.
Speaking in Russia to a video-call meeting with officials and cultural workers he said: “They are now trying to cancel our country.
Vladimir Putin: Image:news.sky.com
“I’m talking about the progressive discrimination of everything to do with Russia.”
He went on to liken “cancel culture” as the same as Nazis trying to burn books in the 1930s.
He added: “We remember the footage when they were burning books.
“It is impossible to imagine such a thing in our country and we are insured against this thanks to our culture.
“And it’s inseparable for us from our motherland, from Russia, where there is no place for ethnic intolerance, where for centuries representatives from dozens of ethnic groups have been living together.”
Russian’s invasion of Ukraine is much different to Rawling’s personal issues and opinion in relation to transgenders. The only common factor is the response from objectors in their efforts to marginalize both individuals from actions they deemed unacceptable. The expressed views of the renowned authour relating to transgenders were a controversial matter of value judgement, but Putin’s actions in invading Russia is indisputably wrong and despicable.
Harry Potter stars including Emma Watson, who played Hermione Grainger in the film adaptations of Ms Rowling’s books, have refused to identify with the outspoken author.
Ms Rowling, 56, has been widely criticized for her comments about the trans community. The drama unfolded when she publicly shared her disapproval of certain transgender terminology.
In June 2020, Rowling took to Twitter to share with her 14 million followers that she had an issue with the term ‘people who menstruate’ being used instead of ‘women.’
“I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?” Rowling tweeted.
Her posts were branded ‘transphobic’ by infuriated fans with JK hitting back at her critics as she insisted: “It isn’t hate to speak the truth.”
After doubling down on her statement, Rowling added that she respects ‘every trans person’s rights to live any way that feels authentic and comfortable to them.’
As the furore went on, the author then shared an essay discussing her thoughts on biological sex.