It’s a Magical World, JK Rowling. Let’s Not Screw That Up.
/
“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.”--Yeats
There is magic everywhere. Finding it is not a matter of learning a spell or waving a wand. It is a matter of looking for it and allowing ourselves to see and feel the wonder that is all around us all the time. The facts of our bodies, our planet, our cosmos are so astounding that it is often more than our minds can take in. So we chunk things down into categories, definitions, and binaries. This is how we make order out of infinity and create a consensual reality, which is good. But it is also how we constantly limit our view and understanding of the vast potential that is everywhere and everything.
In this world of endless wonder and possibility, it’s kids who are the true magicians, inventing whole worlds and realities as they play, learn, and grow. And that’s why I’ve always wanted to write for kids. Because when they are young they are portals to infinite possibility. And yes, as they grow up some of that infinite possibility gets limited by the need to conform to social norms and consensual reality. But! If I do my job right I can encourage them to hold on to some of that magic and grow up trusting their instincts and imaginations and, in this way, instead of completely conforming to social norms perhaps they can redefine them in a bigger, more beautiful way.
It’s my job to open doors and windows and maybe even tear down a few walls so that kids can step through and take their own fantastic journeys and adventures with confidence. Because goodness knows there will be enough door shutting and wall building and world limiting inflicted on them through the process of growing up. I believe this is the particular responsibility of people who write for children--to encourage a reader’s sense of magic, to expand possibilities, not shut them down. Another part of the job is recognizing how our own systems, fears, and beliefs limit what we have to offer. In doing so we can say, “There’s more out there and I’m not going to let my limited understanding keep you from exploring, exceeding my vision, and finding new levels of magic and wonder.”
In other words, I’m really disappointed in JK Rowling for thinking it’s her job to define other people’s bodies, self-expression, and realities the way she has with her anti-trans position. A lot of people pay attention to her. More importantly, a lot of kids pay attention to her. She is entitled to her beliefs and I’m aware that there has been a call for dialing back the shaming of people for expressing their opinions. But what happens when the voice of one limiting, damaging belief is so much louder than others?
Like Rowling, I am a survivor of sexual assault. And while I will always hold a space of compassion for what she has experienced, I don’t get her argument that offering rights and protection to trans people will somehow make those of us who identify as cis women less safe. What makes us unsafe is toxic definitions of gender and norms that limit our ability to define our own roles and places in the world. What makes us less safe is voting dipshits like 45 into office because we’re afraid of losing the tiny amount of power that fear and current paradigms allow us to have.
Real power is scary and it’s an inside job. As a writer I can’t create it for my readers but I can remind them that it is their right to claim that kind of power by recognizing that they are so big and beyond, and that they need not be afraid of acknowledging the big, beyondness of others who aren’t exactly like them. We are strong when we are able to recognize the contributions and challenges of diversity and discourse. We do not have to sacrifice the safety of some to create it for others. Black lives matter does not mean white lives don’t. And trans lives matter does not mean cis gendered lives don’t. It means there are imbalances of power and privilege and we have to put our big folx panties on and work for equality. And magic. All the damn magic.
Maybe 20 people will read this, as opposed to the millions who are now aware of how JK Rowling feels about transgender rights. But on some level it doesn’t matter that my tiny voice can’t hold up against her megaphone of fame. Cuz I’m holding these doors and windows open and insisting that you...YOU... are so amazing and magical that you can, with the love and support of me and many others, trust your own knowing and walk through them into whatever self and world you want to create. And it will be so much bigger and better than anything that has come before.
Speaking of voices that need to be heard, please buy and read Alok V Menon’s book: Beyond the Gender Binary.