gentlydip @gentlydip

Remembering... • F. Scott Fitzgerald •

Mair Russell Jones, a gifted Welsh linguist at Bletchley Park, helped break German Enigma messages throughout WW2. “For 4 years I’d done nothing but thought about German codes, while I worked, while I ate, while I slept.” We should never forget women like her:

"Lothlórien is beautiful because there the trees were loved." ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

@QcWynter I bkmk things cos twitter deletes my likes, so i bkmk to make sure i can find it again

@jk_rowling @aeonofbarbelo @MonsterFemergy Hi @jk_rowling Is Flavia going to make a rtn in Sleep Tight, Evangeline? Rereading them all now and I think perhaps we haven’t seen the last of her?! Any update on its progress? ♥️ Much love from Ireland

So it turns out that this was a horrific thing that loads of men have been doing, in a seemingly widespread fashion, all around the world, all along, that we just didn't suspect because it's just so unimaginable. Is that what I'm to understand?

BBC Breaking News @BBCBreaking

2 weeks ago

Man admits drugging and raping his wife without her knowledge for 20 years bbc.in/4yHgPDP

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@jk_rowling @GraemeThomas62 Your steadfastness and cool-headed assessment of ornery societal zeitgeists is a major balm to the soul of those of us who are made to feel like we are terrible ppl for standing up and saying it is wrong to say a woman is anything other than a adult human female.

@jk_rowling @GraemeThomas62 Thank you for all that you do for human rights and for raising awareness and action in relation to the proper recognition of women’s sex based rights, but almost as much, thank you for Strike and Ellacott xxxxxxx

In 1974, a performance artist in Naples, Italy stood passively for six hours while the ‘audience’ could use a range of 72 objects on her in whichever way they wished. She would not resist, for these six hours she’d surrender her own agency to the crowd and take responsibility for anything that happened. She’d remain completely passive. She left written instructions: “There are 72 objects on the table that one can use on me as desired.” And, “I am the object.” The artist was Marina Abramović and the piece was called Rhythm 0. But perhaps it is best viewed through the lens of a social experiment of sorts—decades before the MrBeast era. Of the objects provided there was quite a range. Some were benign: A rose. Honey. Bread. Apple. Comb. Lipstick. Cotton. Flowers. Mirror. Brush. Wine. Book. Perfume. Polaroid camera. Others, less so. Whip. Pocket knife. Chains. Nails. Kitchen knife. Saw. Hammer. Axe. Razor blades. And finally, a gun and bullet. At first, the audience was hesitant, gentle and playful. They offered her flowers, or wrote and drew on her body. They turned her position. But eventually things escalated. Once participants realized that there would truly be no consequences for what they’d do to her, they became more aggressive. They cut her clothes until she was half-naked, violated her bodily boundaries, sliced her skin until she bled, and pointed a loaded gun at her head. The person holding the gun tried to manipulate her fingers towards the trigger to see if she’d resist. It was aimed at her. It was at that point that some spectators intervened and took the gun away. Once the six hours passed, Abramović began to walk toward the crowd. Unable to face her, those who had been willing to touch, cut, strip, and injure her had literally fled the gallery. She was naked, bleeding, and crying. No longer just an object but a human, they couldn’t face her. It was a heartbreaking lesson about human nature. She said: “The experience I learned was that…if you leave decision to the public, you can be killed.” When you remove consequences, there will be people who will do the worst. “I really feel I was a mirror to the public, so however the public felt, it was projected on me.” But there’s another lesson here—perhaps a more significant one. It is about what happens when others remain silent. Most of the people who were there didn’t necessarily participate in the acts of cruelty. Most of them simply watched in silence. It was only when the situation escalated significantly that some people ended up intervening. But it was limited. After someone cut her neck, another spectator put on band-aid over the wound. When the gun was aimed at Abramović, several spectators physically confronted the person and took the gun away. That intervention possibly saved her life. But the silent played a role. As some became increasingly aggressive, their silence allowed them to continue. It was, in a way, perceived as permission. And a lack of social consequences. Once people began to act, they were able to prevent further harm to her. But the silence, one could argue, was part of the abuse. And why were they silent? Was it a desire to fit into the group? Conformity? Vicarious abuse and morbid curiosity? Fear of judgement? Not feeling responsible for the actions of others? A belief that someone else would intervene if things were really that bad? Support? We don’t know. But these are the same forces that can keep people silent when they witness all kinds of wrongdoing. We don't necessarily need to approve of something to allow it to continue as long as enough people stand there and do nothing. To me, it is a more interesting question than why people hurt her in the first place. Some people will always have it in them to hurt other human beings when presented with the opportunity. That’s the unsettling reality of human nature. But whether they are able to do so and how far they can go depends enormously on the environments around them. When people are silent. When they don’t intervene in the damaging actions of others. That’s when such wickedness is able to thrive. When everyone watches a disturbing thing happen, it gives it permission to continue. Silence isn’t neutral because of what it allows to happen. But when someone steps in, it often encourages others to do the same as well. They see that someone else sees that something is wrong and is willing to do something about it. Just as silence is contagious, so can courage be.

I don't find that to be at all funny or surprising, given that the author of Harry Potter is not an anti trans bigot. She is, however, a feminist. Feminism is deeply weaved into the Harry Potter series, from the brilliance of strong female characters like Hermione Granger and Minerva McGonagall and Molly Weasley, to the unicorns preferring the female touch (a nod to medieval mythology), to two of Hogwarts founders, Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff, being women. Single-sex spaces for women and girls are even mentioned, as while Hermione is able to enter Harry and Ron's dormitory, they are not able to enter hers, as the staircase turns into a slide to prevent their entry. Even the example you have cited, regarding Quidditch, is a feminist issue. Mixed teams shows that in a magical sport like Quidditch, men do not have an obvious advantage over women physically like they do in Muggle sports. Strong female Quidditch players and teams are celebrated, including in the case of Ginny Weasley who after the books goes on to play for the all-female Holyhead Harpies, plus Cho Chang, Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet, and Angelina Johnson. There is no anti-semitism. J.K. Rowling has actually spoken out against anti-semitism, such as on August 8. x.com/jk_rowling/sta… Racism, in the Muggle sense, is not present. Black characters are prominent and celebrated, such as Angelina Johnson, who becomes Quidditch Captain, and Dean Thomas, who after a brief dispute with Harry, becomes a staunch ally. Asian characters are prominent and celebrated, such as Harry's first love Cho Chang, his Gryffindor classmate Parvati, who is his date to the Yule Ball, and Parvati's twin Padma, who is Ron's date to the Yule Ball. They are not stereotypes - Cho is portrayed as sporty and athletic AND intelligent AND emotional AND loyal. Parvati is presented as brave AND giggly AND a wonderful friend to Lavender AND as someone who is outspoken when she needs to be. We see less of Padma, because she is a minor character, but the fact that she is in Ravenclaw whilst her twin sister is in Gryffindor establishes them as distinct individuals. There is racism in the magical sense, being the supremacy of pure-blood witches and wizards. However, it is repeatedly called out as wrong, such as when Hermione gets called a Mudblood, and Voldemort and his followers, the group who are racist pure-blood supremacists, are ultimately defeated. There is a difference between the topic of racISM being covered in a book, and the book itself being racIST. Similarly, slavery is included in the books, but it is repeatedly called out as wrong by Hermione Granger, one of the three main heroes. Hermione founds an organisation called Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare. A book containing what is effectively a Society for the Promotion of Welfare of those Affected by Slavery is the complete opposite of pro-slavery. It is anti-slavery. Hermione Granger is an anti-slavery campaigner. As for classism, that is absolutely ludicrous, given that at the time she started writing the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling was living in poverty herself.

Jackie 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈🌹 @KaoticLeftist

2 weeks ago

The funniest thing about Harry Potter is that anti trans bigotry isn’t in it. Boys and girls play together in quidditch matches. The books and movies have anti semitism, racism, classism, pro slavery, and anti Asian stereotypes.

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Terminally ill Labour MP Ashley Dalton is on her feet in the commons now opposing the state assisted suicide bill and it's one of the most powerful speeches made in the chamber for a very long time. A fundamentally decent woman with clear and proper concern for the vulnerable.

I’m increasingly convinced that the political divide isn’t really left versus right. It’s between people who will follow their tribe wherever it goes and people willing to stop occasionally and say: hang on, this doesn’t make sense.

The Taliban has permanently banned Afghan women and girls from schools, and legalized sexual slavery. UN Women hasn’t said a single word.

Endurance Sabon is only 15, and a Christian, so when a Muslim man demanded her hand in marriage, her parents refused. To retaliate, he and eight accomplices attacked Endurance, and mutilated her by cutting off both of her hands with a machete. Violence against Christian girls in Nigeria is shockingly common. Many are kidnapped and forcibly converted to Islam before being married off to older men. Others, like Endurance, have been attacked and mutilated, most commonly with acid. One girl, 18 year old Binish Paul, was thrown from a second story roof by a Muslim man named Tabeer Abbas after she refused to convert to Islam and marry him, suffering catastrophic injuries to her spine and legs. Local law enforcement often protects the perpetrators of these crimes, and persecutes surviving victims. Everywhere Islam goes, female suffering follows.

One of the most successful political tricks of recent years has been turning disagreement into bigotry. Question gender ideology? Transphobic. Criticise Islamic beliefs? Islamophobic. Voice fears about unvetted migrants arriving in small boats? Racist. Express doubts over the success of multiculturalism? Nazi. Sometimes people aren’t motivated by hate. Often they’re simply good people with legitimate concerns. A free society has to acknowledge this reality.

@AmaliyaPatrova @jk_rowling Where? All Ive seen is her explicitly NOT got out of her way to say anything to support the trans agenda, just a general “everybody deserves respect” which is ofc true. She nvr said men deserve to identify into women’s sex-based rights. Ever.

One of the most thoughtful, intelligent and balanced articles that I have ever read on illegal migration and the small boats crisis. Kudos to @matthewsyed for this: “Your first duty is to serve your own citizens. Not people from Eritrea, Somalia, Afghanistan or Nigeria. The British people. Oh, and the nation you serve is not just a territory. It is a home. Our home. It is where we live and work, and where ritual, community, family, and other concepts we might assemble under the rubric of "culture" come together to weave the fabric of a life. Our life. The only life we have and which unfolds in concord with those with whom we share it. Without borders, we are not a nation, and without a nation, we are nothing. We are but tribes or clans, scattered here and there, pipsqueak groups unable to operate at scale or to defend what is precious. To open our borders in the name of "compassion" to people, some of whom hate our values and wish to destroy them, is to place your virtue above our safety. It is a form of self-annihilating madness dressed up as enlightenment. Only the myopic will infer from the above that I am in favour of slamming the doors to those in need.” Here’s the full article in The Sunday Times.

@TheAkoFiles The brass neck of IT - remember when they published an article of literally out-of-context quotes attributed to Charlie Kirk after he was publicly assassinated in the name of trans? Their tacit approval of MURDER for daring to voice views that go against their woke groupthink.

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I find this statement from C.S. Lewis to be more true every year. The beauty we find in this world is only an echo... only a scent of the country we have yet to find.

The best book of short stories I have read in a while, possibly ever - Lauren Groff’s “Brawler”… packed full of beautiful writing like this: