Dr Charlotte Proudman, who styles herself as #thefeministbarrister, has condemned Harry Potter as “a little patriarch” who lives in “a largely male, white fairytale”.
“I’ve never liked Harry Potter,” wrote the lawyer, who runs the Right to Equality project, on social media, in reference to the popular children’s character created by Joanne ‘JK’ Rowling.
She added that she “didn’t even finish the first book” — although she still felt qualified to opine that “Potter is an English schoolboy genius living in a largely male, white fairytale land that looks like Oxbridge (for the elite),” which is not an accurate description of the character on most readings of the book series.
“He’s a little patriarch that resorts to magic & violence to rule,” she concluded — again, not particularly accurately, given the character does not “rule” anything in his fictional world.
I’ve never liked Harry Potter. I didn’t even finish the first book. Potter is an English schoolboy genius living in a largely male, white fairytale land that looks like Oxbridge (for the elite). He’s a little patriarch that resorts to magic & violence to rule.
— Dr Charlotte Proudman (@DrProudman) March 2, 2023
Why Proudman, whose social media output typically focuses on her legal work, activism, and social issues, particularly relating to women and girls, chose to comment on Harry Potter is unclear, but the series is under increasing scrutiny in some quarters due to JK Rowling having been branded a “TERF” (Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist) for her outspoken stance on potential dangers to biological women arising from giving biologically male transwomen gaining greater access to women-only spaces.
Proudman backed Scotland’s now-outgoing First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, when she hit back at Rowling’s criticism of Scottish legislation which would have made “self-identifying” as the opposite gender easier.
Elsewhere, Proudman has argued that “disproportionately focus[ing] on 1 trans woman who is a sex offender” is “a whipped up moral panic”, and questioned why transwomen shouldn’t be sent to women’s prisons provided there is a “robust risk assessment (as is the case)”.
Proudman previously enjoyed five minutes of fame in 2015 when she publicly shamed another lawyer who complimented her on her “stunning” profile picture on LinkedIn after she had initially contacted him, creating opportunities for her to tour television studios complaining of sexism.
She later said that the backlash to this incident resulted in death threats, which she discussed at length in numerous venues including an article published by the leftist Guardian newspaper.
Transgender Author Who Signed New York Times Protest Letter Threatened to Slit J.K. Rowling’s Throat https://t.co/LJP2vaCCTz
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) February 19, 2023
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