International Women’s Day – the one day corporations around the world pretend they care for folks with XX genes instead of calling them “people with vaginas” – began as a socialist reckoning, with garment workers in New York demanding better wages, shorter working hours, and voting rights. Similarly, in Russia, it led to women demanding “bread and peace,” eventually sparking the Russian Revolution and the fall of the Tsars. It’s only fitting that this day has since been co-opted by capitalism to sell women things they don’t really need. That capitalism always wins is uncontested, much like how it’s the only system that works because it closely mirrors human nature—something thinkers of various vintages have long acknowledged.
However, in recent years, a woman whose rags-to-riches tale is a true triumph of capitalism, has been at the centre of a battle that revolves around delusions of reality. J.K. Rowling, once the literary darling of an entire generation, has become a lightning rod for controversy—not because she committed a crime, plagiarised her work, or engaged in unethical behaviour, but because she stated a basic biological fact: sex is real.
The Woman Who Would Not Be Silenced
For much of the 2000s and early 2010s, J.K. Rowling was untouchable. She was the ultimate success story—a single mother on benefits who, through sheer talent and determination, created a world that became a defining cultural phenomenon. She was celebrated, revered, and, for many, practically worshipped.
Then, she said something unforgivable.
In 2019, she defended Maya Forstater, a British tax expert who lost her job for stating that sex is immutable. In 2020, she wrote an essay warning about the dangers of erasing sex-based rights. She expressed concerns about children being rushed into medical transitions. She spoke about the need to protect single-sex spaces for women.
The backlash was swift and vicious. The actors whose careers were launched by the Harry Potter films—Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint—publicly distanced themselves. Social media exploded with outrage. Rowling was branded a “TERF” (Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist), an acronym that has come to function as an ideological scarlet letter.
But unlike countless celebrities who have buckled under public pressure, Rowling refused to grovel. She didn’t delete her tweets. She didn’t issue a carefully worded apology penned by PR professionals. Instead, she doubled down. She continued to speak, to push back, to amplify the voices of detransitioners—those who had undergone medical transitions and later regretted it. She raised concerns about self-ID laws that allow biological men into women’s spaces without safeguards. She stood her ground. And she was right.
The World Is Catching Up
For years, Rowling’s critics insisted she was fighting a losing battle, that her views were outdated and irrelevant. Yet, as time goes on, reality is proving her right.
Women’s Sports Are Being Protected
Major sports organisations have begun banning biological males from competing in female categories. World Athletics and FINA have recognised the undeniable biological advantages of male puberty, implementing policies to safeguard women’s sports. Even the NCAA, once a champion of broad “inclusivity,” now faces lawsuits from female athletes who lost opportunities to male competitors. The tide is turning, and Rowling’s concerns about fairness in women’s sports are no longer fringe opinions.
Medical Science Is Reversing Course
Countries that once led the charge in gender-affirming care for minors are now reconsidering. Sweden, Finland, and the UK have shut down gender clinics for children after evidence emerged of rushed medical transitions with devastating consequences. The Tavistock Clinic, the UK’s largest gender clinic, was forced to close following an investigation that found children were being fast-tracked into irreversible treatments without proper oversight. The very concerns Rowling voiced in 2020 are now leading to systemic change.
The Political Landscape Is Shifting
Across the West, the political tide is turning against radical gender ideology. In the US, the debate over gender policies played a key role in recent elections, with growing backlash against policies allowing male rapists into women’s prisons and replacing terms like “mother” with “birthing person.” In Europe, left-wing parties that embraced extreme gender ideology are losing support as voters push back against policies that prioritise ideology over reality.
Even Progressives Are Backtracking
Publications that once dismissed Rowling’s concerns as “bigotry” are now reconsidering their stance. The New York Times, once an enthusiastic proponent of gender ideology, has begun publishing investigative pieces questioning the science behind child transitions. Former activists are breaking ranks, admitting that Rowling’s warnings about safeguarding women’s rights were not reactionary, but rational.
The Biological Reality of Sex
Despite attempts to reframe sex as a spectrum, the science remains clear: biological sex is binary. Males and females are defined by the type of gametes they produce—sperm or ova. There is no third gamete. While intersex conditions exist, they do not negate the binary nature of sex any more than being born with an extra finger negates the fact that humans typically have ten fingers. The insistence that sex is fluid or a mere social construct contradicts fundamental biological principles.
Rowling’s critics often point to gender identity as the true determinant of one’s sex. But gender identity is subjective, while sex is an objective biological reality. A person’s self-perception does not change their chromosomal makeup, their reproductive anatomy, or the biological advantages conferred by male puberty. This is why, despite ideological assertions to the contrary, sex remains the basis for divisions in areas such as sports, healthcare, and legal protections.
An Unshakable Legacy
When Rowling first spoke out, her critics claimed she had destroyed her legacy. Yet, years later, Harry Potter books still sell. The Wizarding World franchise continues to rake in billions. Her crime novels under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith dominate bestseller lists. The people who tried to cancel her have faded into obscurity, while she remains as influential as ever.
Rowling’s defiance places her in a long tradition of women who refused to be silenced. Harriet Tubman risked her life to free enslaved people. Emmeline Pankhurst was beaten and jailed for demanding women’s suffrage. Malala Yousafzai took a Taliban bullet to the head for saying girls deserved an education. These women were not celebrated in their time—they were vilified, attacked, dismissed. But history proved them right.
For the last few years, Rowling was treated by the woke world much like Dolores Umbridge treated Harry Potter—forcing him to carve “I will not tell lies” into his hand simply for speaking the truth. But, as Dumbledore tells Harry in The Deathly Hallows, just because something is happening in your head doesn’t mean it isn’t real. Now, it’s evident to anyone paying attention that Rowling wasn’t imagining things—she was simply ahead of the curve.
