Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

JK Rowling Called Out After Sarcastically Claiming She Identifies As A 'Reclining Sofa'

JK Rowling
Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images

The 'Harry Potter' author seemed to deliberately misunderstand a post asking anti-trans activists to 'define a chair' as metaphor for how difficult it can be to accurately define things.



JK Rowling is at it again, and this time she's ranting about... furniture.

Rowling spent the better part of the weekend raging on X, aka Twitter, after misunderstanding an old internet joke about chairs, which is used to criticize transphobes' constant demands that people "define what a woman is."

As a thought exercise, internet user Avery Edison asked Irish anti-trans activist Graham Linehan to "define a chair" in a way that "includes all things which are chairs and excludes all things which aren’t.”

Screenshot of internet discussion about the definition of a chair

Reddit

Linehan responded that a chair is "a separate seat for one person, typically with a back and four legs," and another internet user immediately responded with a picture of a horse labeled "chair" to illustrate what a fool's errand this line of thought really is, whether applied to furniture or gender.

That is, if a horse can fit the definition of a chair, trans people can fit the definition of a man or woman. Case closed.

Suffice to say, JK Rowling has never heard of this discussion, let alone understood the point. Because when it was referenced on Twitter this weekend, she took it literally and soon went into full meltdown mode.

In response to someone who reference the "define a chair" argument, Rowling tweeted:

"You might think you’re progressive, but have you ever unironically compared women to chairs?"

Rowling very clearly thought this joke of hers was hilarious, because she made it multiple times in multiple ways.

To one fellow online TERF, she "joked":

"I identify as a faux-leather reclineable sofa with cup holders in the arms. Yesterday I was mistaken for a chaise longue."

In another, she "joked" about being "misfurnitured," presumably a reference to being misgendered, after saying she "identifies as a reclining sofa."

Hilarious, perhaps, but only if the chair metaphor flew over your head in the first place, as it clearly seemed to for Rowling, who as a reminder is a writer of such preeminence it has made her a literal billionaire.

Rowling immediately became an object of mockery on Twitter for somehow not understanding how metaphors work.

Others referenced Rowling's past Twitter controversies, like the time she insisted that transgender people were not targeted during the Holocaust, which is absolutely, categorically false.

Nothing like one of the greatest writers of a generation being unable to understand a basic analogy. Never change, Joanne. Never change.

More from News/lgbtq

Senator Chris Murphy, President Donald Trump
Facebook.com/Senator Chris Murphy / Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Dem Senator Drops F-Bomb In Fiery Video After Trump Calls For Congressional Democrats To Be Hanged

Connecticut Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said "maybe it's time to pick a f**king side" in response to President Donald Trump's call for a group of congressional Democrats who are military veterans to be executed after they reminded U.S. troops that they must disobey unlawful orders.

Senators Elissa Slotkin (Michigan) and Mark Kelly (Arizona) joined Representatives Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan (Pennsylvania), Maggie Goodlander (New Hampshire), and Jason Crow (Colorado), all of whom are veterans. In a video message, they noted that the Trump administration is "pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens."

Keep ReadingShow less
Two people facing each other resting their hands in their heads accross a table from one another
a man and a woman sitting at a table
Photo by Good Faces on Unsplash

Dating Red Flags People Ignored And Instantly Regretted It

Many of us are taught growing up to give people the benefit of the doubt.

A belief many people adhere to when dating.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot from @prissyxoxo25's Threads post
@prissyxoxo25/Threads

Woman Rejects Boyfriend's Proposal After He Bought $900 Ring From Walmart—And The Internet Has Thoughts

Relationships can dissolve for all kinds of reasons, but a key reason that's become more popular with the prevalence of TikTok and Reddit is not staying with someone who doesn't listen to their partner or prioritize their needs.

Knowing a person's favorite song or how they take their coffee might seem like a mundane thing, but it's an intimate detail that shows that you care about your partner's likes and interests.

Keep ReadingShow less
Dr. Jennifer Tsai; Person holding Christmas lights
@drjenandjuice/TikTok; Peter Dazeley/Getty Images

People With Astigmatism Are Flabbergasted After Realizing What Christmas Lights Look Like To Other People

Sometimes you don't know what you don't know until someone shows it to you in a TikTok video.

For instance, a person might not know about the possibility of having an astigmatism, which is an ocular condition that causes blurriness in vision, and the blurriness worsens with bright, contrasting lights. Blurring taillights at night, especially when it's raining, is a common occurrence among those with astigmatism.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @lookitskateeee's TikTok video
@lookitskateeee/TikTok

Family Goes Viral After Throwing Hilariously Dramatic Funeral For Child's Pacifier

All children grow and develop at different rates. Whether they crawl earlier, walk later, have trouble letting go of the baby bottle, or just cannot get behind the idea of mushed green beans, each child will have a journey all their own.

But an experience that more families than not know is the very real attachment many babies and toddlers develop to their favorite beloved pacifier.

Keep ReadingShow less