Tuesday, January 16, 2024

The order of snarkiness

How about this, eh? JK Rowling, the highly successful novelist, and creator of Harry Potter, has again fallen foul of the progressives, with a poorly received attack article published about her in the political and cultural magazine, The New Statesman. The dark theme explored in Rowling's crime novels apparently reveal her own dark heart. 

To some minds, publishing a magazine called The New Statesman may be highly problematic. Let's define the word itself, and then break it down, examining it syllable by syllable. 

A statesman is defined by the Collins Dictionary as "a person who shows wisdom, skill, and vision in conducting state affairs and dealing with public issues, or one engaged in the business of government." This word is not gender exclusive, but some writing style guides recommend using a gender neutral descriptor such as "political leader."

A state is a political entity in a defined territory, with a a permanent population, Peer reviewed articles published in academic journals debate the question of whether or not national borders are inherently racist. 

Looking at the noun, man, defined as an adult human male, this excludes women, and also non-binary people. Does this title exclude the non-binary? Do the publishers want to rename their magazine to something less sexist and heteronormative? Such matters are best left to its publishers to mull over. 

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