JK Rowling is no stranger to voicing strong opinions on Twitter and today unleashed a tirade about sexism in politics in a 14-tweet rant.
The Harry Potter author starts off by saying she unfollowed a man she "thought was smart and funny" because he called British Prime Minister Theresa May a whore.
She goes on to criticise people who use specific insults against women, based on their gender.
"If you can't disagree with a woman without reaching for all those filthy old insults, screw you and your politics," she says.
"You're not a liberal. You're a few short steps away from some guy hiding behind a cartoon frog."
It's believed the rant was aimed at John Niven, a Scottish writer and vocal Labour party supporter, who called Theresa May a whore in a tweet as the election results rolled in on Friday.
"I'm sick of 'liberal' men whose mask slips every time a woman displeases them, who reach immediately for crude and humiliating words associated with femaleness, act like old-school misogynists and then preen themselves as though they've been brave," says Rowling.
"When you do this, Mr Liberal Cool Guy, you ally yourself, wittingly or not, with the men who send women violent pornographic images and rape threats, who try by every means possible to intimidate women out of politics and public spaces, both real and digital."
Rowling numbered her tweets, indicating a well-planned response. She used graphic, uncensored examples of misogynistic abuse that women often face online.
"'C***', 'whore' and, naturally, rape. We're too ugly to rape, or we need raping, or we need raping and killing. Every woman I know who has dared express an opinion publically has endured this kind of abuse at least once, rooted in an apparent determination to humiliate or intimidate her on the basis that she is female," says Rowling.
"If you want to know how much fouler it gets if you also happen to be black or gay, ask Diane Abbot or Ruth Davidson. I don't care whether we're talking about Theresa May or Nicola Sturgeon or Kate Hooey or Yvette Cooper or Hillary Clinton: femaleness is not a design flaw. If your immediate response to a woman who displeases you is to call her a synonym for her vulva, or compare her to a prostitute, then drop the pretence and own it: you're not a liberal. You're a few short steps away from some guy hiding behind a cartoon frog."
After Rowling's tirade, Niven responded, saying simply: "My bad x".
Newshub.
