This JK Rowling fan tried to claim women authors were 'unheard of' before Harry Potter and it massively backfired

The internet is full of bizarre claims so it takes a lot for one to stand head and shoulders above the rest.

Which is why a recent wild assertion by a die-hard JK Rowling fan caused such a stir.

In short: apparently JK Rowling – who published her first novel in 1997 – invented women writers.

The now-deleted tweet was posted by an also now-deleted account on 6 July, in defence of recent criticism of Rowling’s comments on transgender individuals, including comparing hormone treatment to “gay conversion therapy”.

The person wrote:

Not long before Rowling was published, women authors were unheard of.

Now your generation gets to take us further than my generation ever could because we aren’t living your lives. 

But at least acknowledge that we laid the groundwork for you to take us on the next step. 

Unfortunately, it appears the tweet author had forgotten something.

Namely… the entire history of literature.

Women authors across the board certainly did not receive the same opportunities, prestige and reward as men.

But that doesn’t mean they were “unheard of”.

Especially not by 1997.

Naturally, bemused social media users quickly corrected the claim.

In fact, a woman writer had literally clinched the Nobel Prize twice in the decade preceding Rowling’s first book.

It turned out there were, in fact, many women writers that people had heard of before Rowling.

People were utterly baffled at the suggestion that women writers simply didn’t exist until the last 30 years.

Such a shame!

Luckily post-JK, now women are aware they are allowed to write books.

Once again, thanks to the glorious leader for breaking the boundaries.

Maybe some people need to put down their well-worn Harry Potters and go back to their untouched history books.