I read Harry Potter as a teenager, but my interest in the series faded as I got older. From time to time, I rewatched one of the films out of pure nostalgia, but honestly, I found the world-building very weak and the plot nonsensical, even for a children’s story. So when I learned that Rowling was a TERF, I just stopped caring.
So, I’m pretty clueless about how the franchise and its fandom have evolved. When I heard about “Malfoid,” a female version of Malfoy, I assumed it was meant to mock Rowling: making one of her main characters trans would certainly infuriate her. I’m not sure how I felt about the idea, but it made sense. However, someone said that it was actually a right-wing thing, a way to “own the libs.” I just don’t understand why Malfoy as a girl would be insulting to left-leaning people. Could anyone explain me?
It looks like a trend that has gotten into the hands of people with all sorts of intentions. Girl Malfoy is sometimes cis, sometimes trans, depending on the artist. Some people are rightfully mocking Rowling, while others like to feel the feelings.
I dunno why it would specifically be “owning the libs” (possibly it could be depicting women as overly arrogant/obsessive/Malfoy-like? I dunno.)
edit: I also know some people are not calling the character “Malfoid”, instead a variant of “Draco” like Draconia or Dracaena, or simply just “Draco Malfoy”.
Some more searching shows up that a lot of incels are using the character for their power fantasies, gross, and there’s plenty of generated AI “art” of the character too