'Femaleness is not a design flaw': JK Rowling defends Theresa May against sexist attacks

When JK Rowling indicated that her first tweet was "1/14", her Twitter followers knew they were in for a manifesto of sorts.

The Harry Potter author, who has become somewhat notorious for her quick-witted and progressive Twitter presence, took to the social media platform on Friday to call out sexist language used against UK Prime Minister, Theresa May.

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In a series of tweets, Rowling criticised left-leaning men who used demeaning language to describe the UK Conservative Party leader, who announced she would be forming a minority government overnight following the country's general election on Thursday.

"Just unfollowed a man whom I thought was smart and funny, because he called Theresa May a whore," Rowling began.

"If you can't disagree with a woman without reaching for all those filthy old insults, screw you and your politics."

Rowling went on to write that she was "sick of" supposedly 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".

"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," she wrote.

"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."

Once known as a place where the author would clear up questions fans had about her seven-part children's book series, JK Rowling's Twitter feed has increasingly become an outlet for her political opinion.

Last year the author used social media to take a public stance against Brexit.

"I'll use my influence whatever way I want," she tweeted at the time. "This country needs to be freed of fascists on both right and left."

However, Rowling, who grew up in England but now lives in Scotland, has previously expressed that she is not a strong supporter of UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, May's opponent in Thursday's election, as he opposes the move for Scottish independence.