[HPforGrownups] female characters

[Christina Gross]

No: HPFGUIDX 3602

On 13.10.2000 at 23:43:09 Sister Mary Lunatic wrote:

>However, I'm not going to let it spoil my enjoyment of Harry Potter.
>Yes, it makes me uneasy sometimes as I see the long string of
>subordinate female characters.  But I rather think that JKR is
>reproducing the world as it is, and not how it may be idealized by
>future visions of genuine equality.  The only real sign of female
>equality seems to be the fact that Quidditch teams are not
>gender-biased.
> 

I can still enjoy the books, too, even if Rowling decides to have
only marginal and little developed female characters beside Hermione.
I simply wish she would be a bit more subversive when she reproduces
the world we are living in. She "gets them while they're young", so
to speak, and might have wanted to grab the opportunity to plant some
new images of females in her readers' heads. Nothing major. Let the
female Quidditch players not just be names that pop up now and then
but show that they can be just as ambitious and passionate about
their sport as Harry and Ron are. Stuff that goes unnoticed, but
settles in our minds and jumps out at us when we don't expect it. 

There was trace evidence of McGonagal's mentoring Hermione in all the
books, but after she really emerged as a mentor in the beginning of
PoA it just fizzled away. The picture of McGonagal that just pops up
first in my mind is her in a robe and hairnet, scolding people for
being out of bed at inappropriate times. Only later I think of her
wizarding abilities and the wry sense of humor she shows went she
comments on Professor Trelawney. 

Cho Chang was a similar dissapointment. She first appeared as a
competent Quidditch Seeker in CoS, doing her best to make up for her
inferior broom when playing against Harry, but then she was quickly
reduced to the part of "possible date and crush target". 

And don't get me started on Fleur.....

However, I think the developement of Molly Weasley in GoF and the
appearance of Headmistress What-Was-Her-Name-Again give reason to
hope. Although it bugged me that Molly didn't go to the Quidditch
World Cup with no explanation given (or did I just miss it?).

Greetings
Christina

"A room without books is like a body without a soul." -Cicero

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