Gender balance/strong women

[Schlobin at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 14987

> be largely 50/50 gender-wise, but the corporate transactional bar is
> 
> As I see it, Susan, Amy & Joy are all largely basing their 
arguments on
> the numbers.  BTW, I agree with Amy's belief that perceptions can be
> skewed (the notion that people perceive the numbers to be skewed to
> females if it's actually equal).
> 

Numbers? Well, there are plenty of girls and women. "I" am not 
talking about "gender balance". I am talking about who grips our 
imagination in these books. There are ten complex fascinating men for 
every two complex fascinating woman in the book (not exact numbers of 
course). (For the sake of argument, Hermione, Minerva, Molly, Lily...
Ron, Harry, Dumbledore, Snape, Lupin, Black, Voldemort, Crouch, Moody,
James, Hagrid, Krum, Malfoy, Malfoy, Arthur (The women tend, in 
general, to embody one set of virtues -- a mother;
an old wise woman (or the old maid school teacher as the less 
flattering stereotype), or the young sexually attractive women. 
(Remember, Hermione is the exception in these books). Real women are 
like real men -- they have different virtues and flaws, and play 
different roles (high powered lawyer, author, and mother, for 
example).
For example where are the adult women who could be seen as erotic 
beings? I can IMAGINE Molly in those roles or Minerva..but I have a 
highly developed imagination about women.
On this list, there are lots of romantic/sexual fantasies about 
Sirius, Lupin, and even Snape, but I haven't seen anyone (male OR 
female) thinking about the women in those terms. (Women, not girls).
I don't read fan fiction (have read two actually), but I would guess
that it reflects the characters that people find most powerful and 
who grip the imagination..? Which women are popular in fan fiction?
Any fan fiction that portrays Minvera as an exciting lover or great 
warrior? (I could see fan fiction perhaps about Hagrid and Madame 
Maxine).

Thanks for taking my mind off my root canal. more in a moment.

Susan










> 
> I agree that Hermione is the exception rather than the rule.
> 
> I do give McGonagall more credit than Susan does.  I think she's 
alot
> more than just an administrative type.  I've written reams about 
Minerva
> before, and I'm certain that Neil has captured all of my brilliant
> analysis in the McGonagall FAQ so I'll skip it for now.  <vbg>  
Suffice
> to say: I think McGonagall does qualify as a strong female character
> (not as strong by any means as Hermione but then again, Harry 
interacts
> with Hermione considerably more than he does with McGonagall so ...)
> 
> Most of the women are identified as partners/supporters of men -- I
> agree with this.  But, I think Lily Potter will prove to be a very
> strong female character separate & quite apart from her role as the
> "mother who sacrified her life to save her son."  I think she was
> probably a brilliant driven person who could hold her own in the 
fight
> against Voldemort.  I think we'll learn all of this in one of the 
later
> books.  So ... I add her to the column of strong female characters 
even
> though we have little evidence of this at this point.
> 
> Like Susan, I'm also disturbed a bit by the fact that Rowena 
Ravenclaw &
> Helga Hufflepuff are the founders of the 2 Houses that play such a
> peripheral role in the series.  I think it's a point well-taken.  I
> really do wish JKR would develop both these Houses more fully in the
> later books.
> 
> Ginny Weasley -- there's potential.  But (:::cough:::), we've all 
been
> saying that Ginny has "potential" since before GoF.  She was such a 
bit
> player in the first 4 books (yeah ... yeah... yeah, she 
was "pivotal" to
> the plot in Book 2, but really ... she was just a plot device in my 
mind
> ... definitely a victim with very few lines).  I know JKR said 
we'll see
> more of Ginny, but I think she said that in the past and it didn't 
come
> to pass with GoF so I'm not necessarily holding my breath.  OTOH, 
she is
> a Weasley and will be older in OoP.  So ... maybe.  :--)
> 
> As I recall Susan -- you got mainly praise for this analysis last
> October.  :::shrugs:::  Don't know why you feel the need to brace 
for a
> "deluge" of criticism.  You've definitely made some great points.  
My
> main bone of contention is that you sell McGonagall short.  But, 
that's
> minor really.  <g>
> 
> Penny
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]