Gender balance/strong women

[Schlobin at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 14988


> 
> 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 ...)

I personally like McGonagall and think of her as Dumbledore's deputy 
which is quite a task. But I think that my admiration for her is that 
I can imagine the woman she is behind the way she is portrayed in the
books, but I'm not sure it's backed up by much evidence in the books.




> 
> 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.


We can add her for the sake of argument. Sure, any woman who did what 
she did, and was Head Girl at Hogwarts (who is Head Girl when Percy 
is Head Boy?) and is Harry's mother is probably dynamite. But as you 
say, there is little evidence, and little detail to grip our 
imagination, just our conjectures and hopes.


> 
> As I recall Susan -- you got mainly praise for this analysis last
> October.  

Oh, I got a few positive posts, but then they turned mostly negative.

Susan