Gender/what we may ask of a writer

[Amy Z]

No: HPFGUIDX 15130

Susan wrote:

> > Let me try again..
> > Why are all the people who are in positions of leadership men?
> > Why are the VAST MAJORITY of the characters who are pivotal, 
> > important, in cental  roles  --- MEN?
> > Why are the vast majority of the characters who are compelling, 
> > exciting, cool -- MEN..?
> > Sure, the 13% of characters who are women are wonderful, exciting, 
> > amazing, and I love them..
> > BUT why are all the important actors in the drama - MEN?

(not all of them, Susan!  Say "most"--or Hermione will getcha)

> > After all, this is fiction.
> > Why can't we envision a world in which some of the leaders and
> > actors are WOMEN?
> > Why are women too often relegated to the role of helpmeet, mother, 
> > girlfriend, wife, crush.....?
> > 
> > NO ONE has answered the question -- where are the men who stay 
home
> > with the children?
> > where are the men who are basically the supporters of the women 
who
> > act? where are men whose primary role is NURTURANCE?
> > And who have no other major role?

Magda wrote:

> Because these are the books she wrote and that's how she wrote them.
> 
> I'm not unsympathetic to your questions or your concerns but it's
> really a lot to ask of one particular writer that she create a
> perfectly balanced world in her fiction.  

I can't speak for Susan, but I don't read her questions as a list of 
demands for JKR.  I read them as a reminder to those who maintain that 
the books' balance of strong, complex, and male female and male 
characters is not off that there are many points they haven't 
addressed.  Take a long step back and look at the characters, and you 
see a few female characters along these lines, and many more male 
characters.  Look for the usual signs of traditional gender roles and 
they are legion.

We are all spending a lot of our time in this fictional world, sharing 
its vision, and one way and another, the questions we ask over and 
over again are:  what does this writer's vision tell us about our 
world?  It mostly tells us terrific, empowering, thought-provoking, 
life-complexifying things.  It unfortunately also tells boys and girls 
that the roles of girls and women are rather limited--that powerful 
women who are likeable and successful in nontraditional roles are in 
a minority.  Not all books do this.

I hate to have a dispute with any author I love this much, but on the 
other hand I've never found an author I could agree with 100%.  There 
is always something that I see as a flaw, and understanding what the 
flaw is and why it bothers me is as enlightening as understanding the 
author's wonderful themes and characters and why they speak to me.  If 
I loved 5% of what JKR did and disliked 95%, I wouldn't read her.  But 
the proportions, happily, are reversed, and I will enjoy the 95% and 
not cover up, but take note of, the other 5%.

One day I'll be reading these books to a child of mine, and if he or 
she notices that almost all the MOM officials are men, I hope I will 
say, "You're right, honey--that really stinks!  Those wizards need to 
get with the program, don't they?" instead of "Honey, you're imagining 
things," or "Come on, a FEW of them are women," or "JKR is such a good 
author, let's not disagree with her."

Amy Z