Gender/what we may ask of a writer

[Schlobin at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 15249

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Amy Z" <aiz24 at h...> wrote:
> Jenn wrote:
>  
> > Unfortunately, we live in a world where the majority of high 
> positions 
> > ARE held by men.  It sucks and I hate it, but it is so.  Would as 
> many 
> > people have bought the whole idea if Hogwarts and MOM were run by 
> > women? 
> 
> Now, that raises an interesting question . . . are writers doing a 
> disservice when they suggest that the world is more just than it 
> really is?  It seems to me that half the court scenes I see on TV 
have 
> a black woman judge.  Would that this were possible in real 
life . . . 
> I've probably seen more black women judges on television than there 
> are in the entire US judicial system.  I'm glad everyone's seeing 
> this and absorbing the idea that black women can be strong, smart, 
and 
> worthy of respect, but on the other hand, I don't want people to 
start 
> thinking, "racism isn't a problem 'cause look at all those black 
women 
> in power"!
> 
> But JKR doesn't have this dilemma, because she's creating a world 
that 
> has a separate history from modern Muggle Britain.  Without making 
the 
> wizarding world a utopia, she could make it much more equal than 
the 
> Muggle world.  That would send an interesting message.  One of the 
> great things about speculative fiction is that you can do this kind 
of 
> thing without instantly getting a "that just isn't possible" 
response. 
>  Ursula LeGuin created a very interesting nonsexist society in The 
> Dispossessed, e.g. (I never miss a chance to plug one of my very 
faves 
> <g>).
> 
> Amy Z
> 


Or look at Star Trek - TOS...Watch it now and it seems hopelessly out 
of date. 

The original series had a woman second in command, but she was bumped.

There was controversy about having an "extra-terrestial" as the main 
character.

It was groundbreaking because of the racial mix of the command crew --
I'm sure many people have heard the story of Nichelle Nichols (the 
woman who played Uhura) deciding to quit and being told by Dr. King 
that she couldn't....because she was showing the world that an 
African American woman could be in a position of responsible 
authority...that George Takei, who played Lt. Sulu, spent time as a 
child in a Japanese internment camp in WWII in California, that they 
had the "first inter-racial" kiss on tv (and the actors never noticed 
until later. (If some of these details are wrong, I'm happy to be 
corrected). Chekov was controversial because he was Russian and

I could go through TOS and tell you in great detail (if I wanted to 
bother), the stuff that was terribly sexist, racist, etc..and I'm 
sure I could be taught a great deal by others doing the same thing.

As Star Trek continued, I happily overlooked a lot of the problems. 
But I do remember sitting in the theatre for the first movie that 
said "Where no ONE has gone before" instead of "Where no MAN has gone 
before" and starting to cry. (The Undiscovered Country?)
It was a validation of opportunity for women, a recognition of women  
that I hadn't even known I was missing......

So, I can be obsessed with JKR, love her books, love her characters, 
etc. and still hope that some of the biases that are still in the 
story might shift (and understand that I hope MY OWN biases will 
shift and I will grow and change). After all, it's too late to hope 
that about Tolkien or Lewis or many of my other favorite books...

Susan