Cho Chang and other women

[ritadear2]

No: HPFGUIDX 37350

Uncmark wrote:

"I reread Cho's passages in GoF and Harry's attraction is more  
than 'she's pretty'."

Oh, absolutely true, but in the first introduction to Cho, in PoA, it 
says 

"Their seeker, Cho Chang was the only girl on their team.  She 
was shorter than Harry by about a head, and Harry couldn't help 
noticing, nervous as he was, that she was extremely pretty."

So, the inital attraction appears to be entirely physical.  But, the 
fact that she supplements that with her other attributes, I think is 
the result of having a strong, smart woman write the books.  I 
think also, that the Patil sisters are reportedly the prettiest girls in 
the school, but cannot hold Harry's or Ron's attention for the 
duration of a few hours during a ball is also a subtle feminist 
statement.   Really, I love the female role models--McGonagal, 
Hootch, Pomfrey, and Molly Weasley.  I think they all exemplify 
adult women in professional, nurturing, mentoring roles.  I 
particualrly like that Molly as a SAHM isn't flat or dull.   And, the 
important female students seem to be following suit, they're 
strong, smart, athletic, compassionate and nurturing.  But, 
they're also concerned with appearances--theirs and others, 
which is only human nature, particularly during the adolescent 
years.  

Uncmark also said:
" While all off Hogwart's seemed to be resenting and ridiculing 
Harry, Cho reached out with encouragement. Among the 
teenage girls I grew up  with, that caring is rare."

I'm very sorry to hear that.  Really,  the Cho's, Ginny's and 
Hermione's did exist in our world, unfortunately, the teenaged 
boys in our midst never noticed, because of our busy hair, big 
teeth, blemished skin, gangly legs or fondness for Hostess 
snack cakes.  In Rowling's world, it is easier to spot these gems, 
because they also happen to be very pretty.

"If Harry had been a little quicker and asked first, I think Cho 
would have accepted his invite  to the Yule Ball."

I'm sure she would have, too.  She seemed genuinely 
disappointed that he asked after she had already accepted 
Cedric's invitation. 

"I don't want to ship, but let me say that there is more to Cho than 
posters have given her credit. I look forward to seeing her in 
books 5,6,and 7."

Yeah, but it's gonna take a lot for her to recover from Cedric's 
death.  Even if he wasn't the love of her life or anything, it's got to 
be rough to lose your (equivalent to a ) prom date in such a 
tragedy.  I'd say, she's got a good depression ahead of her, 
which might be interesting to wittness.

Rita