Why Snape appeals (mainly) to women

[Porphyria Ashenden <porphyria@mindspring.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 47924

I wrote:

> ...infatuation with literary characters has *nothing to 
> do* with sexual attraction in its simplest sense. These characters 
> have no physical presence...They are only as attractive as we 
> imagine them. Our impression of them is rooted purely in language, 
> which means it is symbolic and analyzable.

Acire responded:

> I disagree with this, because we can be affected by the way a 
> certain character is described. Snape's voice is often described 
> as "silky", he is always wearing black, sweeping in and out of 
> rooms, talking in a "soft, dangerous" voice, and looking through 
his 
> curtain of black, and sometimes greasy, hair. All these 
> characteristics have a mysterious tone about them. While he isn't 
> physically attractive, his mannerisms are somewhat seductive in 
that 
> tall dark stranger sort of way.

Of course you're right; I agree that the physical description of a 
character affects how we feel about them. I would just add that we 
can, in turn, consider why certain physical aspects appeal to some of 
us and not other. For instance you (and me) find silky, soft, 
dangerous voices and flowing black robes appealing. Other readers 
couldn't care less. So the "mysterious" aspect might or might not be 
considered "seductive," depending on what a person finds seductive. 
I'm only trying to make the point that we, as readers, glom onto 
certain aspects of these characters because they are meaningful to 
us, and yes this does include physical descriptions as well as the 
other stuff I pointed out. But I wouldn't say it was "sexual 
attraction in its simplest sense," because it requires a lot of 
imagination to pull off; it's not just an instinct.

Actually, my premise is wrong, since human sexual attraction is 
*never* simple. :-) But I just get annoyed sometimes at the 
accusation that Snape's fans only defend him because they have a 
crush on him, as if a crush were somehow not connected to the 
complicated depiction of a character and our imaginative and symbolic 
relationship with it, our own value system, etc. (Note: GulPlum 
didn't say this; I'm thinking of others who shall remain nameless.)

I also agree with Acire's other points about the appeal of Snape's 
dangerous past (kept in check since he recanted) , his bravery, and 
most of all the fact that we, as readers, can fill in a lot of blanks 
about his past as we see fit. :-) That point can't be stressed 
enough, since it drives so much mental effort in interpretation. I 
think I'd just add that the appeal of his semi-dangerousness is one 
of those things that has to be explained since not all women go for 
that. And again, I'd say it's because we fans identify with it a 
little; we can vicariously have fun with it without necessarily being 
dangerous ourselves or associating with people who are. 

Acire again:
> The one thing that just bothers me about your theory is that it 
> makes Snape sound a little feminine...well, indirectly feminine. 
But 
> I really do like your theory.

Interestingly, the reason I came up with this theory is that I was 
pondering the fact that 1) Snape is the product of a female author 
and 2) Snape's fans are overwhelmingly female. So I wondered if JKR 
put some of her dark side into Snape and how this was registering 
with female readers.

Of course what I tried to stress in saying that Snape is a cast-off 
animus (for you Jungians out there) is that he's exactly what women 
don't get to be. Snape isn't effeminate at all; he's tough, 
aggressive, competitive, hardnosed, unforgiving, exacting, etc. 

But on the other hand, there are some feminine (or yin) aspects to 
Snape's depiction, aren't there? For one thing, I find it intriguing 
that his craft is the one most often associated with (female) 
witches; brewing in a cauldron, as opposed to the traditional 
depiction of wizards with their really big staffs. In fact, he 
disdains 'silly wand waving' (because of its overly phallic 
obviousness?), instead praising the 'subtle' art of potions with 
their more sneaky, devious ways (and feminine symbolism). Here I'm 
sort of smooshing together western "feminine" with "yin" which is 
also dark, negative, the color black, the night, etc. Still, I'm 
reminded of a remark of sydpad's from post #43029 where we were also 
discussing Snape and wands vs. cauldrons:

> If I was keen on feminist readings, I'd probably say something 
> about the positive associations of nice 'forthright' . "male" wand 
> magic, vs. sneaky, creepy, mysterious "female" *cauldron* 
> magic...

I think sydpad was onto something and that's the kind of point I'm 
trying to make. I think Snape has a few covert feminine attributes 
along with his obvious male ones. In fact, I'd be tempted to add a 
'soft, silky' voice, skinniness, long hair and flowing robes to the 
list of feminine attributes, but I realize those might not strike 
every person or culture as feminine (to my mind they do). Of course 
nothing is entirely yin or yang... 

> -Acire, who finds Sherlock Holmes (a mysogonist, for anyone who 
> doesn't know) appealing in the same way she finds Snape appealing.

Me too. ;-)
~Porphyria