[HPforGrownups] On "Little Women", strength and maturity

[Mary Shearer]

No: HPFGUIDX 33215


--- pigwidgeon37 <pigwidgeon37 at yahoo.it> wrote:

> 
> Frankly, I'd rather prefer a complete absence of
> strong women to an 
> unspoken, yet inherent equation "strong women = bad
> women". And as 
> for the rest of them: McGonagall seems to be a
> strong woman and a 
> powerful witch, but is given the looks of an old
> spinster. Fleur 
> Delacour is beautiful, but commits major errors in
> every Triwizard 
> task- so does Krum, but he is a first-class seeker,
> whereas Fleur 
> doesn't have any other outstanding quality. So it
> all seems to come 
> down to either "strong and intelligent, but
> bad/plain", 
> or "beautiful, but shallow and not top level" which
> is a bit clich-
> ed. 
> 
> I would gratefully let myself convince of the
> contrary, though, so 
> I'd like to see your arguments.

O.K. What about Hermione? She is becoming a beauty,
even as her skills increase. Her relationship with
Harry and Ron grows in depth and complexity, even as
she gets in touch with her feminine side. Lest we
think her Cinderella appearance at the ball is her
undoing, we see her right back at the books the next
day. She may be all-consumed by her quest for academic
distinction, but cares enough about her appearance to
cry over her crooked teeth. My point (and I do have
one, folks) is that Hermione's appearance and her
character have little to do with each other. Like
every real-life woman I know, she has her good and bad
moments inside and out.

Also Harry's mother (who seems reasonably attractive,
according to description) was a powerful witch, who
enjoyed much success at Hogwarts, and possessed the
depth of spirit to sacrifice herself for Harry. How I
long to know more about her!  Do you suppose JKR will
give us even a little back story?  C'mon, Jo - throw
us a bone!

Admittedly, we don't get to know the Quidditch chasers
very well - but they, too, are attractive,
self-confident and successful.  Fred and Angelina's
brief interaction is great - and denotes
self-assurance in Angelina, who is described as tall
and slender. (Certainly coveted physical attributes in
today's society.)

Molly Weasley is no great beauty, but no troll either,
and has been given a very touching role as Harry's
surrogate mother. (No, she's not out vaporizing evil
wizards, but she sure has her hands full nonetheless.)
At the end of GoF, we glimpse her true strength of
character, and I expect more from her as Harry's
attachment to her grows, and the Weasleys' role in the
upcoming crisis becomes clear.  

I too, would like to see more of the H.P. women - but
I don't think we need to look any further than the
ones we have. It wouldn't take much to make these
characters stronger - just a little time in the
spotlight, and a few lines of meaningful dialogue
would do.  Look at Molly - not only do I feel I know
her better after GoF - I like and respect her
immensely, even though she doesn't have pages of text
devoted to her. 

McGonagall may not be much to look at - she may be
strict and intimidating.  But she also has a deep
affection for her students, and a true affinity with
Dumbledore, who embodies the notions of tolerance and
compassion. She weeps quietly for baby Harry's plight
and the death of his parents at the beginning of
SS/PS, and reacts to the dementor death of young
Crouch with unbridled fury. As for her physical
appearance "plain/bad?" I don't think so entirely. 
Her looks are severe, but more age-related than
anything else.  JKR often refers to her face
softening, the hint of a smile, or a voice that spoke
kindly. The kids may not relate to her because of her
age, but she is no blisteringly ugly hag, either. 
Well - enough brain droppings littering the floor for
now! Hope we see more of the H.P. women we already
have in future books, as Harry looks around him more.
 
 -Mary, who looks a lot like Molly Weasley, and
doesn't think she's a troll, either.   

  
> 
> 


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