The Female Students (and other female charcters)

[judyserenity]

No: HPFGUIDX 33263

Ok, I can't resist saying a few more things.

"christi0469" wrote:
> If the female characters in Potterverse have not eveolved by the 
> end of the 7th book JKR will have failed to give a gender-balanced 
> perspective to the series: however, I do see a lot of potential in 
> the female characters we already have (and we will probably get more 
> as the books progess).

That (development of the existing female characters) would be great.  
let's hope it happens!


Cindy mentioned:
> Lockhart, vain and pretty, and his portraits wear curlers.
> Hagrid, who crys frequently.

I'm not sure I've understood the point here, but I want to make it 
clear that I see nothing wrong with stereotypically female behaviors 
such as crying or wearing curlers. And, I see female occupations such 
as mother or healer as very important. My problem is that so many of 
JKR's female characters have nothing else to them *but* the 
stereotype. In the Potterverse, we get males doing so much more than 
their real-life counterparts: a school boy who thwarts a powerful 
wizard, a kindly old schoolmaster who is also leading the battle 
against the forces of darkness.  If Mme Pince was a librarian who 
*also* was, say, teaching Harry to fight dementors, then her character 
would be fine with me.  (I've been watching too much Buffy lately, can 
you tell?)  


I said: 
>> ... the message seems to be that even when women have equal
>> opportunity, they just don't stand out.
And "babelfisherperson" (Red XIV) responded:
> I suppose that's why Hermione does better at everything except 
> Quidditch than any 2 male students combined.

There's no question, Hermione is presented as exceptionally skilled 
compared to other students of either gender.  (I really disliked it 
when Hermione dismissed her own skills as just "book learning and 
cleverness" towards the end of SS/PS; clearly, Hermione is 'powerfully 
magical.')  But, she had been discussed earlier in this conversation 
and then the topic segued onto the *adult* female characters.  (I 
would describe Hermione as "female" or "a girl", not as "a woman"; she 
is only 14.)  I should have changed the subject line of my post to 
more clearly reflect what I was talking about. 


"rachelrenee1" wrote:
> I think one really strong female character is missing here, in this 
> discussion.  Molly Weasley is a pretty cool female character.  Yes, 
> she is a stay-at-home mom, by all apearances, but that does not make 
> her weak in any way. 

I agree, Molly Weasley is an excellent character.  She is my favorite 
female character, and the character in the story that I see as most 
like me.  I just wish JKR had written more like her.