JKR prone to old preconceptions about females?

[dina_aka_nicky]

No: HPFGUIDX 41082

Hi,

I dearly love the HP-series and couldn't put down the books since I 
first read them half a year ago. One thing bothers me, though... the 
lack of strong, maybe controversial female characters. Not because 
I'm a feminist (i.e. I don't necessarily need a strong female 
character in order to be able to like a book) but because females 
often had the opportunity to shine in the books - but never truly did.

Granted, the books are written from Harry's point of view (PoV), 
therefore we don't really gain any insight into the girls' life (i.e. 
their dormitories, what they talk about at night etc.) at Hogwarts. 
But let's look at the characters themselves for a second:

There's Hermione who Harry can turn to in times of a crisis. She 
provides the information - but when it comes to take any action she 
either panics (the Troll-incident), forgets about magic (the Lumos-
spell) or simply botches up her potion (the Polyjuice). In short, she 
helps where she can, she's sort of an anchor but otherwise she stays 
in the background.

Then there's Ginny... but judging from Harry's PoV the only thing 
she's capable of doing is blushing and stuttering - at least in 
Harry's vicinity. Lavender and Parvati are of little interest, the 
only thing they seem to be interested in is Divination and their 
looks, again of course everything from Harry's PoV. Last but not 
least there's Cho but other than being Harry's crush there's not much 
to say about her, either.

The only adult female worth mentioning is McGonagall. But even she 
isn't very interesting being supportive of both Dumbledore and 
Harry... again, like Hermione she's important but stays nonetheless 
in the background. And Pomfrey and Sprout fulfill typical female jobs 
taking care of the sick and plants. Hooch, being in charge of flying 
and Quidditch, is in a bit atypical position (prejudice: women and 
sports???) but since Harry's a natural on the broomstick, she wasn't 
really needed.

This lack of strong female characters doesn't stop at Hogwarts. Let's 
take for example the Triwizard-Tournament: Who was the one not able 
to complete the 2nd task? Fleur, the only female competitor. Who 
can't keep their noses out of other people's business? Rita and 
Petunia. Who told Voldemort - albeit under torture - about the 
Quidditch World Cup and thus enabling him to take his first step at 
reclaiming his place? Berta Jorkins described by Sirius as a woman 
with little to no brains but a good memory for gossip.

Let's summarize: Females are the characters supporting the male 
heroes, lending them their ear and advice. When in danger, however, 
they shriek or panic waiting for the male hero to save them as is 
typical for (as salon.com so well put it) "the damsel in distress". 
They like to gossip, care for their looks, and almost always talk way 
too much. And if they are in a situation where they have to take 
action they simply fail.

As I can't see any of the already established female characters to 
develop beyond that role-model, I can only hope that new females will 
be introduced. What about Lily's friends? I can't imagine that she 
didn't have any female friends who wouldn't care for Harry as deeply 
as Remus and Sirius do. Thus they could take on a similar role. And 
what about female villains? There's neither a female student nor a 
female teacher at Hogwarts who openly opposes Harry the way Snape or 
Malfoy do. And I didn't hear of female Death Eaters yet, either...

JKR has proven so far that she is more than able to make her male 
characters 3dimensional, they all have so many shades of gray that 
it's very hard to simplify them by saying "X is the good guy" but "Y 
is the bad guy". Let's just take Snape: Overall he may be a good guy 
but within Hogwarts he's certainly the "villain". Or Sirius who 
certainly has the best intentions but he's prone to acting 
irrationally and thus putting lives in danger or even playing one 
person against the other. And the effects of Azkaban remain yet to be 
seen. And Remus being a dark creature but nevertheless having intact 
morals...

So I wonder why JKR doesn't achieve such a depth in her female 
characters. I really don't understand this discrepancy - and maybe 
this is what truly bothers me: Not so much the lack of female 
characters itself but that I can't understand the reason for it. I'd 
expect a male author to describe females in such a conservative way 
by adding fuel to a couple of old preconceptions and role-models - 
but never a female, though...

Any thoughts on the topic?

Claudia