JKR prone to old preconceptions about females?

[dumbledad]

No: HPFGUIDX 41182

--- "dina_aka_nicky" wrote:
> 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. 
> Claudia

Hi All,

One possibility is that JKR is over cautious about not alienating 
boy readers. Though I cannot find the reference, I remember reading 
that she used "J.K. Rowling" rather than "Jo Rowling" or "Joanne  
Rowling" so that boys wouldn't be put off. I also came across this 
interview snippet (from TODAY SHOW, NBC, 10/20/00, 
http://www.angelfire.com/mi3/cookarama/nbctodayoct00.html):

"J.K. Rowling: My favorite books ... when I was about eight, my 
favorite book was a book called The Little White Horse by Elizabeth 
Gouge, which is a very magical book. 
Katie Couric: Is that an English author? 
J.K. Rowling: She's an English author. I wouldn't advise boys to 
read her. 
Katie Couric: Why? 
J.K. Rowling: Because there's a lot in it about the heroine 
stresses, which I really enjoyed, but I would imagine most boys 
won't enjoy. 
Katie Couric: Well, I don't know ... maybe they'd be enlightened. 
J.K. Rowling: Maybe, but I'm just trying to be true to my readers 
here."

She does seem sensitive to the reading propensities of boys. Perhaps 
that sensitivity leads her to ascribe more action to the boys and 
the men than the girls and the women.


          Cheers,


           Tim.


PS If anybody has a link to the interview where she mentions her 
choice of cover name please send it to me - I couldn't work out what 
search terms to use to find it :-(