JKR prone to old preconceptions about females?

[serenadust]

No: HPFGUIDX 41193

Tim wrote:
> 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.
> 

Hi Tim.  I happened to have recorded this interview which was, I 
think, the last time JKR was on the Today Show, and I think that 
whoever transcribed it made an error when she wrote "heroine 
stresses".  What she actually said was "heroine's DRESSES".  It's a 
small difference and easily misheard, but while I think that there 
may be some boys who wouldn't mind reading about stresses, I would 
guess that virtually no boys want to read about the girls dresses.
If I had actually read The Little White Horse myself, I could be 
certain about the dress reference, so maybe someone who knows these 
books could confirm the dress reference.

Overall, I don't think that the female characters are really 
shortchanged at this point which is really only halfway through the 
series.  The books are about an adolescent boy, after all and I 
think that to keep the point of view consistant with the main 
character's stage of development, it's less important to focus on 
female characters who aren't yet that important to the story.  I 
think that JKR has done a fine job with developing Hermione, who is 
quite well-drawn IMO, and the only female character so far who has 
been terribly important to the ongoing plot.  I trust that there 
will be other female characters moving forward in the remaining 
books, and that they will be as 3 dimensional and developed as they 
need to be to serve the story.

I particularly look forward to hearing much more about Lily Potter, 
and I trust the author to give Harry (and us) enough information 
about her to answer many, if not all, the questions we've been 
debating for so long. However, I don't think that JKR is the sort of 
writer who would worry that she has to develop an equal number of 
female characters in order to serve some sort of political ideal.  
>From all I've seen and read about her, her main concern is to tell 
her story as well as she can, and that story just happens to be 
about a boy. I really don't have a problem with this.

Jo S.