Logic and Math of Sexism

[angelsound2001 at yahoo.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 41379

Eloise posted:

<I want to throw out a piece of canon that
particularly irritates me and ask what it implies.
This is where Harry has been told he has to find a
partner for the ball:>

<'.........This year, however, everyone in the fourth
year and above seemed to be staying, and they all
seemed to Harry to be obsessed with the coming 
ball - or, at least, all the girls were, and it was
amazing how many girls Hogwarts suddenly seemed to
hold; he had never quite noticed that before. 
Girls giggling and whispering in the corridors, girls
shrieking with laughter as boys passed them, girls
excitedly comparing notes an what they were going 
to wear on Christmas night...
 <'Why do they have to move in packs?' Harry asked
Ron, as a dozen or so girls walked past them,
sniggering and staring at Harry. 'How're you supposed
to get one on their own to ask them?'
             (GoF, 338-9, UK hardback)>

<snip>

<Whether or not it's Harry's POV, I'm always annoyed
by this impression this passage gives that at the news
of a ball, all the girls at Hogwarts seem to behave
like the sillier Bennett sisters and their mother when
they hear The Regiment is in town (_Pride and
Prejudice_).>

<end of snipped material>

I have actually always liked this particular passage.
I think its main purpose is not to point up the
ridiculous (and it is) behavior of the girls, but
rather the boys' utter dismay at having to confront
one in order to ask her out! Both are intimidated by
the very thought of speaking to a potential romantic
interest--hence Harry's frustration that they "move in
packs" (and I've always enjoyed imagining that his
definition of "pack" is "two or more" in this
context).

And I have to say, having taught middle-school-aged
(ages 13-15 in the US) kids, I don't think Rowling is
being all *that* unrealistic in this description of
the female students! I imagine it's this age group
that would have caught most of Harry's attention. At
the risk of being labelled "sexist," I must point out
that giggling, whispering, and shrieking (not to
mention being generally hormonally out of control) are
really pretty common among girls around 14 or even 15
years old, especially when something exciting is going
on. That's part of the reason most teachers consider
this age group the most challenging!

(Note that Hermione is characterized as being above
all this and thus, in this respect, quite mature for
her age. If she gets giggly in private conversation
with Ginny, we never see it. Hermione seems to
deliberately avoid joining in the cliquey behavior,
and largely keeps her business to herself. Granted,
she isn't in with the 'girly' crowd to begin with, but
the way I read it I think it's at least partly by
choice.)

Whether sixth- and seventh-year girls were part of the
Yule Ball silliness is not really made clear, although
we do get the example of Alicia responding to Fred in
a much more mature fashion.

I guess the short way of saying this is that I am able
to read this passage with my feminist sensibilities
intact. =)

To be honest... yes, the books are a little unbalanced
when it comes to the sheer numbers of developed,
complex male characters. But really, who cares which
chromosomes they have as long as they're interesting?
I can see parts of myself in a lot of the characters,
both male and female. (Yes, even Snape!) Besides, as a
few people have pointed out, the story isn't finished.
We still have three books to go!

--Raven, who's just written her longest post so far

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