Men/Women interests (was Re: Sirius, was Re: Ginny Weasley Quotient)

[GulPlum]

No: HPFGUIDX 44915

At 13:33 03/10/02 -0700, Susanne wrote:

>I'm probably one of the few adult readers, who is more
>focused on the trio and hasn't fallen for the charms of
>Lupin, Sirius and/or Snape ;)

At the risk of sounding sexist, from my experience of HP fandom, you might 
want to change that to "... one of the few women ...". ;-)

In all seriousness (and in defence of the above statement), in about 11 
months presence in one online HP forum or another, I have found it 
interesting that in "favourite character" polls and similar discussions, 
most men seem to choose from the Trio + Hagrid + Dumbledore; most women go 
for Lupin, Sirius or Snape. Kids of either gender seem to choose from the 
Trio alone.

Of course, I'm not saying there are no exceptions (personally, if I had to 
choose, I'd probably go for Lupin), so I've often wondered, though never 
asked aloud, whether it's because men generally seem not to go beyond the 
obvious, the broad strokes, while women seem to be more interested in hints 
and background characters?

<treading on more dangerous ground>
Or are women principally going for characters who might conform to or 
fulfill their sexual fantasies?

I've noticed (not that I've ever consciously thought about it until this 
very moment) that there are no characters who might appeal to men's sexual 
fantasies (apart from the possible exception of Fleur, who is barely of 
legal age and thus out of frame for most "normal" 20+ men).

I'm honestly curious about what people's views on the above are and why 
(beyond the usual literary reasons) we feel attracted to the characters who 
appeal to us. I'm not sure if I put my POV across very well or if it puts 
down or prejudges any segment of the readership, but I honestly don't mean 
it to.

As for what any gay/lesbian readers might think, I just have NO idea, as I 
have yet to encounter any HP fan who has identified themselves as such! :-)