The 'Other' in the HP books (was: Harry's Sexual Preference SHIP) - LONG

[psychic_serpent]

No: HPFGUIDX 77983

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Geoff Bannister" 
<gbannister10 at a...> wrote:
> There is a tendency for boys to take an interest in one another in 
> early teens and being in an all boys senior school (which was 
> quite the norm in the UK at that time), your attention was drawn 
> more to your own physical changes and also to other boys - 
> sometimes at the level of comparison.
 
A lot of discussion has gone on about whether Harry's character 
could be interpreted to be gay.  I don't believe that JK Rowling is 
depicting Harry as LITERALLY gay in the books.  I also doubt whether 
she will ever include any overtly gay characters in the books 
(although it may be possible to read between the lines concerning 
some characters--and I also don't ever expect her to confirm whether 
any character is gay).  However, that said, I have always believed 
that any such overt depictions of sexual minorities in the books 
would be redundant and blunt the ways in which she addresses these 
issues using analogy and metaphor.  

I believe, for instance, that in the books Squibs are METAPHORICAL 
gays, and this article (http://www.alternet.org/story.html?
StoryID=16314 ) discusses the fact that the HP series is, in many 
ways, 'queer.' However, while the article does a good job of 
enumerating the many things pointing to the HP books depicting Harry 
as metaphorically gay, nothing is made of this also occurring in the 
wizarding world with Squibs or others.

To be clearer about what is meant about Harry's metaphorical gay-
ness, I believe, and the author of the above article believes, that 
she is using many aspects of Harry's life--such as the fact that he 
is 'different' in a way that is both not immediately obvious and 
that is not tolerable to his normality-obsessed Muggle relatives--to 
engage in a metaphorical discussion of how the 'other' is treated in 
human society.  Just as wizarding world attitudes toward elves, 
werewolves and giants are used to insert discussions of racism into 
the books, and just as the dark wizard Voldemort is used to show 
that genocide is a bad thing (as he wants to rid the wizarding world 
of Muggle-borns and others who are not sufficiently bigoted against 
Muggle-borns, those who are blood-traitors), there are numerous 
things about Harry's life (and some other people's as well) that 
point to a 'queer' point of view.  This is not just accomplished by 
his literal 'closeting,' followed by his emerging from the closet 
upon the truth of his inner nature being revealed by the Hogwarts 
letters--it becomes impossible at that point to continue to hide who 
Harry is, least of all from himself.

Harry, as noted above, has a secret that makes him different from 
the rest of his family.  Normally, minorities are part of a family 
structure, set off from the majority culture by ethnicity, religion, 
etc.  Sexual minorities, however, are born into a family in which 
they are the 'other.'  Like a Squib born into a wizarding family, 
Harry is encouraged to be something other than what he is, 
to 'change.'  He is encouraged to hide his true identity.  Neville 
Longbottom's family fears that he might be a Squib and his great 
uncle nearly kills him in an effort to prove otherwise.  Sirius 
Black is born into a family of dark wizards in which HE is 
the 'other,' as he does not believe in purity of blood.  

Whether a family is Muggle, wizarding, or dark wizarding (okay, I 
just made up that term <g>) in the HP series, someone who is not 
considered to be 'normal' for his family is forcibly indoctrinated 
to be 'normal,' and if the indoctrination fails, that person is 
ostracized (although it's possible that if Neville HAD been a Squib 
he would not have been rejected).  Across the board, no matter the 
environment, she depicts this forced indoctrination as a bad thing.  
However, there are refuges for the rejected 'other.'  

Harry finds his refuge at Hogwarts, with people like him. One has to 
wonder whether Stonewall High could have been another sort of refuge 
for Harry, given the name's association with the gay-rights movement 
and the fact that Dudley wouldn't have been there--although the grey 
uniform seems dreadfully similar to a prison-camp outfit, so this 
might be a commentary on segregation of minorities into what could 
be considered prisons.  (Perhaps this is a response to people who 
complain about sexual minorities being 'in your face' about their 
orientation, rather than slinking off someplace where 'normal' 
people do not have to see them or think about them).  

Sirius finds his refuge with James Potter's family, who do not 
consider his 'blood-traitor' qualities to be a bad thing at all.  
Filch finds his refuge at Hogwarts, and yet he is depicted as being 
very discontented with his lot as a Squib.  The Kwik-spell course 
Harry finds in his office is eerily reminiscent of ex-gay programs, 
in which people often enroll voluntarily (although sometimes young 
people are forcibly enrolled in such programs by their families).  
In this case the impetus for change is not coming from without but 
within.  Filch is depicted as a rather tragic figure in this non-
acceptance of himself as he is.  He is constantly around young kids 
who can do more magic than he can--it's like he can look through the 
window of the candy store, but never go inside.  Because doing magic 
would be 'normal' for him, and he will never be 'normal,' he is 
terminally unhappy (and he seems to believe solidly in the old 
adage 'Misery loves company').

On the other hand, we are also given depictions of Muggle-born 
witches and wizards who are born into very loving, supportive, 
accepting families.  Justin Finch-Fletchley is one such case, and it 
is interesting that he is often depicted as gay in fanfiction.  I've 
seen explanations of this that say the reason could be the mention 
of Eton (a stereotype, admittedly), among other things, but I think 
that in some ways there is a strong undercurrent coming from 
Justin's character of the gay son who is born into a family that 
does NOT reject him, but looks for the good in everything.  He 
doesn't have to be LITERALLY gay for this interpretation to be 
valid.  Hermione is also born into a loving, accepting family, and 
her activism seems to stem from a somewhat liberal upbringing--she 
is the metaphorical accepted lesbian daughter.  The Evans family, 
for that matter, also seemed to accept Lily without question, which 
infuriated Petunia.  She evidently regarded Lily as a prodigal, 
someone who was accepted without question just by dint of being a 
member of the family, while Petunia's 'normalcy' went unappreciated, 
unrecognized and unrewarded.

I think that JK Rowling's clever and non-preachy way of addressing 
these issues allows readers to draw their own conclusions about how 
we treat the 'other' and how those who ARE 'other' can search for 
and find their places in the world.  So, no, people who see gay 
undercurrents in the books are NOT imagining things, I believe, but 
I would also be very surprised if the undercurrents ever become 
overt references to sexual minorities.  She's engaging in stealth 
tactics that are necessary to get these themes into a series that is 
read by huge numbers of children.  Given the Potter-denouncers who 
are already incensed about the magic in the books, I doubt she wants 
to give them more ammunition.  Let's hope they never notice the gay-
friendly subtext in the books. <g>

--Barb

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