Harry's sexual preference

[Richard]

No: HPFGUIDX 78871

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "jdr0918" <jdr0918 at h...> wrote:
> The Sergeant Majorette says:
> 
> (Not back full time?? Get back here and take your lumps. Don't make 
> me sic the Cho Chang Tong on you.)
> 
> How she's the surest indication that something's up with Harry is 
> more the fact that she exists, as they say. She pops up out of plot 
> point nowhere, as if there were no pretty, ethnic-exotic, Quidditch 
> playing girls with established personalities for Harry to fall in 
> love with. Ron's hormonal angst is described in an easy, natural 
way. 
> Harry's "crush" on Cho, on the other hand, is handled so awkwardly 
> that it's downright creepy. Even Hermione, the other woman, feels 
> sorry for Cho. I'm sorry, but guys who treat girls like that almost 
> invariably turn out to be gay or priests or both. How is she a 
> jealous bitch if a guy asks her out on a date, and dumps her to 
meet 
> another girl? If Harry had tried that on Hermione, she'd have hexed 
> his butt to a fare-thee-well.
> 
> Speaking as a person who actually was a teenage girl decades ago, I 
> have to *hope* Harry turns out gay -- I wouldn't wish that drama on 
> my worst (female) enemy.
> 
> That said, my serious adult opinion of the Potterverse is that 
there 
> is no sex, period. Nobody's gay, nobody's straight. We're dealing 
> with a Ripping Yarn here. The principals are Jolly Chums. The tale 
> ends when the chums are too old not to have dealt with physical 
> sexuality.
> 
> And THAT said, *serious* adult opinions are of questionable 
> appropriateness here. Herbal tea, people, herbal tea. It's fiction, 
> remember? The flaming wizards can't hurt you...
> 
> --JDR

Quoth me (Richard) ...

I don't mean to insult you personally, but I've always found that 
women who try to explain or describe how a boy (or a man, even) feels 
when it comes to romance slightly offensive.  I've never heard or 
read one without a couple of decades in practice as a psychiatrist or 
pschologist get it even half right.

Despite our desires that we all be equal, we have a fundamental 
problem in that we are not all the same.  The two are easily 
confused, and when confused problems ensue.  Thinking that you know 
how a member of the other gender(s) (allowing for gay, bi and 
straight of each physical gender, plus hermaphrodites, the asexual, 
etc.), is pretty brazen.  We have a hard enough time truly 
understanding people of our own genders and persuasions.  Yet, how 
often do we hear people explaining just what a third party feels, or 
telling us how we feel.

Men ... and more specifically husbands ... generally get it right.  
They tell each other that they are clueless about how women think and 
feel.  Time and experience can change that with a specific partner, 
but let's face it: most men remain clueless about women their entire 
lives, and are at least honest enough to both recognize and admit it.

As a male of maturing years, who was slammed firmly against the 
hetero- end of the spectrum virtually from birth (and is slightly 
jealous, since bi- guys have at least theoretical access to the full 
adult human population, whereas us straight guys have such to only a 
little over half that population), let me say that JKR does a better 
job than most women, but she still doesn't get it entirely right.  
That is, I believe, one of the bigger reasons why that part of the 
tale is a bit awkward.

But, what JKR gets right is that boys can be and often are quite 
clueless about social interactions and dating until rather late in 
their development.  Forget about the female psychy ... guys are 
beyond mere cluelessness there.  Further, with Harry having an 
abysmal background when it comes to supposed family, and less 
experience dealing with other children of ANY gender than most any 
child not raised by wolves, the fact that Harry would handle Cho and 
her issues badly isn't surprising at all.

My personal belief is that Harry is just a quasi-normal straight kid 
with quasi-normal social development problems, as filtered through a 
woman's understanding of boys (a little limited, but better than 
most) and writing skills (far better than most).  If it appears 
awkward, too bad, but it doesn't provide ANY proof ... or for me even 
plausible evidence ... that Harry is anything else.

Further, I don't believe JKR would make him gay because most boys 
AREN'T gay.  Harry is, in several ways, "Everyboy."  It isn't that I 
think you can't be and be gay, but that it would be a barrier to 
acceptance and understanding of her principal character if he WERE to 
be portrayed as gay, or even bi.

Having said all that, there is one last point to consider.  It is all 
in JKR's hands (or mind, more precisely), and she'll get around to 
telling us when she is good and ready.  As she is very good at 
surprising us readers, everyone, regardless of their personal beliefs 
on this and other issues, should be ready to be "disappointed" by 
having their beliefs proven wrong.


Richard