Stereotyping

[Martha]

No: HPFGUIDX 86745

Katherine Cawte said:
> Why is it that society tends to see violence as a perfectly 
> acceptable topic for children's literature but sex (and we're not
> talking about Snape and Dumbledore going at it on one of the tables 
> in the Great Hall, but rather homosexuality or a homosexual 
> relationship being portrayed in a non-overt way similar 
> toPercy/Penelope or Molly/Arthur) is some how 'wrong' or a bad 
> influence?

Martha:
Not much more to add to that - well said. **Applauds**

Susan:
> > So you [Martha]are suggesting that there are lesbians/gay men 
> right in front of Harry but he's not "seeing" them? All he sees are 
> the boyfriends and girlfriends kissing at the pub....the married 
> couples...he's oblivious to any other model...wow, now that's a 
> fascinating thought...

Martha:
Er... yes. That is kind of what I'm saying, I guess. Not necessarily 
that he only notices the straight couples and that gay couples are 
all around - I don't think that if, say, Ernie Macmillan and Justin 
Finch-Fletchley had been passionately snogging in the teashop too 
that Harry wouldn't have noticed. (In any case, in that scene, Cho 
draws even more attention to Davies and his girlfriend even after 
Harry has initially noticed them.) I guess what I mean is that Harry, 
like many 15-year-old boys, is totally oblivious. He didn't even 
notice that Ginny fancied him, and it was blindingly obvious. Ron's 
the same, isn't he? Think of Hermione clueing them in on Cho's 
feelings. They just don't get it. In the scene in the tearoom, it's 
Valentine's day, Harry's on a date with a girl he's fancied for, 
what, two years, it's all a bit awkward, and he's not sure if he 
should kiss her. So he looks around him and all he can see are boys 
and girls kissing. Boys and girls kissing are salient for Harry at 
that moment, so they jump out at him and he notices them. If he'd 
been in the tearoom with Ron and Hermione discussing the hunt for 
Sirius, he might not have noticed all the snogging. (An equivalent 
situation: last year I had a pregnancy scare - I wasn't, luckily - 
and everywhere I looked I saw babies. Babies in prams, babies on TV, 
pregnant women, people holding babies...)

Laura:
> If she had out gay characters, though, that would not read the same 
> way as the gender or race inclusiveness she writes in, because we 
> (that is, the culture in general) still haven't come to the point 
> where being gay is considered a subset of normal.  It would be 
> jarring, I think, and cause readers to devote too much attention to 
> the gay characters because of their gayness.  
> Added to that problem is that these books focus on an adolescent.  
> Not having grown up gay, I can't say for sure, but from what I 
> understand from my gay friends and relatives, awareness of one's 
> gayness is an issue on top of the general sexuality stuff all kids 
> go through.  In other words, everyone has hormones and feelings but 
> if you're straight you are part of the common experience and you 
> don't have to figure out what your sexuality means as part of your 
> culture.  (I'm saying this clumsily-I hope I'm getting my point 
> across.) You just know that you are a sexual being.  But if you're 
> gay you have a whole other bunch of stuff to think about in 
addition 
> to the hormones and feelings, which after all work the same way 
> regardless of who switches them on.  
> So just as Harry falls into "the norm" in other ways-white, male, 
> not physically, mentally or emotionally disabled, etc.-he also must 
> be straight and see the world from that perspective.  If that 
> weren't the case, the story would be imbalanced.  We'd filter his 
> experiences through his differentness, whatever that would be.  
> That's not the story JKR wants to tell.  

No, you are making sense. In today's climate, it would be difficult, 
I think, to make Harry a part of any (sociocultural) minority and not 
address it. The "default" of western society is male, white, 
straight, able-bodied, and so on (not that that's the way things 
should necessarily be, but don't get me started on that one), and I 
think to give Harry any more struggles on top of those he's already 
got would make the story even more complicated than it already is. 
(This is not a dig at JKR, by the way.) Harry has enough trouble 
dealing with seeing a girl, getting his homework done, changing his 
socks, and being responsible for defeating an Evil Overlord and 
saving the world. Dumbledore didn't make him a prefect because he 
thought Harry had enough to deal with. If he was the victim of a 
major societal prejudice too - well, you get the idea. I'd hope that 
one day in the not-too distant future, we'll have books where it's 
just not an issue, because it just won't be an issue in society, and 
the experience of a gay teenage will be the same as that of a 
straight teenager - or whatever - but I have a feeling that day is a 
long way off. 

Laura again:
> A quick observation on the Remus/Sirius ship: it always strikes me 
> when I read the Pensieve II scene that JKR has a girl in the exam 
> room gazing with interest at Sirius.  And what's Sirius's 
reaction?  
> He doesn't even notice.  He's busy checking out his homies.  Make 
of 
> that what you will.  

Martha:
Absolutely! And the only people I can think of who live together and 
give joint Christmas presents - as Sirius and Remus do in OoP - are 
couples. And have you noticed how bitchy Sirius can get? (Not as 
bitchy as Draco, but that's going off the point.) 

> Laura, who can't wait to order Martha's "Harry Lives with Remus and 
> Sirius" book

Martha:
I'll put your name down for it. Would you also be interested in the 
sequel, "Harry lives with Ernie and Justin"? ;-)