OOP: Boys & Girls in the Potter World

[jenny_ravenclaw]

No: HPFGUIDX 67233

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Steve" <bboy_mn at y...> wrote:
 
> So Ladies, how about Hermione and Cho? Did JKR capture the essense 
of the teenage girl for you?>

I love this question.  I am no longer a teen (it has been quite a 
while) but not only do I spend all day, every day with teens from 
Septempter - June, I also do remember what it was like, sometimes 
painfully so.

Cho - ah, I can relate to her behavior, which is probably why she 
irritated me so much.  As I was tearing through my first read, I 
squirmed when she burst into tears and when she left Harry at the 
table during their date.  I vividly remember being a teen and having 
serious trouble getting a grip on my emotions and thinking, for some 
reason, it was okay to always let people know how I was feeling, 
whether it was from the look on my face, the tone of my voice, or the 
clothes I wore (wore nothing but black for a good year).  As an adult, 
I see how selfish I was and how boys certainly did *not* want to date 
a girl who was an emotional-basket case, no matter how pretty she was.  
I wanted to jump into the book and give Cho some advice on how to keep 
Harry interested, because once the tears and the questions started, 
their relationship was a goner.  In a nutshell, Cho is quite a 
realistic teen girl, and as someone mentioned, as pretty as she was, 
it wasn't enough to boost her self-esteem.  Very teen.

Hermione - I adore Hermione but I couldn't relate to her then and 
can't relate to her so much now.  I don't think any of my friends were 
both smart and incredibly confident the way Hermione is.  Most of my 
friends worked extremely hard at school but often struggled with boys, 
worrying far more than Hermione seems to.  Teen girls can sit and 
analyze *every single* movement made by the cute boy.  I know I did 
that endlessly, but Hermione seems not to be too bothered by what the 
boys think of her.  If she is bothered, she puts on the best act I've 
ever seen.  If I was in her position and Ron spoke to me before and 
after the Yule Ball the way he did, I would have broken down and cried 
all night.  Hermione seems to shrug it off.

Ginny - CoS and OoP Ginny are vastly different, even though I like 
Ginny in both books.  Do 14 year olds really develop confidence so 
quickly?  That I don't remember.

--jenny from ravenclaw, who *was* a teen in the 80s and was a victim 
of the fashions with the best of 'em 
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