[HPforGrownups] Re:sexism in the WW (Was I know Molly.....)

[elfundeb]

No: HPFGUIDX 84467

M.M. wrote:

  It is interesting (and I picked this up on first reading) that when 
they're in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place, and Molly's getting 
dinner, just like she always does, Tonks is the only auror who 
springs up and asks what she can do to help. This is after Tonks had 
a really long, hard day, too. I notice women in both the Wizarding 
World and the Muggle World tend to assume responsibility for the care 
and feeding of their families... and Tonks is even unmarried. 
Hermione knitting the hats in book 5 also brought this up for me.

  I'm not talking about blatent sexism here, but latent, and 
sometimes that's harder to ferret out and realize rather than the 
other kind. 

Debbie:

I have to agree with M.M. here.  While JKR seems to want to portray a WW without sexism, her writing and her characterizations reflect the real sexism in the world from which she takes her characters.

Erin wrote:

--- Erin wrote:
> I mean this is a society in 
> which Alice Longbottom can be an auror during 
> the uprising of the most dangerous dark wizard 
> in a century, while she is pregnant and while 
> she has a young baby. I think the WW is a lot 
> less sexist than you're trying to make it out 
> to be. 

Debbie:


I see this as an example of JKR having become more conscious of her own gender biases in writing characters.  The first four novels had been criticized for their gender portrayals, most notably in a Salon article not long after GoF was published.  In GoF, there is absolutely no mention that Alice was an Auror.  Crouch states that the Lestranges et al. were accused of "capturing an Auror -- Frank Longbottom -- and subjecting him to the Cruciatus Curse" and further accused "of using the Cruciatus Curse on Frank Longbottom's wife."  Dumbledore says later when Harry asks whether they were talking about Neville's parents, "His father, Frank, was an Auror just like Professor Moody.  He and his wife were tortured for information about Voldemort's whereabouts after he lost his powers, as you heard."

In OoP, on the other hand, they were both described as Aurors.  The difference is so striking, I'm left with the nagging feeling that Alice was promoted between books.  

There are other ways in which the sexism of our own world has crept into the books regardless of JKR's intentions.  While we are aware, mostly through historical details presented in the novels and in FBAWTFT, that there have been women in positions of power in the WW, the MoM characters that play a significant role in the story -- with the exception of Umbridge the villain (who I see as a bureaucratic functionary run amok) -- are male.  Thus, while we know that Fudge's predecessor was female, we know nothing about her.  

Amelia Bones has the same position once held by Crouch Sr., but in her only scene, she allows Harry's hearing to be commandeered by Fudge in a dereliction of due process.  It was her department, and I can't imagine that JKR would have let that happen if Crouch was still in charge. Thus, while she speaks her mind at the hearing, she appears ineffectual.  Also, it is strongly implied that Amelia Bones is single.  (If she is Susan Bones' aunt and she is married, by the WW conventions we see she would have a different last name.)  In the WW, as well as here, it appears that women have a much more difficult time reaching the top of their professions if they must juggle work and family.  

Thus, though we are given examples in OoP that I think are intended ot imply gender equity (Elfrida Clagg as MoM, Dilys as former headmistress of Hogwarts), when we look at the characters closely, it's clear that they must face the same conflict between career and children that we all do.  The other women we know that work for the MoM (Mafalda Hopkirk, Bertha Jorkins, Marietta's mother) don't appear to have high-ranking positions, and Marietta's mother, the our only WW example of mother with a paying job(Hermione's parents are muggles and don't count) fears for her position if her daughter was found to be associating with Harry Potter.  

And while there are plenty of female professors (and former headmistresses) at Hogwarts, one of the qualifications for the job seems to be a lack of a spouse.  Moreover, though I think JKR made a very specific effort in OOP to give McGonagall more spunk than she had in the past, her spunk manifests in catfights with other women professors, such as Trelawney and Umbridge, which is stereotypically female behavior.  Like Molly, McGonagall remains a shadowy figure as far as her contribution to the Order is concerned. 

JKR has clearly moved forward in this book, but I think she's subconsciously, perhaps, drawn too much on her own background and experience in drawing the characters and selecting their gender.

Debbie
who wants Amelia Bones' job

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