tTuchy-Feely Armchair Psychologist (was: No Sex...We're British)

[jwcpgh]

No: HPFGUIDX 83708

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Steve" <bboy_mn at y...> wrote:
> > Caipora 
> > > One of the most puzzling aspects of romance if not sex in 
Rowling is Hermione's cool explanations of how girls behave in OotP. 
How does she know so well how other girls behave? <snip>
> 
> bboy_mn:
> 
> This particular insightful aspect of Hermione seems to irritate a 
few people, although I don't understand why. 
> 
> Isn't what Hermione said about Harry's date with Cho pretty much 
what you were thinking when you read it? 
> 
> Wasn't it obvious that Harry was clueless, and wasn't it obvious 
what Cho's motivations and feelings were? 
> 
> I'm a guy and even I could tell what was going on, so when Hermione
> was explaining it to Harry and Ron, I was right there with her 
saying 'too right you are', and laughing at how oblivious boys are. 
<snip>

Laura:

I wonder if part of the problem with Harry and Ron is that they 
haven't been brought up with girls.  Ron has a younger sister, but 
he'd be much more heavily influenced by his 5 older brothers.  Ginny 
is just starting to come into her own in OoP.  And of course Harry 
didn't grow up with a sister at all.  Molly and Petunia would fall 
into the category of "grownup" rather than "girl", so observing them 
wouldn't be much help in understanding boy/girl relations.  At 
Hogwarts it looks like the boys and girls don't socialize much in 
their early years, so just the proximity of girls the same age as 
they are doesn't help.  It's a learning process, and a painful one 
(although it does have its funny aspects) at that.  

I thought Hermione's analysis was right on.  I've been observing the 
development of cross-gender relationships for a while now, as our 
kids are progressing through their teens, and the whole situation in 
GoF with the Yule Ball and OoP with Cho and Harry seemed absolutely 
realistic to me.  Boys and girls in their mid-teens are beginning to 
discover that there is a yawning chasm between them in terms of how 
they see and understand the world.  And it's very puzzling to them-
they truly can't grasp what's going on in the other gender's mind.  
(I think girls figure it out earlier, or at least figure out how to 
deal with it.)  Let's face it, if you don't understand the premises, 
you're not going to understand the results.  Ron and Harry are lucky 
to have a patient and articulate guide to help them as they venture 
into the unknown world of relationships.  

Laura, who hopes she's gotten the attributions right in this post 
and apologizes in advance if she screwed up