HP, inconscient sexism from JKR?

[severelysigune]

No: HPFGUIDX 88243



Laurence wrote:
> I don't know if this subject has already been talked about (I 
search for sexism, nothing shows) but in this very well documented 
essay:
> 
> http://contraveritas.zephy.net/funstuff/essays/women.htm
> 
> Lena F. suggests that the HP books can be considered quite sexist, 
> maybe not so much in the portraying of the characters themselves 
> (quoi que... see Molly Weasley) but above all from a plot driven 
> point ie very often it is women's incompetence which is to blame 
for the advance of the villains and she gives a lot of example of this
> concept, between Bertha Jorkins (pictured totally incompetent, and 
> who's a puppet in Voldemort hand), Ginny Weasley too naive to 
> recognize Voldemort in the diary, or the mother of Crouch who let 
an assassine loose. 
> (go read her essay to understand better what I'm trying resume)
> 
> Do you think that we can call sexist a book which plot advances 
> through mistakes more often made by women than by men? Could it be 
> interesting to inspect this aspect of things in OotP?

Dear compatriote,

I have no idea if this issue has been discussed before (I am quite 
new to this list), but I certainly think it is interesting. I work on 
gender studies myself and it has become a kind of reflex to pay 
attention to gender issues in any book I read or any film I see.

Much as I enjoy reading HP, JKR's depiction of women characters does 
irritate me more than once. As the author of the essay you mention 
points out, it is usually women who do stupid things, and (as far as 
I am concerned) they are often pictured in a more unsympathetic way 
than those men who seem less than bright. Or compare a character like 
Umbridge to other (male) cruel, nasty or evil characters in the 
books. I bet that while the Malfoys and Snape have their admirers, no-
one will feel called upon to start an Umbridge fan listing. Besides 
being evil, she is also pictured as a) incompetent and b) a 
caricature of those things considered feminine - her girlish voice, 
her penchant towards everything pink and fluffy... She is a horror; 
and we have yet to witness the arrival of a comparable creature of 
the male sex.

I do miss strong women in the stories. There is McGonagall, of 
course, but even though she is Deputy Headmistress she has, until now 
at least, never played a really crucial part in the plot. There is 
Neville's formidable grandmother, and on the other side of the scale 
Bellatrix Lestrange, but they are (until now) marginal figures. 
Hermione is given much more breathing space than any of the women 
mentioned, but she still corresponds to a vast number of clichés 
about girls and women - studious, rule-abiding, damsel-in-distress 
etc etc - and she is invariably made to miss the crucial moments of 
action (see, for example, in OOP where she is injured before the 
crucial stage of the 'battle' sets in). 

Apart from Hermione, most girls at Hogwarts are pictured in a rather 
negative, stereotypical way - look at the Patil sisters and Lavender 
Brown, or, for that matter, Cho Chang. Girls swoon in front of 
Lockhart. Girls swoon in front of Krum. Girls adore Trelawny's silly 
Divination classes. Girls are cry-babies. They are gullible, they are 
giggly - JKR /almost/ makes you prefer Milicent Bulstrode. Surely 
there must be a middle way between Hermione Granger and Lavender 
Brown. 

However.
I think the gender thing is something JKR simply doesn't care much 
about. She imagines her characters and writes them down as they come. 
Harry is a boy; I guess it isn't weird his best friend is Ron rather 
than Hermione. The archetypal picture that springs to mind when you 
think of 'someone wise' is an old man with a white beard (justified 
or not), so that would be Dumbledore. This is an example of a 
cultural icon that has existed for ages and ages; so unless you 
really mean to make a point of it, you keep your icons in place. I 
regret JKR making that choice, but she is the author, and she chooses 
to focus on other themes, like racism.

I think there is much more to say, but I'd need to think further 
about it. I am very eager to read other reactions to a topic close to 
my heart (ahem).

Yours severely,

Sigune