[HPforGrownups] HP, inconscient sexism from JKR?

[Iggy McSnurd]

No: HPFGUIDX 88249

> From: Laurence 
> 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
> assassin loose.
> (go read her essay to understand better what I'm trying resume)
> 

Iggy de-cloaking for a sec:

I don't think the woman who wrote the article has been looking closely
enough at the books.  When you really think about it, most of what has
happened has been facilitated by mistakes made by the men.

For example:

Harry - Not being willing to ask for help when he really needs it, or
talk to Dumbledore, or at least McGonagall, when it would have been in
his best interest.  Also, by wallowing in self pity and not talking to
his friends about what's bothering him.  These things allow LV to get a
much stronger hold on him than he would have gotten had Harry not been
so self-oriented.

Dumbledore - Admitted many of his mistakes in not telling Harry the
truth about what happened.  Also made the mistake of having Snape try to
teach him Occlumency, though he knew Harry would be resistant to
learning it from Snape when compared to how receptive he would have been
to being taught by AD himself.

Sirius - His trying to see Harry as being a replacement for James caused
a number of interesting interaction problems.  His insistence on
escorting Harry to the Hogwarts Express was one of his biggest
mistakes... as well as convincing James and Lilly to use Peter as the
secret keeper instead of him.

Fudge - Not being willing to see Lucius for what he is, and by ignoring
the warnings from both Harry and Dumbledore has caused some of the
biggest problems.  For one thing, had Fudge taken his head out of the
dirt, LV and his DE's would never have been able to get into the DoM.
Then there's the fact that he assigned Umbridge to work as the DADA
teacher at Hogwarts, and also gave in to all the "Educational Decree"
bull****.

Crouch Sr. - Allowing his quest to eliminate all DE's, whatever the
cost, has caused his family to fall apart, and his agreeing to his
wife's request to help their son escape... well... most of the events in
GoF wouldn't have happened if Crouch hadn't screwed up as bad as he did
with his family.

Hagrid - Ok... Hagrid makes a lot of mistakes in just being Hagrid most
of the time.  They're not generally blatantly stupid, but come more from
the fact that he's impulsive and sees "monsters" in a much different
light than just about everyone else.

Lockhart - An egotistical and incompetent wizard, much less as a DADA
teacher.  Had he not been so wrapped up in himself, and actually taken
the time to be a good and qualified DADA teacher before he applied for
the job, CoS would have turned out differently.  For one thing, Lupin
would have seen the signs and probably figured out about the basilisk...
heck, even Quirrel would have been able to if he had been a good guy.

Quirrel - Siding with LV, and letting him infest his body... need I say
more?

Mundingus - Had he stuck with his assignment to watch over Harry when he
was supposed to, Harry wouldn't have had to be the one defending himself
and Dudley from the Dementors, and the hearing would never have
happened.

Dobby - (see Hagrid, except for the monster part...)

Percy - By taking so much pride in working for Crouch Sr., being blindly
ambitious, and not being willing to see the strange actions of his
employer as warning signs, he didn't notify anyone that something was
amiss.  Had he been suspicious enough and voiced a concern, especially
after the things he said about the disappearance of Bertha Jorkens, then
the Imperious Curse could have been detected and broken... Cedric
wouldn't have died, and LV's resurrection would have been delayed until
someone other than Harry could be found.  (As well as the fact that LV
still wouldn't be able to touch Harry...)



I could go on, but I think I have made my point.  The vast majority of
mistakes were made by the men... not the women.  (Though some of the
women did make some mistakes, of course...)


Just my herd of centaur's worth.

Iggy McSnurd

(who dons his Invisibility Cloak once again.)