[HPforGrownups] Re: HP, inconscient sexism from JKR?

[Kathryn Cawte]

No: HPFGUIDX 88268



> Sigune wrote:
> >
> > <snip>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. <snip>
>
>

K
I don't suppose there are many Pettigrew or Voldemort fan listings out there
either for that matter. There are evil men and evil women, there are evil
and yet strangely compelling men (Malfoy) and women (Bellatrix), there are
stupid men (Crabbe and Goyle, both vintages) and stupid women (uh, OK
Millicent is the only one I can actually think of here) etc etc. I don't
think JKR's portrayal of the characters demonstrates any sexism at all, but
unfortunately the only way to totally avoid accusations of sexism is to make
all the women virtual saints (and she'd better darn well give them all
powerful jobs at the same time) - which is in itself incredibly sexist.
Personally I think Umbridge goes quite a way to destroying any accusations
of sexism since she's a woman in a high position of power and a
non-stereotypical job.

Up until OoP I did wonder if the WW itself was slightly sexist (wouldn't be
surprising since it seems to be behind the times compared to the muggle
world) since the women we saw were all in nurturing professions (teacher,
nurse etc) or housewives - however OoP destroyed that idea with Umbridge and
the mention of a past female MoM.

I did think the books lacked well developed female characters, but that's
just a personal preference, rather than an accusation of sexism, and one
I've stated before. I felt Hermione was the only fleshed out female
character, but now we have a much more detailed Ginny, a kick-ass Minerva, a
quirky Tonks and a Luna I'd like to drop off a cliff - but hey I said I
wanted more developed female characters and that's what I got so I shouldn't
moan about hating one of them :)

K