Harry, Ginny, and age appropriateness / Abusive Harry (combined answer)

[sienna291973]

No: HPFGUIDX 136130

Marianne:
I think there are some things that the author intends readers to not 
sure which choice to make... as in Who is R.A.B. or Is Snape Evil or 
Good or Somewhere In Between? But, she has also met with incredulity 
the fact that people make choices she never intends ... i.e. Harry/
Hermione or Luna/Neville or Sirius/Lupin as "ships". I can only 
imagine that if she were to know that someone so fervently believes 
that the relationship between Harry and Ginny is abusive and a poor 
example especially for her adolescent girl audience (including her own
adolescent daughter).. she might wonder if they were reading the same 
book, and perhaps hope that person just makes the choice to not read 
the books if they choose to see the hero as an abuser.

Sienna:
With all due respect Marianne :) but I it is dangerous to suggest 
that what a person sees in a narrative is merely a matter of choice. 
I can choose to ignore what my psyche tells me about a text and 
simply try to find what the author wants me to see, but to do so 
would require a suspension of disbelief on my part and a cessation of 
brain activity to boot. In addition, as I have said repeatedly, 
Rowling has become far too used to being able to explain herself 
outside of canon for my liking. What if I had *never* read or seen 
her transcript explaining what she thinks about romance and who Ginny 
was *supposed* to be and had only her books to go by? What then would 
I deduce? I certainly wouldn't have the foggiest idea what the author 
*meant* to say, I would only be able to tell you what I picked up 
from it. And I think all of those alternative interpretations are 
useful and should be encouraged.

By way of example – if I as a person behave in a certain way, which I 
think is compassionate, but a third party comes along and tells me 
that actually I am being very patronising, who is right? By your 
argument I am right because I *intended* to be compassionate and I 
could tell them so. But was I really? And even if I tell them, does 
that mean they should necessarily buy it? Doesn't the behaviour 
itself speak louder that my intention? Perhaps I have an issue I am 
in denial over or do not wish to confront something and instead 
subconsciously choose to  masquarade patronising with compassion. 
Similarly, I think it is absolutely mandatory that we question 
whether Rowling's canon actually matches what she thought she was 
portraying or saying to young girls. And it is adults like us, not 
children who are already at the whim of too much stereotypical and 
misogynistic media, who are in the best position to analyse it.

Although I think Del's example is extreme, I can defifinitely see the 
point being made. I actually think that Rowling has succeeded in 
being far *less* subversive of traditional female roles than she 
intended and that the subtext, even allowing for third party-limited 
point of view, is extremely patriarchal at its core. And even though 
I prefer the Ron and Hermione dynamic in HBP a thousand times more 
than the Harry and Ginny one, I have some small problems with that 
too that should probably be analysed in the fullness of time.

Just my opinion.

Sienna