Lusting After Snape

[potioncat]

No: HPFGUIDX 129298

Lusting after Snape

Alla has Elkins, Potioncat has Prophyria. I've found a post from 
2002, but first, an introduction:

In one of her interviews, JKR says something along the line of
"Who could love Snape?"  Kneasy believed the appeal for Snape was 
that Alan Rickman portrayed him in the medium that must not be named. 
I have to admit anyone Alan Rickman portrayed would be appealing to 
me.Even a heart surgeon
OK, wrong web site


The question has come up many times. Snape is not described in 
appealing ways, yet he has a large fan base. What is his appeal? Back 
in 2002 Prophyria took on the challenge of "why is Snape so
appealing to so many women?".  Here is the post #47913:

Long ago, back on 10/3 (#44915), GulPlum noted that a preponderance of
Snape's (and Sirius's and Lupin's) fans were female. He 
wondered "whether it's because men generally seem not to go beyond 
the obvious, the broad strokes, while women seem to be more 
interested in hints and background characters?" Then he 
wondered "<treading on more dangerous ground> Or 
are women principally going for characters who might conform to or 
fulfill their sexual fantasies?"

He remarked:

> I'm honestly curious about what people's views on the above are and 
why (beyond the usual literary reasons) we feel attracted to the 
characters who appeal to us.

I wanted to answer this long ago but didn't have time, and since 
today it came up in an offlist discussion and I *do* have a bit of 
time, I thought I'd answer it now. I shall necessarily generalize 
about gender roles from my own perspective in the paragraphs below; 
if you disagree with me please argue your own view but please don't 
take offense where there is none intended.

For starters, my whole reply is predicated on the belief that, very 
often, people prefer characters with whom they identify. This can be 
positive or negative; we like characters who embody the 
characteristics we wish to have, and we feel deep empathy for 
characters who embody our own faults.Well, I'm sure some people 
*hate* characters who embody their own faults,but I for one love them 
quite pathetically, and I know I'm not alone.

I would also like to add, re GulPlum's question about sexual 
fantasies,that infatuation with literary characters has *nothing to 
do* with sexual attraction in its simplest sense. These characters 
have no physical presence; they do not infect us with their 
pheromones or put the moves on us. They are only as attractive as we 
imagine them. Our impression of them is rooted purely in language, 
which means it is symbolic and analyzable.Otherwise, we'd all have 
hopeless crushes on Gilderoy Lockhart, which does not seem to be the 
case. :-) Snape, in particular, *is supposed to be ugly,
* so there must be something *else* going on with his legion of female
crushers for them to feel as they do.

The following is only one theory among many for Snape's appeal, but I
think it's worth giving a shot: Snape is the cast-off animus of an
individual who has been socialized as female. OK, plain English: Snape
appeals to some women because he is exactly what a woman cannot be if 
she is to be recognized as "feminine" in our society.

Let's consider Snape's depiction in the books. We know from some 
offhand remarks that Snape is considered brilliant in his field: 
Lupin's explanation of how difficult Wolfsbane Potion is to brew, 
Sirius's admission that Snape knew more curses as a child, etc. We 
also get the impression he's brilliant from his poetic, mannered 
speech, his pride in his craft and, via Real Life contamination, he 
reminds us of that type of professor who would much rather be 
researching than teaching. So, he strikes me as being the Potterverse 
equivalent of a brilliant scientist.

However, what is is we typically see Snape doing? He gets to teach 11 
year olds Boil-Curing Potion *over and over and over.* He has to herd 
them from class to class when there is some danger in the castle. He 
has to keep them in line and break up fights. He has to babysit. He 
has to make sure they get medical treatment when they injure 
themselves, and protect them from their own recklessness. And, in 
what I think is one of the series' moments of pure comic genius, 
Snape has to play hyper-conscientious nursemaid to Lupin, someone 
he'd just as soon poison.

Now, being a grade school teacher, a caretaker and a nurse are all 
noble professions, but do they suit Snape's personality? No, they 
require patience, compassion, empathy and affection, all qualities he 
notably lacks. He is deeply unsuited for his job. Snape appears to 
despise little children and resents being stuck 'taking care of' 
people who need extra attention like Lupin, Harry or Neville. He 
doesn't seem to have a nurturing bone in his body. But he is 
protective and dutiful, and his job duties wrench appropriate 
behavior out of his as best as he can manage (which often isn't very 
well).

So my argument states that Snape appeals to *some* women who feel
frustrated that society, their families, or life in general obliges 
them into a caretaker role when they privately feel that they are 
better suited  for more intellectual work. Some of these women might 
reject caretaker roles for themselves, and others might be *extremely 
dutiful* mothers,teachers and nurses who simply feel the pressure to 
be compassionate and tender-hearted all the time. It's a heavy burden 
for anyone not 100% sweetness and light in the first place. But what 
if women actually acted like Snape! It's hardly an option for any of 
us who care about what our loved ones think of us. (If only the world 
were as accepting as Dumbledore!

) So Snape is deliciously enjoyable because, as a literary character, 
he can get away with all the nastiness he wants and we can enjoy it
vicariously without actually hurting anyone in the Real World.

So I think the reason that the vast majority of Snape's admirers are
female is that he represents the vindictive, resentful flipside of the
"female" role that is foreclosed to real women who feel obliged to 
appear "feminine" by typical cultural standards. I think this 
explains why some of Snape's fans are infatuated straight women, but 
also why some of his fans are lesbians. I also think this explains 
why some female readers *despise* Snape, because he constitutes an 
absolute scandal for someone entrusted with the role of rearing young 
people. (It's not a subject women typically feel neutral about.) And 
lastly, I think this explains why so few (to my knowledge) of Snape's 
fans are gay men, because (I imagine) they have a whole ton of other 
gender-role obligations to contend with,which have nothing to do with 
Snape's character. Same probably goes for straight men. :-)

Again, that's only one theory among many possible for why people like 
his character, and it need not apply to absolutely everyone. Let me 
know what you think.

~Porphyria


Potioncat again:
I have to admit, having a son about the age of Harry, I love the 
scene when Snape throws/magicks the jar of cockroaches at Harry.
I'd love to do that too! Of course I wouldn't throw anything at my
own son
after all, I'd be the one to clean up all those
cockroaches
but it does offer a certain sense of satisfaction.

So, I'll ask the same question Porphyria asked: What do you think?

Potioncat: who will delete this post if it appears with odd symbols 
due to some e-interference.