Lusting After Snape

[phoenixgod2000]

No: HPFGUIDX 129334

> Potioncat:
> 
> 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.

Phoenixgod2000: I think there is probably more simple lust involved 
with Snape than the author gives credit for. Its the only possible 
explanation for the glut of bad SS/HG smutfics <g>
 
<major snips> 
 
> 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.

He should be thankful he gets to do that job instead of spending 
quality time around dementors for the rest of his natural life.  DD 
went out on an incredible limb to get him hired and off the hook for 
being a death eater. Honestly, his rampant ingratitude for a job 
he's lucky to have is sticking point for me (one of many).
 
<major snipping>

> 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!

I think the author is close but not quite right.  I don't think that 
the appeal of Snapish characters is limited to women and only 
represents the release of some of the more negative feelings they 
have.  That attitude definitely appeals to guys too. It appeals to 
everyone who has to work or live with other people who push their 
buttons, annoy them, aggravate them and work at what they consider 
below their level. which face, is pretty much every living being on 
the planet. It feels good to read a character who doesn't censor 
themselves the way we wish we didn't have to. I think that by 
linking it to some kind of women's only issue the author minimizes 
the incredibly broad appeal of those characters.
 
> ) 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 don't think that he represents the feminine so much as he 
represents the id being attached directly to the mouth like so many 
of us wish we could be.  I know plenty of straight guys who think 
the character of Snape is awesome. Perhaps not the deepest of 
thinkers when it comes to HP, but they are out there nonetheless so 
I don't think it is just a gender thing.  Besides, if he was such a 
feminine model he would be written with a much more feminie slant in 
fan fiction, but even in SS centered fan fiction he is written as an 
incredibly masculine character--more masculine in fact than he 
appears in canon.  seems to me like women are writing him more about 
how they wish the men they know were rather than how they wish they 
might be.  

<shrug> I don't know. I find the fascination with Canon!Snape 
mindboggling. I don't mind what they do to him in fanfiction because 
we all do that to characters we find interesting (you should see the 
literary gymnastics I've done with Bellatrix Lestrange to turn her 
into a sympathetic character), but the way Snape fans look at canon 
mystifies me. But who can really say why anyone likes any other 
character.  Why is the most interesting character for me to write 
about in my own fan fiction Gabrielle Delacour? she doesn't even 
have dialogue in GoF but I find myself absolutely fascinated by her 
future potential and connection with a post hogwarts Harry.

It took me the longest time to put into words the reason why I don't 
like Snape. I normally love characters like Snape. Raistlin Majere, 
like I talked about in a past post, or the lead character Dr. House 
in the new fox tv show about a doctor who hates sick people (check 
it out) are very much in the bitter, biting mode of Snape and I love 
both of them. I like that style of humor and I like characters with 
a edge to them.  For me, what it comes down to, is that I don't like 
who Snape snarks too. other characters in his mold snark either to 
people more powerful than they are as a form of insult or people who 
are their equals in society.  Snape just picks on kids. Regardless 
of his person history with Harry's family, it just isn't kosher to 
to do that. I guess whether you like Snape or not ultimately focuses 
on whether or not you are paying more attention to who is giving 
rather than who is recieving the attitude. I can't help but 
sympathize far more with the students than I can with him. YMMV

my shiny copper coin on the subject

phoenixgod2000