Lusting After Snape

[potioncat]

No: HPFGUIDX 129351

Potioncat: snipping everything before, but using this post to keep 
everything in thread:

First, to give credit where credit is due: I'd like to remind 
everyone that the opinions in this thread were stated by Porphyria in 
2002. I just found them and offered them up. I think she has some 
intriguing ideas!

In post 47924 Porphyria defended her views. I'm snipping bits and 
pieces, mainly comments by other posters

Post 47924 Porphyria:
> 
> Actually, my premise is wrong, since human sexual attraction is 
> *never* simple. :-) But I just get annoyed sometimes at the 
> accusation that Snape's fans only defend him because they have a 
> crush on him, as if a crush were somehow not connected to the 
> complicated depiction of a character and our imaginative and 
symbolic 
> relationship with it, our own value system, etc. 
snip
> 
> I also agree with Acire's other points about the appeal of Snape's 
> dangerous past (kept in check since he recanted) , his bravery, and 
> most of all the fact that we, as readers, can fill in a lot of 
blanks 
> about his past as we see fit. :-) That point can't be stressed 
> enough, since it drives so much mental effort in interpretation. I 
> think I'd just add that the appeal of his semi-dangerousness is one 
> of those things that has to be explained since not all women go for 
> that. And again, I'd say it's because we fans identify with it a 
> little; we can vicariously have fun with it without necessarily 
being 
> dangerous ourselves or associating with people who are. 

snipping other poster's comments
 
> Interestingly, the reason I came up with this theory is that I was 
> pondering the fact that 1) Snape is the product of a female author 
> and 2) Snape's fans are overwhelmingly female. So I wondered if JKR 
> put some of her dark side into Snape and how this was registering 
> with female readers.
> 
> Of course what I tried to stress in saying that Snape is a cast-off 
> animus (for you Jungians out there) is that he's exactly what women 
> don't get to be. Snape isn't effeminate at all; he's tough, 
> aggressive, competitive, hardnosed, unforgiving, exacting, etc. 
> 
> But on the other hand, there are some feminine (or yin) aspects to 
> Snape's depiction, aren't there? For one thing, I find it 
intriguing 
> that his craft is the one most often associated with (female) 
> witches; brewing in a cauldron, as opposed to the traditional 
> depiction of wizards with their really big staffs. In fact, he 
> disdains 'silly wand waving' (because of its overly phallic 
> obviousness?), instead praising the 'subtle' art of potions with 
> their more sneaky, devious ways (and feminine symbolism). Here I'm 
> sort of smooshing together western "feminine" with "yin" which is 
> also dark, negative, the color black, the night, etc. Still, I'm 
> reminded of a remark of sydpad's from post #43029 where we were 
also 
> discussing Snape and wands vs. cauldrons:
> 
> > If I was keen on feminist readings, I'd probably say something 
> > about the positive associations of nice 'forthright' . "male" 
wand 
> > magic, vs. sneaky, creepy, mysterious "female" *cauldron* 
> > magic...
> 
snip I think Snape has a few covert feminine attributes 
> along with his obvious male ones. In fact, I'd be tempted to add a 
> 'soft, silky' voice, skinniness, long hair and flowing robes to the 
> list of feminine attributes, but I realize those might not strike 
> every person or culture as feminine (to my mind they do). Of course 
> nothing is entirely yin or yang... 


Potioncat now:
I think the comment above "...and most of all, we as readers can fill 
in a lot of blanks about his past as we see fit..." hits a very valid 
point! Many readers imagine DE!Snape as having performed terrible 
acts against innocent people. Others imagine DE!Snape as having been 
disgusted by the terrible acts he saw being performed. He's probably 
neither as good as some of us think or as bad as others believe. 

She also makes a good point about Snape brewing potions, a magical 
trait usually associated with witches. Does anyone know of other 
cases where a wizard has made potions?
Potioncat, hoping everyone is enjoying htis blast from the past.