[HPforGrownups] Fat Rant

[AnitaKH]

No: HPFGUIDX 150606



potioncat  wrote:    Potioncat here, a little taken aback by JKR's website. She rants, very appropriately, about the push for girls to be uber-thin.  

[akh then sliced and diced]
 
I agree fully with JKR, don't get me wrong. And yeah, I know Molly is plump. (She's one of the good guys, for the record.) But really, take a look at how JKR generally portrays overweight people in the series.  Dudley? Crabbe? Goyle? Vernon? Umbridge?
 Yes there are bad thin guys too: Snape, Dark Lord, Petunia... 
 
[more akh pruning]

I just wonder if JKR knows she's doing all most the same thing as the  media she complains about?
 Potioncat
 
akh, after ruminating in the shower, replies:

Hmm, hmm, hmm, I've been pondering this (see above) and reading others' responses, in part because I was never particularly struck by "fatism" in Rowling's work.  I think this is due in part to the fact that she does portray all shapes and sizes.  After all, when writing, there are certain shorthand means of visualizing a character, and shape is quick and effective.  Molly is plump, Bill and Ron are tall and lanky, Charlie and the twins are stocky.  I've always seen Dudley's obesity as an indictment of Vernon and Petunia, who underfed Harry while overfeeding Dudley.  By book five, he's no longer fat but has a wrestler's physique, which for me is an entirely different body type.  Oh, did I mention I like Slughorn and Hagrid?

I would be horrified in real life if I heard one of the children in the private school where I work criticizing another child for being either too fat or too thin (and we have both here).  However, in literature that attempts to create realistic characters, insulting other kids' appearance rings true.  If that kind of behavior were portrayed as heroic,  I'd object.  In fact, Hermione, who is generally the voice of maturity, urges the others to ignore insults rather than trade them.  

I have 30 pounds that need to take a hike, too.  I'm perfectly willing to concede a lack of sensitivity, but I'm not offended by Umbridge as long as I have Molly to keep me company.  

akh, who comes up with brilliant posts in the shower but has forgotten them by the time she dries off and sits down at her computer...
 
 

		
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