House characteristics/Fat rant

[potioncat]

No: HPFGUIDX 150677

Alla wrote: 
> Now, Okay, she likes Hermione, she really likes Hermione, I 
understand 
> that, so it is understandable that she wants young girls to be 
like 
> her, but what is so BAD about Pancy Parkinson that she does not 
want  
> the girls to be like her, except that Pancy is in Slytherin House?

Potioncat:
I responded off list to this earlier, but since the thread is still 
going, I thought I'd take another look.

As far the house traits go, I do think JKR believes Gryffindor is 
the best house/has the best traits. Nevermind that you could imagine 
yourself in another house, and think of all the wonderful traits 
that go along with it, from most of her interviews, JKR seems to 
value the Gryffindor one most highly. (I could be wrong of course.)

But, after reading all the posts about Pansy/Slytherin I went back 
to the rant in the extras section of JKR's site. She is talking 
about a situation when most important thing about a person is their 
weight/perception of weight. It is a big issue with girls, and I 
think a growing issue among boys. JKR is upset that what a person 
does, or the way a person behaves is less important than the 
person's weight.

 I pulled out this quote:

>>>Maybe all this seems funny, or trivial, but it's really not. It's 
about what girls want to be, what they're told they should be, and 
how they feel about who they are. I've got two daughters who will 
have to make their way in this skinny-obsessed world, and it worries 
me, because I don't want them to be empty-headed, self-obsessed, 
emaciated clones; I'd rather they were independent, interesting, 
idealistic, kind, opinionated, original, funny – a thousand things, 
before 'thin'. And frankly, I'd rather they didn't give a gust of 
stinking chihuahua flatulence whether the woman standing next to 
them has fleshier knees than they do. Let my girls be Hermiones, 
rather than Pansy Parkinsons. Let them never be Stupid Girls. Rant 
over.<<<<<

So, I would have to think in this case, she means that Pansy 
represents the empty-headed, self-obsessed clones and that Hermione 
represents the long list of virtues. The two that most oppose 
are "opinionated" vrs "empty-headed." Hermione may do some awful 
things, but she's not following along blindly. 


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