Young James v Older James WAS: Re: The Huge overreactions .

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 150235

Carol:
> I wholeheartedly agree with you that cultural norms have changed and 
> that's why so many people see more 'modern' problems, or at least tag 
> them with more 'modern' names, in several areas of canon.  Sexual 
> harassment for pantsing, which is definitely emasculation, but that 
> term seems to have gone the way of the 'older' cultural norms.  
> Or 'abuse' for 'strictness' in another world.  I could go off on a 
> rant here about emasculating the human population, but I won't.  *g*

Pippin:
The term 'sexual harassment' was first used by feminists in the
sixties. The  UK  Equal Opportunities Commission has a thirty year 
history. However,  peer to peer sexual harassment among schoolchildren
seems to have been considered as such from the 1990's on. 
I  agree with Carol  that in the 19070's many people (though not all) 
would  have  seen James's behavior as bullying and not sexualized it. 

However,  JKR is not writing for people in the 1970's, she's 
writing for people now, who perceive James's actions in the
context of the present time, when schools have anti-harassment
policies and students are expected to be familiar with them.
And perhaps that's the point, to show
that just as peoples' attitudes towards this behavior have changed,
James's own attitudes  could change too.


Pippin