[HPforGrownups] JKR and the boys

[Magpie]

No: HPFGUIDX 161432

Miles:
> That leads to my thesis:
> JKR does not understand boys well and has great difficulties describing 
> them
> and their full emotional and social capacities. On the other hand, her
> description of girls is much more realistic and comprehensive. <snip>

> On the other side - Hermione Granger. She is extremely intelligent and the
> academic star of Hogwarts. Additionally, she seems to be very good at
> understanding people. She is the person who explains everything to Harry
> when he is clueless again. She seems to have very close friendships with
> several girls including Ginny, she is very clever at sorting out emotional
> and romantic relationships between girls and boys.

Magpie:
Yipes! Rowling's description of girls is realistic and comprehensive?  As a 
woman I'm a little offneded.  I'm sure Rowling knows plenty about girls, 
having been one, but I find her portrayal of girls in general in her books 
to be mostly putting across a stereotype.  Hermione does not, as you said, 
have very close friendships with several girls including Ginny.  She has 
friendships with no girls besides Ginny--in fact seems to hold most of the 
ones she meets in contempt.  And of course, she's become friends with Ginny 
through Ron--they're practically already the sisters in law they are fated 
to be--and their friendship is mostly shown in terms of bonding over their 
romantic conquests.  In OotP I found myself thinking the reason Hermione sat 
up late knitting was to avoid spending time with dorm mates who were all 
closer with each other than her. Once in a while she'll put on a girl act to 
make Ron jealous, but usually she's just with the boys.

Rowling's interviews, iirc, are full of little throwaways about "how women 
are," always referring to ways in which they respond to men, and almost 
always describing behavior that's not universal any more than saying "well, 
you know men, men are all stupid!" would be a truly fair portrait of all men 
all the time.  While I wouldn't ever say that Rowling is clueless about 
women, I would never say that she's presented a comprehensive and realistic 
portrait of them in her books, since their lives in her book are mostly 
centered around the men.  (So much so that a Potion that makes someone mad 
with desire for you is a product exclusively used by girls...because what 
teenaged boy would ever find that useful?  Boys are just dopes who can't be 
responsible for their chest monsters in the face of all those scheming 
women!) Her books present a particular view of women, but not one that all 
women relate to themselves.

-m