JKR, the female and facism (wasRe: WAS Slytherin as villains...

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 179159

> >>Betsy Hp:
> > The hungy look is what I found icky. Though combining it with
> > personal grooming did push things for me. (What was JKR thinking
> > there?) And yeah, I'm going to say her "so brave" remark was meant
> > to be encouraging. Especially combined (heh) with all of her boys
> > telling Harry how cool and easy death is.

> >>Kemper now:
> Harry called her boys for emotional support.  Not for rahs.

Betsy Hp:
Okay.  I think maybe we're tomato-tomahto-ing?  The point is, Lily et 
al were all very encouraging as Harry marched off to die.  I 
personally found that disturbing.  It seemed very cult of death-ish, 
IMO.  I didn't dig the emotional support. <g>

> >>Kemper now:
> <snip>
> If Harry was Lily's age when she died, then maybe I can see her     
> being ok with a twentysomething Harry's death.
> I still think Lily knew Harry wouldn't die.

Betsy Hp:
Hmm...  I just wish there'd been something to suggest that within the 
text.  As it is, all I've got to go with is Harry's family 
encouraging him as he heads off to die.  An encouragement Dumbledore 
counted on (which I think *very* strange) as he gave Harry his death 
ring for that purpose. 

> >>Kemper:
> Why else look so hungrily?  (By the by... is there a different     
> British interpretation/definition for 'hungrily' in this sense?    
> God, I hope so.)

Betsy Hp:
I hope so, too. Though, since I really, *really* doubt JKR was trying 
to hint at what she appears to be hinting at, I think she was just 
trying to show that Lily missed her son.  She just... erred a bit in 
her word choice, IMO. <g>  (Combined with everything else, I think 
this also goes towards JKR's discomfort with having her female 
characters express a positive emotion.  There's alway seems to be 
something negative and aggressive about it.)


> >>Kemper:
> > <snip>
> > He realizes his mom is right. Narcissa as Mother knows best.

> >>Betsy Hp:
> > And this also condemns Draco. It's tied in, I think, with him    
> > using her wand. Draco has not become a man because he's too      
> > dependent on a woman is how I read it. (Another example of the    
> > danger of the female to the male.

> >>Kemper now:
> I don't quite see the condemnation.  Please explain further.  I see
> son using mother's wand as female power but am not sure of the      
> danger.

Betsy Hp:
I'd *love* to explain further. <bg>  First, Draco using his mother's 
wand is commented on, and it's commented on negatively.

"Winners, keepers, Malfoy.  Who's lent you theirs?"
"My mother."
Harry laughed, though there was nothing very humorous about the 
situation. [DH scholastic p.628]

Harry's laughing about Draco using his mother's wand.  Because, IMO, 
it's a negative.  It means Draco's a bit of a weeny, a mama's boy.

If that were all, I'm not sure I'd see Draco's connection with the 
female as a negative.  But there's more.  Draco is painted as a weak, 
girly-type boy throughout the scene.  He first appears standing 
behind Crabbe and Goyle, barely spotted between them.  As the fight 
starts, he's quickly disarmed, and is described:  "The wandless 
Malfoy cowered behind a three-legged wardrobe as Hermione charged 
toward them..." [ibid p. 631]

So even his mother's borrowed strength is too much for him.  By the 
time Harry rescues him from the fire, Draco has been reduced to 
hysterics, screaming and sceaming and "holding Harry so tightly it 
hurt" [p.634].

When we next see Draco he's "pleading" for his life with one of his 
fellow Death Eaters, Harry rescues him (again), and we're 
told: "Malfoy looked around, beaming, for his savior". [p.645]

So we have Draco with his mother's wand, described as small, 
cowering, hysterical, and coquettish.  Obviously Draco is supposed to 
be seen as weak and faltering and cowardly.  And JKR does so by 
making him... girly.

> >>Betsy Hp:
> > <snip>
> > ...Harry seems genuinely innocent. And Ron is, for the most part, 
> > quite ignorant (ignorant enough for little sister Ginny to give   
> > him a pat on the head).

> >>Kemper now:
> I though it odd that Harry was not struck by Fleur.  But he's not
> innocent. Maybe he's bi.

Betsy Hp:
Harry has long struck me as gay, frankly.  It's always been the boys 
he's noticed (Tom, Bill, Cedric, etc.) then the girls really.  But 
that's where I see the innocence.  Harry is not really interested in 
having any sort of sexual relationship with Cho, and Ginny is the one 
to push him in their relationship.  There's something very naturally 
virginal about him.  He's always suprised, confused, and for the most 
part annoyed, when girls express a sexual interest in him.  

(Hilariously, IMO, Harry was cool with Slughorn's interest, and even 
worked it a little to get the information he needed.  Probably 
because flirting with a man was a lot less scary than flirting with a 
woman for him.  In JKR's world, the women are the scary predators.)

> >>Kemper:
> Ron, though ignorant, desperately wants to be learned in the carnal.
> It is not hard to imagin him in revelry flying his freak flag with
> someone and (h)Uranus.

Betsy Hp:
IMO, Ron was the most normal kid in the bunch.  He's interested in 
sex, would like to have some, and is endearingly awkward about the 
whole thing (which as a teenager he *should* be).  I think JKR is... 
semi-comfortable with male sexuality -- it existing, I mean.  But 
there's also a certain amount of contempt for Ron *because* he's so 
interested in the ladies.  It's used as a means to paint him as a 
fool.  His weakness with Fleur, for example.

Harry, by his *lack* of interest is shown as the stronger more 
dignified boy.  (Which actually, is a reason I don't think Harry's 
subtextual gayness is a positive thing.  I think it's there as a 
negative reaction to female sexuality rather than a positive 
exploration of male sexuality, if that makes any sense at all.)

Betsy Hp