Working mothers, was Did the Slytherins come back

[sistermagpie]

No: HPFGUIDX 182069

Betsy:
> Combine that with the fact that girls can enter the boys dorms 
> whenever they like and you've got a series of books that seems to 
> deny the existance of female sexuality as a natural thing.  Which is 
> a throw-back view, IMO.

Magpie:
That little detail is bizarre, isn't it? I think when it comes to this 
the books are like a nexus of all sorts of unexamined stereotypes that 
lead...somewhere...but are probably a mix of different things.

I mean, when do we ever see boys chasing girls? I can think of only a 
few examples--McLaggen tries to snog Hermione at the party, Viktor 
morphs into a bit of a womanizer who only wants hot babes. Fred 
actually asks Angelina to the ball iirc. In James/Lily James seems to 
be the one who's actually going after her (though she already likes 
him and seems to be waiting for him to get it right). McLaggen is the 
only one I can think of who's actually characterized as a guy trying 
to get into a girl's pants.

Usually we've got girls chasing after boys like Beatles groupies--we 
see boys liking girls back, but if you're looking for real OTT stuff, 
I think it's mostly girls doing the chasing. Off the top of my head:

Crowds follow Harry, trying to get him under the mistletoe. 

Crowds ask Harry to go to the GoF ball with them.

The love potions are marketed to girls (because what guy would want a 
girl to think she was in love with him for any amount of time?!). 

Harry is given a dose of a potion by unattractive and aggressive 
Romilda, who also wants to know what he's got under his clothes. 

Myrtle is a peeping Tom and a bit of a lech. 

Tom Riddle grosses himself up allowing himself to be pawed by also 
unattractive Hepzibah. 

Ugly Merope traps Tom Riddle Sr. as a love slave for months. 

Cho initiates everything in her relationship with Harry, even though 
he's liked her before, and not vice-versa. 

Hermione and Ginny plot and discuss for years to get their men.

Lavender goes after Ron and continues chasing him after he's lost 
interest.

Iirc Fleur's eyeing Bill is the start of their relationship 
(apparently she starts plotting them). 

Tonks will get Remus to marry her even if she has to demand it at a 
hospital bed, and their whole relationship is mostly Remus running and 
Tonks chasing. 

Girls are trying to get Sirius' attention in the Pensieve. 

Girls chase Viktor. 

Bellatrix pants after an uninterested Voldemort. 

Parvati and Lavender crush on Firenze (who's lower half is a horse...).

Why, since this is the way the world works, did anybody think the 
girls were the ones who needed to be protected with the staircase? 
It's like it's all part of the "game" girls play ("you know what I'm 
talking about!") where the smart ones manipulate things so they seem 
like they're being pursued when it's all part of the plan. It's girls 
who are sexually aggressive, addled by hormones, made stupid by lust. 
Guys in canon, by contrast, are quite passive, befuddled and 
uninterested until some girl manipulates them into feeling differently 
and then they're not responsible for their actions.

There are times where guys obviously find a girl attractive, but not 
on this level. In fact, the closest the boys ever get to this level is 
when they're dealing with Veelas, who seem to embody some sort of 
lesson about this sort of thing (the way they turn into harpies once 
you're attracted, how the boys shouldn't judge on looks alone, how 
it's fake magic) that is never really needed by the boys in life. Or 
else when they're under the influence of love potions where again it's 
really the girl sending out some magical force that takes away the 
boy's will.

-m