Bigotry in the Potterverse/Hermione and her parents

[sistermagpie at earthlink.net]

No: HPFGUIDX 188119

 rick:
> You left out: the boys scoured the campsites to obliterate any signs 
> they'd been there.
> 
> I just don't think your thesis about sexist roles in job assignments 
> bears scrutiny. 

Magpie:
But she just gave canon that indicated Hermione is doing the cooking and washing up and gathering food. That you can come up with a reason besides "they made her do it because she's a girl" or pointing out Ron and Harry doing other things doesn't change that. Whether or not one finds it sexist, the girl's mostly doing the cooking and washing up.

Rick:
Hg's parents were more vulnerable than regular wizarding parents because
they had no powers, no experience in the WW, nor any knowledge of the
reach of the powers of TDL. Sitting ducks, come to mind.

The trio could never sit by and allow Hg's parents be tortured. The
trio'd try to rescue them.

Magpie:
Of course, the Grangers are never in any actual danger to begin with (to answer Carol's question about how the movie would handle it, but guess is they'll ignore it since it never had to be there to begin with). The Grangers being memory charmed doesn't prevent them from being tortured or from being sitting ducks. It just makes them even more ignorant than they already were--which was pretty ignorant. 

To me it seems like the most obvious reason for the memory charm is the same reason as most memory charms on Muggles: it's the quickest way to get them to go where you want them to go and the easiest way to keep them from interfering or asking questions. She gave them a false desire to move to Australia and some false memories about their identities and they removed themselves from the UK under different names without any difficulty to her. It's the standard way to deal with Muggles. The Dursleys' treatment is unusual.

-m