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Gender in Harry Potter
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From: Maia <maia>
Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1999 21:53:50 -0500
Amy Goldchlager wrote:
Yes, Harry does fantasize in both regards - e.g. his fixation with his parents in the mirror, and his obsession with winning the cup. (Note: I'd agree that the above clip may be fairly accurate as children get older - but more because of cultural conditioning than elsewise.)
Which leads me to a series of thoughts I've had about gender in Harry Potter. Myself, I've enjoyed Rowling's female characters much more than her males, and I tend to think that the females are better developed. Hermione, for example, comes equipped in with an (externally based) sense of right and wrong, courage, and a mighty brain. By the third book she has developed the ability to
(pardon the expression) kick butt when necessary, including telling off her teachers and making her own moral choices.
(Splendid child!)
Professor McGonagall strikes me as an adult version of Hermione, with more depth to her character than the other adults possess. It's not until that we see a somewhat rounded adult male, in the person of Professor Lupin. Now it's true that Harry himself would develop more ability to empathize with adults as he gets older - but McGonagall has depth even in .
Ginny is less well developed than Hermione - but then again, she _is_ the primary catalyst for action in .
(And although she can be seen as a helpless female, she is also the central plot device of the book.) And interestingly enough, it is the mothers and grandmothers who play primary roles in the children's lives - Mrs. Weasley and Neville's grandmother are two examples that come to mind.
Another interesting gender contrast is in the professors' subjects. Snape teaches potions and poisons, and is allied with Slytherin. To date, men have also taught all of the Dark Arts classes; in contrast, one woman teaches herbalism, and another fortune telling.
I wonder if this has anything to do with the books' popularity with girls? The fact that the house of courage has a woman at its head, and a girl at its heart...?
Maia
Received on Mon 15 Nov 1999 08:53:50 PM CST
Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1999 21:53:50 -0500
Amy Goldchlager wrote:
Yes, Harry does fantasize in both regards - e.g. his fixation with his parents in the mirror, and his obsession with winning the cup. (Note: I'd agree that the above clip may be fairly accurate as children get older - but more because of cultural conditioning than elsewise.)
Which leads me to a series of thoughts I've had about gender in Harry Potter. Myself, I've enjoyed Rowling's female characters much more than her males, and I tend to think that the females are better developed. Hermione, for example, comes equipped in with an (externally based) sense of right and wrong, courage, and a mighty brain. By the third book she has developed the ability to
(pardon the expression) kick butt when necessary, including telling off her teachers and making her own moral choices.
(Splendid child!)
Professor McGonagall strikes me as an adult version of Hermione, with more depth to her character than the other adults possess. It's not until that we see a somewhat rounded adult male, in the person of Professor Lupin. Now it's true that Harry himself would develop more ability to empathize with adults as he gets older - but McGonagall has depth even in .
Ginny is less well developed than Hermione - but then again, she _is_ the primary catalyst for action in .
(And although she can be seen as a helpless female, she is also the central plot device of the book.) And interestingly enough, it is the mothers and grandmothers who play primary roles in the children's lives - Mrs. Weasley and Neville's grandmother are two examples that come to mind.
Another interesting gender contrast is in the professors' subjects. Snape teaches potions and poisons, and is allied with Slytherin. To date, men have also taught all of the Dark Arts classes; in contrast, one woman teaches herbalism, and another fortune telling.
I wonder if this has anything to do with the books' popularity with girls? The fact that the house of courage has a woman at its head, and a girl at its heart...?
Maia
Received on Mon 15 Nov 1999 08:53:50 PM CST
