From: DAJ <daj9999>
Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 18:35:53 -0700 (PDT)

I suppose I see this two ways. I don't think it makes a book bad or flawed if there are no strong female characters -- even if there are several weak ones. It's not as if one book is the only book (or depiction of females, for that matter) that a reader will be exposed to.

On the other hand, in a discussion of a book, I welcome observations about aspects I might have missed, both positive and negative (provided the latter isn't accompanying a push to censor the book). I hadn't thought about Rowling's portrayal of females until I read the Salon.com article some time ago and realized I'd been looking past it without noticing the gender difference -- and Monica Edinger's post about Mrs. Weasley made me even more aware of it. While this still doesn't bother me, I do make it a point to introduce the topic when my (college) students discuss HP -- and will now add some consideration of Mrs. Weasley, as another aspect of the book worth considering.

My personal feeling is that Rowling is still drawing heavily on the _Tom Brown's Schooldays_ model
(consciously or unconsciously) and that, in that context, introducing *any* strong females into the story is progress.

DAJ daj9999 at yahoo.com


====19th?ntury Girls' Series http://members.tripod.com/ddj9999/girlser/

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Received on Mon 18 Sep 2000 08:35:53 PM CDT