Harry Potter

I’ve read Harry Potter VII only once. I’m embarrassed to admit that. I should be more embarrassed to admit that I’ve read the previous six at least 30 times (combined total). I’m aware, as any good Harry Potter fan should be, that J.K. Rowling is a woman, who was told by her publishers to use her initials so no one would know she’s female. Whether she would have the same ridiculous fan base had she used her real name, well I guess we’ll never know.

Anyway, I recently read a blogpost that touted Rowling as a great feminist, promoting quality female role models, and breaking stereotypes. While it’s true that in many movies geared towards younger crowds (eg Disney…) have few female leads, and those females are subordinate to males, and tend to speak less than their male counterparts, I’m not sure how much Rowling has really empowered women.

The main character is male. Obviously. The two other leads are a male and a female – Ron and Hermione. Okay, so there’s a female sidekick. What else is new in movies? Not quite empowering. Yes, she’s smart, top of her class. AND she’s a minority – having been born to non-magical parents. But her intelligence is her top strength, and she’s arrogant about it. She’s not smart, she’s a know-it-all. She struggles with her unspoken feelings for Ron. Feelings that are finally returned only when Ron sees her in her dress and all made up for the ball. She cries when she talks about missing her parents. I’m lost as to what stereotypes she’s breaking through here…

Mrs. Weasley was the next example. Oh yes, the endearing stay-at-home mother who constantly worries about her family while taking care of the kids (and Hermione and Harry), her husband, and doing the chores around the house. Now THAT’S an empowering idol!

Her daughter, Ginny. Supposedly she’s a feminist power girl. She’s more or less a minor role, first acting as the girl smitten over Harry, the celebrity. He wants nothing to do with her, and she follows him like a puppy dog. Then she gets over him and dates 3 (?) different guys, much to her protective older brother (Ron)’s dismay. Until finally Harry decides he likes her, and lo and behold, she comes running back to him, perhaps having waited all that time for him to come around. Seriously? This is who girls should be looking up to? And soon after, they break up because Harry has a dangerous mission and doesn’t want her to risk her life helping out. Was Kirsten Dunst in SpiderMan a role model also?

I’m terribly confused as to which female character is breaking ANY gender stereotype in this novel/movie franchise. Oh, I know! The evil ones. Finally! A novel with females hanging right with the men as the bad guys! It’s not just the men who can dominate the role of killer, torturer, BTK-style terrorism. I was worried we’d always be oppressed, but finally, we’ve broken boundaries.

Then again, when I was a high school freshman I gave a presentation on how on the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer (with which I was also unhealthily obsessed) also did nothing to end negative female stereotypes, and, at times, outright reinforced them. Maybe it’ll take a little more than female leads and costars to convince me that women are breaking boundaries.

The women I look up to are those in my family. My mother, and my sisters are more amazing than any portrayal of any woman I’ve seen on TV or movies, or have read of in books. Who are strong while loving. Empathetic but stern. Smart but not arrogant. Hardworking but always there when I need them. While I know how lucky I am to have them, they are certainly not alone in those traits. Plenty of women worldwide are worthy of our praise and adulation. I don’t need Hermione, Molly Weasley, or Ginny to tell me what to be, and neither does anyone else.

Maybe it’s time everyone started looking at the women around them for role models, because clearly, as much as we want them to, movies and books just aren’t cutting it.