Why I Hate Literary Critics.

[aebhel]

Okay, I know a lot of people who don't particularly care for the Harry Potter series. I happen to love the books, but I can't fault someone for having different taste. My problem is with people who go on about Harry Potter and feminism.

First of all, they're fantasy novels. Speaking as someone who's written (although, I grant, never published) a lot

Comments

[tailoredshirt]

I keep seeing that argument pop up and I don't really get it. I mean, you could make the argument, I guess, but if you're going to poke holes in the Harry Potter series I think there are better places to start. Hermione, McGonagall and Bellatrix are some of the most powerful wizards in the series. I think some people have made good arguments about Ginny pining over Harry and all that (I don't ship Harry/Ginny, so I don't really pay attention to them at all, but I understand what both sides have to say about her), but I still think it's reaching to call it anti-feminist. It's just kind of a typical fantasy novel, to me.

[aebhel]

I don't know, I don't think that a girl who has a long-term crush is really particularly anti-feminist. I think the Pining!Ginny who cries herself to sleep for five years because Harry doesn't love her is largely a construction of fanon.

I think it's the same thing as the "Harry Potter is about Satan-worship" nonsense. People like to go after famous authors because it's high-profile and liable to get them attention.

[gabrielladusult]

Pining!Ginny is totally fanon. Ginny did some silly crush things when she was young and then moved on (at Hermione's advice) only to be branded by some fans as slutty. So, you know, the poor girl is damned if she does and damned if she doesn't

[wolfychan]

Well, you have to admit that Hermoine is pretty weak and ditzy and stupid without any influence on the... wait, WHAT?

I'm curious where the source of this rant is but for people to say a story is sexist just because the main character is male is laaame. (Paradoxically, it is sexist that the majority of stories have male protagonists. But I don't feel comfortable attacking individual, otherwise unobjectionable stories on that basis.)

Hey, Quidditch is even coed!

[aebhel]

I think you could write a long and entirely reasonable paper about the fact that men show up as protagonists more than women do, sure. But on an individual basis, it's just a stupid thing to criticize.

Honestly, the wizarding world is probably a lot less sexist than our own, given the fact that most things are done with magic and that seriously evens out the power imbalance between the sexes. The only real argument for sexism is the fact that Ginny has a crush and acts silly (when she's eleven) and that Mrs. Weasley chooses to be a housewife despite the fact that she's a powerful witch. Both of them are strong and admirable women, though, so I don't think that's much of an argument.