Magic in North America

[cabepfir]

Not following either JKR’s accounts or the Pottermore, I learnt that Rowling had written some new pieces about Hogwarts from Twitter links about it - meaning, I became aware there was a polemic about “Magic in North America” far before reading the piece myself. I read that people were outraged about her incorporation of Native American myths into

Comments

[ext_3582824]

Personally, neither one bothers me, although I thought the story was a bit dull overall. If I were going to get annoyed everytime a stereotype of some kind or another was presented in a book/movie/etc I would spend all my time being annoyed! I thought the Dorcas story was kind of allegorical to the adam and eve story (sort of). Then again there are plenty of (real!) stories about people who get ripped off/lose their life savings/etc all due to TEH LURVE so meh, it could happen.

TBH I find the idea of equating the Dorcas story to misogyny to be just as silly as the "cultural appropriation" thing. Think about it this way: would you find the story offensive if Dorcas was a guy?

[cabepfir]

Yes, I would find offensive also if it was the other way around, not only because it equates being in love with being dim-witted, but also (and mainly) because it oversimplifies the reasons behind a political crisis (which are rarely as simple as "person X told person Y things they shouldn't.) Love does change lifes on a personal level, but the political level is often much more complex. Thanks for reading it!

[ext_3582824]

If it would be offesive no matter what the Dorcas' character's gender was, then how does it imply misogyny? You could say it's anti-romantic, but it is not specifically insulting to just females.

[cabepfir]

Because evidently in this case the character is a woman, imagining as a male if only a "what if". In Rowling's text Dorcus is a woman, and the political crisis centers around this woman's sillyness, so for me it's a case of misogyny.

[kellychambliss]

While it's certainly true that a) cultures get "appropriated" all over the globe and always have, and b) the whole "cultural appropriation" issue can definitely be overdone and taken to extremes, I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss the Native American objections.

It's easy for those of us who inhabit primarily majority traditions to dismiss the complaints of the marginalized as mere "political correctness" or over-sensitivity or whatever. The issue doesn't bother or affect *us*, so it can be easy to say it shouldn't bother or doesn't affect others (or that if it does bother them, it's their problem and they just shouldn't be so sensitive

[cabepfir]

I see your points, and I do believe the issue is serious and complex, only I find the polemic disproportionate to the quantity of original material used in Magic in North America, and to the relevance of the piece itself (which is not a masterpiece.) I also thought that people sensible to the appropriation issue would be equally vocal about the treatment of Dorcus. When I read the text, I was already aware of the polemic and bracing myself for something outrageous written against the Native Americans, which I couldn't find (but then, I'm not NA), while I was negatively surprised by "Rappaport's Law."