Key Terms and Theory
To begin illustrating my point on how J.K. Rowling has written progressive female characters in her series, I should start by explaining what I mean by this. My definition of a progressive female is someone who tries or is trying to change or improve their current situation. The characters in the Harry Potter series work against the stereotype of females being weak and useless. They do this by not only fighting for feminist awareness but also by displaying characteristics that make them strong. Feminism is defined as “a political movement concerned with women’s oppression and the ways and means to empower women” (Storey 135). The females in this series fight the oppression instilled upon them by society and most of the men in it. But not only do they do this, they also empower others to improve their situations as well.
Being a feminist doesn't mean that you have to be female, however most times they are. What it does mean is that you are continually fighting against stereotypes and fighting for a change in your current standing. Most females in this series do this with the exception of a few minor characters. The progressive feminists have ideals that challenge stereotypes and they don’t let people make them feel lesser than they are. They stick up for themselves, and many times they create movements for females, or for other people they feel are not being treated equally to everyone else.
To prove how J.K. Rowling’s text is the opposite of oppressive and stereotypical I must first state what the female stereotypes are that I will be talking about, then I must show how the females overcome them. One stereotype according to Smith, is that “logical acumen and love of learning fall into traditionally masculine pattern of rationality and inquiry” (“Harry Potter, Radical Feminism and
Being a feminist doesn't mean that you have to be female, however most times they are. What it does mean is that you are continually fighting against stereotypes and fighting for a change in your current standing. Most females in this series do this with the exception of a few minor characters. The progressive feminists have ideals that challenge stereotypes and they don’t let people make them feel lesser than they are. They stick up for themselves, and many times they create movements for females, or for other people they feel are not being treated equally to everyone else.
To prove how J.K. Rowling’s text is the opposite of oppressive and stereotypical I must first state what the female stereotypes are that I will be talking about, then I must show how the females overcome them. One stereotype according to Smith, is that “logical acumen and love of learning fall into traditionally masculine pattern of rationality and inquiry” (“Harry Potter, Radical Feminism and
the Power of Love” 84). This is stereotyping men into being the only people who are intelligent and the only ones who are inclined to enjoy learning and in result do well in their educational pursuits. In David Wallace’s article “Teaching English in the World: Playing with Critical Theory in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Series”, he states that “Males nearly always take charge” (Wallace 98) and then goes on to say that females are portrayed as being obsessed with their looks. He also says that females are “irrelevant or immoral when taking action outside of male authority” (Wallace 98), basically stating that female’s actions are not important unless they are taking orders from a male.
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Wallace then asks his readers to “consider who controls Hogwarts, the Ministry of Magic, the Order of the Phoenix, and the adventures of Harry, Ron, and Hermione” (Teaching English in the World: Playing with Critical Theory in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter Series 98). However, in his listing of all the men with power in the series, he fails to mention the females who have power or who have had power. In fact, there are known headmistresses of Hogwarts that Wallace fails to mention in his article that were before Dumbledore’s time including Dilys Derwent who, as mentioned in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, was one “of Hogwarts’s most celebrated Heads” (Rowling 469). Wallace also fails to include that at different points within the Harry Potter series there are two female Headmistresses including Professor Umbridge and Professor McGonagall. Another argument by Wallace is that a man controls the Ministry, however the Minister of Magic before Cornelius Fudge was a woman. In fact, in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, it says that many people wanted Dumbledore to be the next Minister of Magic “when Millicent Bagnold retired [but]…Fudge came to power instead” (Rowling 93). Here we clearly see that Millicent Bagnold, a female, was Minister before Fudge came to power. Furthermore, Harry Potter did not hold all the power in the golden trio. Hermione had significant influence on what the group did and when she did not feel like doing something she made that perfectly clear. For example, in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire when Ron and Harry are not speaking, Harry wants Hermione to tell Ron something but she quickly says “‘I’m not telling him anything…Tell him yourself’”(Rowling 290). Wallace's argument about men having all the power in the series is completely false because women did in fact hold a lot of power in the Wizarding World both today and in the past.
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Cherland also talks about the gender stereotypes in her article “Harry's girls: Harry Potter and the discourse of gender”. She states that “The Harry Potter novels also offer a wide variety of subject positions to young female readers” (Cherland 227). For example, Ginny can be seen as a temptation to Harry “but elsewhere in the Harry Potter novels Ginny is positioned as an achiever (for her athleticism, her popularity, her intelligence, and her beauty)” (Cherland 277). The article mentions how many different characteristics each character has and how they are continuously represented in new ways throughout the series. She offers support that the girls in the Harry Potter series are multidimensional, or having many different aspects, and are seen as more than just something that helps the man get more power and complete his quest. I will use Cherland to back up the examples I give of the female characters being strong and progressive.
In order to give support for my argument that J.K. Rowling presents progressive female characters, I will look at different examples of strong female characters within the series, including Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley and Professor McGonagall. Along with this, I am going to show expert analysis on this situation. I aim illustrate how these characters exemplify the features of strong female characters, when they demonstrate these features, explain why it is important that these features are shown, and how they disprove the research shown in the methodology section on the last page. I will prove which articles in the methodology section are completely false, such as Wallace's article "Teaching English in the World: Playing with Critical Theory in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Series", and which are true, such as Cherland's article "Harry's girls: Harry Potter and the discourse of gender", using examples from within different books in the Harry Potter series.
In order to give support for my argument that J.K. Rowling presents progressive female characters, I will look at different examples of strong female characters within the series, including Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley and Professor McGonagall. Along with this, I am going to show expert analysis on this situation. I aim illustrate how these characters exemplify the features of strong female characters, when they demonstrate these features, explain why it is important that these features are shown, and how they disprove the research shown in the methodology section on the last page. I will prove which articles in the methodology section are completely false, such as Wallace's article "Teaching English in the World: Playing with Critical Theory in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Series", and which are true, such as Cherland's article "Harry's girls: Harry Potter and the discourse of gender", using examples from within different books in the Harry Potter series.