Rookie Readers! discussion

I thought it was about time to discuss this beloved series. Perhaps give the discussion a feminist spin? All suggestions are welcome!

Lots of excellent female role models! Hermione, Luna, and Molly Weasley are some obvious ones.

Nina wrote: "Lots of excellent female role models! Hermione, Luna, and Molly Weasley are some obvious ones."

I agree! Hermione is the absolute BEST, she is always standing up for what she believes to be just and right, and she is not a know-it-all as some might say, I honestly think she is a curious woman with a thirst for knowledge and a lot of self confidence. It even annoys me, at least in the first four books, how Harry and Ron are so oblivious and unaprecciating of Hermione's innumerable gifts <3 <3 (Yes, I am a Hermione lover. And forever a cheerer-on of women; the only men I can tolerate in the series are Sirius and Dumbledore, which I also happen to adore.)


In other news: I've been hearing the "Harry Potter and the Sacred Text" podcasts, which are WONDERFUL, and not only do they do an amazingly in-depth and humane reading of the books, but also share interesting criticism of the books. One of them is this: The scene in the third book where Neville ridicules his Snape-shaped Boggart by making him use wear women's clothes (even if really ugly women's clothes) is transphobic and sexist. However, the podcast hosts later pointed out that Harry Potter has many political and moral shortcomings; it is certainly not perfect, as is nothing that we can truly love. And I certainly do love Harry Potter.

The exact quote from the podcast is: "This is something that we have to contend with... the way that the text portrays weight, the way that it to a great extent does not deal with race; these are not perfect texts, and we do not love them because they are perfect. We deal with it in its complexities."

Wow that's a really interesting point. It's amazing how empathetic and aware much of our society is becoming that we can recognize those things even with something so dear to us as harry potter

Nina wrote: "Wow that's a really interesting point. It's amazing how empathetic and aware much of our society is becoming that we can recognize those things even with something so dear to us as harry potter"

Yes! It seems sort of unbelievable to think that 20 years ago, people were burning and banning Harry Potter books because they told a tale of sorcery and witchcraft, which is unchristian. Perhaps having made the book more inclusive would have given the books even more obstacles towards becoming the phenomenon that it was. I like to think that if Rowling were to write the books today, she would be much more progressive on many issues.

Which gives me an idea: It is not uncommon for authors to publish new editions to their books once time has passed. Maybe if we pushed her on, Rowling would edit her books to make them, for example, LGBTIQ inclusive?