Hermione is wonderful, especially in the books, and so is Molly Weasley.
Mrs. Weasely has chosen to be a homemaker, true, but she clearly is the dominant personality in the entire extended Weasley clan, and can do whatever she chooses. She’s one of the most powerful sorcerers in the Potterverse - in the league of Voldemort and Dumbledore - able to use killing curses with impunity, and capable of violating well-known fundamental limitations of the basic laws of magic routinely (Hermione tells us that Gamp’s Law of Elemental Transfiguration says you cannot create food with magic, but then Ron points out that his mother does it all the time, and in Goblet she actually does so).
I like the way that Rowling shows that you don’t have to flagrantly reject every part of the stereotypical “woman’s role” in English society in order to be your own person - it’s the old-school Women’s Lib concept of being self-actualized, rather than being restricted to a binary state of either totally conformant or totally nonconformant to some preassigned role. We can see Hermione ending up doing research in some tower while Ron nannies the kids, or indeed having no children or homelife at all, but Molly Weasely enjoys being a homebody (even though she uses her powerful magic to avoid most of the drudgery) and she’s going to do whatever she likes, and do it well on her own terms. The contrast between the two allows a richer appreciation of the many admirable qualities that they share, I think.
Hmm, I guess that was a pretty potter-geeky post. I am revealed as a trufan.
Thanks for writing this. My daughter is 16 years old. Despite a total backsliding of women in a lot of mainstream media, there has also been a lot of small movies and books made recently that have great female characters. I think it has made a difference for my daughter, who manages to be both girly and incredibly nerdy.
Hermione is one of the characters that I’ve been grateful for being out there, and out there in a big way. Hermione is one of the few really SMART characters I can think of; whereas most of the others strong female characters in the media are action heroes.
In general, I love how the Harry Potter books are so subversive about education, showing how the real knowledge comes after school, between classes. But I like how Hermione has book smarts and how valuable that becomes in their magical battles, because there are people who do very very well in school who do extraordinary things because they take their studies so far.
Decades ago I ran a radio spelling bee (talk about your riveting listening) in the Nashville area where Naomi resides, with 5th through 7th grade contestants. Over the years I noticed that, while the 5th graders always tried as hard as they could, by 7th grade they were starting to get society’s message that they would have more friends if they dumbed down a little, and some of the 7th graders were no longer trying as hard as 5th graders would. After I noticed that, my regular message was “never be ashamed of being smart,” and I could occasionally see in a pair of eyes here and there, even if they couldn’t say it, that they were hungry for that validation. Naomi’s self-esteem Is obviously intact (and Naomi, keep writing, you’re exceptionally talented); others of both genders need that validation and are not getting it from society, so readers, please nurture it wherever you see it. Even if the young person is not a relative, they need to know that someone sees their spark and that it’s important to keep it burning.
Yep, absolutely. But I can still envision Hermione deciding not to (and Ron’s not going to be able to make her do anything she doesn’t want to, of course).
I’m told that Rowling recently said she regretted putting Ron and Hermione together, and she thinks they’re a clear recipe for divorce. Lemme google that… OK, here. Not divorce, apparently, but she says they’re going to need relationship counseling.
I like the way that Rowling shows that you don’t have to flagrantly reject every part of the stereotypical “woman’s role” in English society in order to be your own person
Another character this brings to my mind- albeit a secondary one- is Fleur Delacour. As she is introduced, one could expect that she would be the token bimbo/bitch and to be unkindly punished by the plot for being extremely pretty and haughty. You practically prepare yourself to dislike her. However, she is quickly shown as skilled, fiercly loyal and noble: Once Harry helps her sister, she is immediately grateful and drops all competitive animosity. She thinks nothing of her husband’s disfigurement and she doesn’t hesitate to put her life on the line to help Harry. She is beautiful and clearly enjoys and revels in beauty, yet she is not empty and vapid. She is given her own brand of goodness. It’s only sad that the other female characters unilaterally dislike and misjudge her precisely because of her beauty. I can’t quite decide whether this was a self-aware point made by Rowling to further mislead the reader regarding what Fleur would reveal herself to be (a.k.a. NOT the stupid bimbo) or if it was an unfortunate foray into the trope that all females are jealous monsters.
ETA: Regarding Ron/Hermione, I was way too glad when Rowling said she regretted pairing them. It was probably my biggest beef about the whole series. Viktor felt like so much more a natural, uncontrived choice and I am beyond sick of the ‘if they can’t stand each other they must be in love’ nonsense. Romantic compatibility is way underrated in pop culture.
Well, the impression I got from reading that last page of the last book (I also read book 2) was that they got married fairly young. People who get married young are a lot more likely to marry someone unsuitable for them and get divorced later.
I can see how facing death and saving the world together would make people feel like they were in love.
I just googled “ron hermione divorce fanfic” - 81,000 results.
I agree with you on most points. I have no experience with Monster High, neither I nor my kids were ever drawn to it. But I think there are quite a few smart, heroic female characters in literature and film. Some of them start out not being respected for what they are. That is part of the story, but most triumph in the end. Here are a few that come to mind-
Jane Eyre
Elisabeth Bennett
Nancy Drew
Katniss Everdeen
Matilda
Anne of Green Gables
Jo Marsh
Sara Crewe
Lyra Silvertoungue
Laura Ingalls
Meg Murry
Madeline
Lucy Pevensie
Wendy Darling
Dorothy Gale
Scout Finch
Lyra Belaqua
There are many more, and it is worth your time to find them.
Just jumping in to say that this may not be true and in fact I doubt it is, I mean I’m sure people have tried to hurt her self esteem, even unwittingly, and I’m sure she’s not a robot. The worst part is that being a teenager you can doubt your self esteem even when you have no reason to, even happens to us adults sometimes.
Anyway, just wanted to say that self esteem is overrated, sure, having too low self esteem is bad, but above a certain threshold it doesn’t really matter, you do the work, and its good or it isn’t. That’s the sort of self esteem you learn to rely on as an adult, that the work is done as best you can and the judging of it is separate from who you are.
Having said that, and since hollow praise is just as bad as invalid criticism (especially to smart kids who can actually tell the difference) I’m now free to say:
I’m tempted to qualify these characters more as ‘Mary Sues’ of sort (or more like ‘everyman’ characters albeit with special abilities), for the reader to readily embody in order to experience the universe in the story. They are characters who are ‘chosen’ and made heroic in order for them to remain central to all other elements in the narrative. They discover the premise first-hand and benefit from all the other character’s exposition and- usually- much richer and more idiosyncratic personalities. I suspect this technique would be also often found with female protagonists, so I don’t really feel it’s especially chauvinistic in and of itself.
