Is a woman not allowed to realize itself through motherhood?
itself
Are you for real right now
You’re right, that was hyperbole. What I should’ve written is “every character that expresses traditionally feminine interests”, save for of course, the tradwife, like Molly Weasley whose entire character is just being a mother. Does she have interests beyond being a mother? No, with seven children who has time to be a person?
Hermione doesn’t engage with anything traditionally feminine, she’s a “not-like-other-girls” type character, hell she doesn’t really have any friends that aren’t boys. Even so, she’s often not taken seriously. She’s mocked for studying hard, and she’s mocked for her anti-slavery coalition, which people only really join half-heartedly in order to placate her.
There’s obviously Dolores Umbridge. She’s into cute, frilly, fluffy, pink things. She’s also a sadist. Her punishment for being bad is to be carried off by centaurs to get raped in a forest.
Luna Lovegood was introduced as another character to be bullied, and she remains on the outskirts throughout the book, but Rowling softened up on her once she got extremely popular with the fans of the series.
Just a couple of years ago “people with massive noses” having kahoots with Hitler would be oxymoron.But now, after genocide of Palestinians…
Ah right, the massive genocide of Jews, disabled people, LGBTQ+ people, and other minorities back in the mid 1900s was okay because the Israeli state is now running a genocide of their own. Rowling was correct to be antisemitic actually!
Molly Weasley whose entire character is just being a mother. Does she have interests beyond being a mother? No, with seven children who has time to be a person?
Excuse me, but I can’t agree with your position here.
Is a woman not allowed to realize itself through motherhood?
Also Molly was smart and fierce (remember flight with Bellatrix Lestrange?
Feathercrown@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Viceversa@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
English isn’t my first language and certainly isn’t my best
Feathercrown@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Ah, sorry
Viceversa@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I’m flattered by it not being obvious though!
Maybe I’m making progress after all.(or maybe average grammar of native speakers is so bad nowadays, that I’m blending)
Dojan@pawb.social 3 weeks ago
Of course. And according to Joanne KKK Rowling, that’s the only way you can be a woman; if you can produce children. Women are the ones with the large gametes! That’s the definition of woman, nothing else. Screw all cis-women who don’t fit the mold.
You’re not allowed to be too feminine, but also if you don’t adhere to white-feminine beauty standards you’re also bad.
I do! “NOT MY DAUGHTER YOU DON’T!”
No matter what, Molly is nothing but a mother. There’s no character there beyond that.
You’ve missed my point. My point is, there are many ways of being a person, and many ways of being a girl or a woman. Rowling doesn’t believe that, and the narrative she pushes explicitly defines what is and isn’t from her perspective, an acceptable way of being a woman. She very clearly values men over women.
Ember Green did an excellent video essay that touches on this topic.
There’s a Wikipedia entry on Jewish sterotypes. You could turn it into a drinking game, if you’d like to die of alcohol poisoning.
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Viceversa@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Harry Potter books don’t have that assertion to me. There are different positive female figures in the books.
wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz 3 weeks ago
Book: has one character whose main sense of identity is being a mother
Critic: “THIS BOOK IS SAYING THE ONLY VALID WAY TO BE A WOMAN IS TO BE A MOTHER!!1!!1!1!1!”
It’s obnoxiously close to this broader view in society:
Woman: is a mother
Society: "SO YOU THINK A WOMAN’S SOLE PURPOSE IS TO BE A MOTHER?!?!?!?!!?!
Also, are we just going to ignore Professor McGonnagal (no clue how to spell her name) being childless and devoted to her career in academia in which she thrives and holds the respect of her peers and pupils?
Dojan@pawb.social 3 weeks ago
You know what, that’s fair. McGonagall is a mostly unproblematic character, I feel. There are some moments where I feel like she meted out very strange punishments, like sending the kids out into a dangerous forest they were prohibited from being in because it’s potentially lethal, or when she locked Neville out of the Gryffindor common room while a murderer was on the loose.
That said, Caroline Easom did a video on the female characters that appear in the top 100 characters by mention in the books and there are some less savoury patterns in how Joanne portrays women.
Dojan@pawb.social 3 weeks ago
Sure. If it makes you feel better, then whatever.
Viceversa@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
That’s your argument? Ok.
Feathercrown@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
“Character” as in personality, not other fictional people.
Viceversa@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
What do you mean?
Viceversa@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Viceversa@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Downvotes on the deleted comment?
There wasn’t any vote on it before deletion.
Feathercrown@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Such is the nature of voting