This month's lesson dealt some of the instances in which women are presented in a negative light in the Harry Potter series. But lets be equal about this. :D So this month's discussion is about how certain male characters represent a negativity towards their gender.

I want to hear your thoughts on male stereotypes, male mistakes, and male characterization in the books.

Crabbe and Goyle. Big, apparently brainless oafs. No one can say that is complimentary to the guys.

Draco Malfoy. Very mean and with biting remarks for every situation. That isn't very flattering to guys either.

Ron Weasley, while lovable, does make mistakes, as does Harry. They seem to be the most realistic boys in the books.

Fred and George Weasley are the mischief-makers, and always good for a barrel of laughs. Even there, some negativity could be found.

Just a few examples. Will probably add to this post/post later with more opinions/examples.

Hmmm...male negativity.

I'd have to start with Dumbledore. I love him, I do. However, it is very typical for a male to be the head of a school. We always hear of the headmasters who lead their school to victory and fight the good fight. We rarely see a Headmistress who is shed in the same light. As a graduate of an all-girls college who had just now in this century seen a female president of said college, I believe this is a real life fact, as well.

Then we go onto the head of the Dursley household--fumbling, "I wear the pants in this family" Mr. Dursley, himself. He is the typical bumbling figure who is considered to be most un-fatherly to his orphaned nephew. We see it in "Oliver" with Fagan--he plays his favourites and manages to mistreat Oliver. And, in the end, he bumbles away his fortunes.

Mr. Weasley is of the same ilk--however, he is not cruel to his children. He is the bumbling father that we all love. He fiddles with his gadgets while his wife controls the household. Rowling almost writes him as an emasculated male. He has a job that works him to death and pays poorly.

I do not think Rowling is guilty of treating any of her characters badly--just in borrowing from a few literary stereotypes in order to complete her work.

:) Prof. Chutney

May I start by complimenting you on your wonderful lesson this month, Darlene. As with every month, I was surprised. It was really great.

Okay, so the boys/men in the books...

Harry Potter- It is really typical to see an orphaned hero in a book. An example is Oliver from Oliver Twist. They are alike, but not alike at the same time. Both orphans, both the heros in the story, and both have it bad.

Weasley family- Isn't it typical to have a family full of boys?

Fred and George- Gotta love them, but have you ever seen a pair of girl mischief makers?

Draco Malfoy- The evil in the story. Could you see dear Draco as a female? I think not. He's a character that sort of 'struts' around and is proud of being a pureblood, and of being male.

Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe- Both complete gorillas and dunderheads.

Neville Longbottom- This is where you can say that he is a rather unique character. He has all the qualities you usually see in a girl. Made fun of, not good at sports, timid, shy. This is what makes him such a good character to dissect.

Dumbledore- It's typical to see a guy headmaster, as Anya said. Though Madame Olympe is the head of Beauxbatons and seems the very type to do so.

Hagrid- Another orphan, but not in the same way as Harry. His mother, as said in the lesson, was a giant, and is discriminated against as such. His father was a feeble wizard but a nice guy.

Well, I might add more later, but this is all I can think of right now, as it's getting late...

Forever,

-~Ella

Okay, I'm starting with Voldemort. He's the main representation of evil in the books, very stereotypical for a male to be the evil one. As a student at Hogwarts Voldemort (aka Tom Riddle) is said to be very smart, maybe the smartest student ever to enter Hogwarts. However, it is seen that in the book, he is again and again defeated by Harry because of his discussions with Harry, and the need for a duel. Voldemort needs to prove to himself and to the world that Harry is not stronger than him, and that Harry is not actually capable of defeating him (very stereotypical of a male to want to prove himself especially, as in book 4, to his followers). Voldemort does not seem to learn from his mistakes. Even Voldemort's father is stereotypically conveyed, he abandoned his son, if JKR had used his mother as the one who abandoned him, she probably would have held on to her son, not wanting to give him up so easily. Moreover, his father is seen to have ran off after knowing his wife was a witch, possibly because he felt his domineering position in the family would be threatened by a witch.

At one point Voldemort is the ruler of the "bad" side, and Dumbedore the ruler of the "good." It is seen that positions of power are mainly taken by males. Even at Hogwarts Dumbledore, a male, is the headmaster. Even when McGonagall takes up the position of headmistress in book 2, she doesn't last, and the readers get the feeling that the school is not under control with her as head. Dumbledore returns and everything goes back to normal. (Am I allowed to talk about book 5? I keep finding so many references to it!)

Most of the ambitious characters in the books are represented as males. Basically, the most important Slytherins (-main representation of ambition, and evil actually) that readers are familiar with are male. The Slytherin Quidditch Team, Tom Riddle, Crabbe, Goyle and Draco. The Slytherin girls are only there to show how they follow the males. The girls are all over Draco, and they agree with everything Malfoy says. Any joke Malfoy makes is followed by the laughter of the girls. Other main ambitious characters such as Percy Weasley are also males.

Mostly, the smart characters are seen as males. James and Sirius, Tom Riddle... etc. However, Hermione is seen as smart, but not in situations when it is needed. Without Harry and Ron, her cleverness would be absolutely of no use.

Salazar Slytherin, surpringly, is not portrayed very stereotypically. Instead he is seen as the one who runs away, something you would more likely expect of a woman in the HP series. He's mysterious and keeps to himself.

Crabbe and Goyle are seen in a negative light. They are complete followers and are totally under Draco's command.

Draco Malfoy in a way has girlish characteristics. For example, you are more likely to see a girl caring about how rich a person is, what brand that other girls shoes are, and fussing about how someone could possibly buy second hand things. This isn't only seen in books, but also in RL most communities have some females like that in them. Draco Malfoy appears to be like this, making fun of Ron's attire, mocking non-purebloods... etc.

Mr. Dursley is an awful representation of men. Totally not caring about anyone but himself and his family, a show off, stuck up, too into his own ways, not being able to accept other opinions (very stereotypical of men).

Mr. Weasley, against popular stereotypes, is not really in charge of his family. Mainly that job is left to Mrs. Weasley. Unlike most fathers he isn't the one that scolds the children and that the children fear, it is their mother that they shirk.

Ron Weasley is seen as stupid many times, and fearful of different situations. Unlike most male characters, he is seen to be open about his fears, for example, many males would keep their fear of spiders, and most definitely the story behind it, to themselves.

There are other characters I could talk about, but I'll stop it here. Basically, I talked about male stereotypes in general, not only male negativity. It appears to me, female negativity appears much more in the books. In fact, most of the negative characteristics found in the males, are not stereotypical of them. The stereotypes appear more in the males' positive characterstics.

~Nagini~