Mugglenet.com's Harry Potter Should Have Died - Emerson Spartz [41]
Ginny Weasley’s role is the most stereotyped of all. Not only is she the perfect fairy-tale princess in love with the hero, but she has to have special protection in Deathly Hallows. She is locked up safely at home, and then at Hogwarts in the Room of Requirement where Harry tells her to “keep out of the way, keep safe” [DH, p. 627]. And this is the girl who is supposed to be so bold and outspoken, the queen of the Bat-Bogey Hex? Harry later releases her from the Room of Requirement and she is glad to join the fight, but in the end, her mother has to save her. It’s great that Molly actually fights a duel with Bellatrix Lestrange, and she is one of the few women to get some satisfaction in battle, but why is it that Ginny is treated like a fragile doll who suddenly can’t stand up for herself? Why doesn’t she get to be heroic just like Neville or Ron? Simple—this is the sexist world of Harry Potter, and she’s a girl.
No!
No way—magic makes everyone equal and gives women their own special power. Girls get exactly the same education at Hogwarts, have the same opportunities to fly around and play Quidditch, and are offered the same career goals after leaving school. No matter what happens to Nymphadora Tonks later in life, the fact remains that she studied for years to be an Auror, and in OotP, she is the equal of Moody and Shacklebolt. Minerva McGonagall is a teacher at Hogwarts, head of Gryffindor house, a tough Deputy Headmistress, and then takes over as head of the school after Dumbledore dies, so she is one of the most successful women in the books. Umbridge isn’t the only woman who works her way up in government—what about Mafalda Hopkirk, Griselda Marchbanks, and Amelia Bones? Hogwarts does not have a male doctor, but a Nurse-Healer: Madam Pomfrey. The wizarding world does not discriminate against women in any way.
The girls who are Harry’s age never take a back seat to him, and they are certainly not stereotypes. Luna isn’t just a whacko—she speaks the truth in HBP even when it makes Harry uncomfortable. Cho Chang talks a lot about her late boyfriend Cedric’s death in OotP, which might not be romantic, but it is probably good for Harry to discuss since he watches Cedric die and then has nightmares about it. Hermione is the fast thinker who can solve a logic riddle, Apparate them all out of danger, and still have time for some heavy reading before bedtime. How can anyone call her a stereotype when she does so many surprising and innovative things? Hermione saves Harry’s life dozens of times! And finally, there is the vivacious and wonderful Ginny Weasley—no one would accuse her of having less power than Harry or her brothers. When Harry leaves her behind to go fight, it’s not to protect her because she’s a girl—it’s to protect her because he’s in love with her and can’t bear to see her get hurt.
If the girls and women are emotional, well, so are the boys and men. Harry is often upset and lovesick, too, and everyone in the books likes to shout and fuss sometimes. The women are just passionate about the people they love, so what’s wrong with that? How is Hermione obsessing about Ron any different than Harry being in love with Ginny and watching her dot move around on the Marauder’s Map when he’s camping out in DH? It’s true that Tonks is sometimes depressed, but so is Sirius Black in OotP when he sulks in his room, which Harry also does at Grimmauld Place. Funny thing is, it’s the girls, Hermione and Ginny, who convince Harry to cheer up and stop being so depressed. And remember—Tonks keeps working as an Auror and Member of the Order the whole time she is having problems, and in DH she defies the Dark Lord in a major way by marrying a werewolf. She rocks!
Mrs. Weasley runs a huge household with more children than any other family in the books and still works for Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix. She is a blood traitor and her whole family is always in mortal danger. She doesn’t let