Sexism: Defined by Harry Potter
Sexism:
Defined by Harry Potter Can a reader honestly expect a series of stories for children to be filled with sexism? Didn’t think so. Sexism, defined as “prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination, typically against women, on the basis of sex,” has found its way into one of today’s most popular series of books. Christine Schoefer, who is the mother of three die-hard female Harry Potter fans, has managed to depict and illustrate obvious gender bias occurring in these stories. Throughout her piece, “Harry Potter’s Girl Trouble,” the reader is reminded as to how the author of the series is obviously discriminating against women. Schoefer makes a convincing argument as to why “Harry’s fictional realm of magic and wizardry perfectly mirrors the conventional assumption that men do and should run the world” (par. 2).
Is it right to expose our children to this sort of world, where women are not viewed as equals? I hope that none would think so. Throughout the essay, Schoefer attacks author J.K Rowling, who wrote the Harry Potter series, with many examples that are often difficult to reject. Because the books are published, her evidence is up-to-date and completely verifiable.
Schoefer begins to prove her position early on where she uses specific examples. Hermoine, the female lead and supposedly the smartest student at Hogwart’s School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, is shown being just a smart goody-goody character whose only role in the story is to annoy the boys. She is only useful in parts of the story until the critical situations begin to happen. At this point, she is shown being the weakling in comparison to the boys in the face of adventure and danger (par. 3). Schoefer then explains that even though Hermoine becomes respected and loved, she remains a “constant source of irritation, becomes ill humored, and ultimately leads to her being oblivious to her surroundings” (par. 5). Schoefer makes it very clear as to why women would have a problem with this series
Defined by Harry Potter Can a reader honestly expect a series of stories for children to be filled with sexism? Didn’t think so. Sexism, defined as “prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination, typically against women, on the basis of sex,” has found its way into one of today’s most popular series of books. Christine Schoefer, who is the mother of three die-hard female Harry Potter fans, has managed to depict and illustrate obvious gender bias occurring in these stories. Throughout her piece, “Harry Potter’s Girl Trouble,” the reader is reminded as to how the author of the series is obviously discriminating against women. Schoefer makes a convincing argument as to why “Harry’s fictional realm of magic and wizardry perfectly mirrors the conventional assumption that men do and should run the world” (par. 2).
Is it right to expose our children to this sort of world, where women are not viewed as equals? I hope that none would think so. Throughout the essay, Schoefer attacks author J.K Rowling, who wrote the Harry Potter series, with many examples that are often difficult to reject. Because the books are published, her evidence is up-to-date and completely verifiable.
Schoefer begins to prove her position early on where she uses specific examples. Hermoine, the female lead and supposedly the smartest student at Hogwart’s School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, is shown being just a smart goody-goody character whose only role in the story is to annoy the boys. She is only useful in parts of the story until the critical situations begin to happen. At this point, she is shown being the weakling in comparison to the boys in the face of adventure and danger (par. 3). Schoefer then explains that even though Hermoine becomes respected and loved, she remains a “constant source of irritation, becomes ill humored, and ultimately leads to her being oblivious to her surroundings” (par. 5). Schoefer makes it very clear as to why women would have a problem with this series