Hello there. As many of Harry Potter fans surely know, there are many characters who have received a lot of illogical hate from some people, often poorly explained, since in general, the haters are unable to express their own opinion and lack fantasy, so the arguments are basically the same, especially for females. Let’s talk about Ginny for example, obviously my rant below concerns this character in particular.
Of course, when a part of fandom (of course, I’m not generalizing, that’s why I said SOME and A PART delibarately) starts to bash feminine characters (more generally – mainstream behaves the same way towards famous or not so famous women, doesn’t matter which one), one of the most “necessary” thing to do for them is to insult their looks, then attack their sexuality, and finally – stick a label, trope or stereotype. Now I’ll try my best to deconstruct these tendencies and show that such behavior is a direct result of double standards and sheer hypocrisy sadly common in our society. So, here we go.
Stupid argument 1 – she’s a slut
OK, so just because Ginny dated Dean Thomas and Michael Corner, this fact only makes her a leg-spreader “slag”. I’m not sure whether those who rattle out such low idiocy have actually read the books.
First of all, It was HERMIONE GRANGER in HALF-BLOOD PRINCE who advised her to stop waiting for Harry and go to MICHAEL CORNER, hoping that both her friend and Harry would clarify their feelings for each other in time. Well, I guess if we follow the pattern of our haters, Hermione is a “slut” as well, for giving her close friend this kind of advice. Lovely logic…
Second, I thought we lived in a world which stopped shaming women for their sexuality; unfortunately it’s not the case. Women are still expected to be either “pure, sweet, virginal” good girls, or “horny, slutty, whoring” bad girls. If we don’t dress sexily we’re “prudes”; on the other hand, if we’re clothed in short skirts and cleavage dresses, we look like “harlots” and we’re “asking for being raped”. In romantic matters, if we don’t have a boyfriend, we’re just prim and proper virgins; if we have more than two --- the horror!!!! We’re less than prostitutes! We’re expected to fit into pornographic images, do what “brings money”, follow fashion without any criticism, believe everything glossy magazines tell us, and right after, we’re scolded for it! Sexualization => public shaming. We create frustrated Bella Swans from Twilight, Anna Steeles from 50 shades of Grey ourselves and then spit incredible hatred in their faces! We assert that sex is something intimate and sacred, homosexuality is acceptable, yet we either condemn or perverse them; we use the word “gay” as offensive slur. We put pressure on men that they must be insensitive “bad boy” macho domineering machines, then wonder why Edward Cullens, Christian Greys, Voldemorts, Draco Malfoys are born. What’s next, I wonder? Insulting Dumbledore because of his homosexuality? Start glorifying Death Eaters’ actions or what? But let’s continue speaking about Ginny.
Since we live in messed up “values”, that’s why hypocrites screech every time a girl goes against above-mentioned labels. Had Ginny not been in love with Harry, involved with Dean or Michael, fought in Dumbledore’s Army, she would still be hated (Cho Chang anyone?). Poor 11 year old shy, adorable girl is thrashed for “fangirling” over Harry in the beginning, and then when she becomes a beautiful young woman, loved and admired by many male students, the same hypocrites scream obscenities at her!
I can’t remember a single moment someone criticizing, say, Sirius Black so harshly. Typical tall, dark, handsome guy, whom nearly all female students fawned over. I’m sure he would’ve move through the girls just like Ginny moved through the boys quite quickly. The same dashing cool guy was a total jerk towards Severus Snape, just saying. Yet he’s blindly revered!
This is not to say that Ginny’s treatment of Dean or Michael was perfect. Nor I excuse her offensive attitude for Fleur, far from it, or course! I’m just pointing out that she’s hated for her sexuality, just because she’s got a vagina. It’s totally okay for Harry to get over Cho, but not for her!
Stupid argument 2 – she’s ugly
All right, here I can’t really say anything. This “reason” is so dumb and disgusting, it’s not even funny. Perhaps just because she has freckled skin and red hair. Oh well, I guess all females must look like tall, curvy, dark-haired, strikingly handsome Bellatrix; slim, fair, golden-haired Narcissa or comely brunette Andromeda to be considered beautiful. Nothing but classic sexism, non-existent “ideals” of beauty forced upon many young girls; moreover, it’s a rude innuendo aimed at Bonnie Wright, a wonderful actress who does her job in an awesome manner. Or maybe “it’s not what they meant” according to haters, doesn’t matter. We still have blatant and clear sign of sexism here, what’s even worse --- sexism spread by women. It hurts me to see how the number of women treating their own gender in such a disdain has increased. And some snooty, know-it-all folks argue that we don’t need feminism anymore?! WTF!
Stupid argument 3 – she’s a Mary Sue
Just beyond my understanding – how the Hell is Ginny Weasley a Mary Sue or Joanne’s self-insert? What’s the proof of this? Joanne is blonde, Ginny is redhead; Ginny is athletic, Joanne does not seem to be; Ginny is a witch, Joanne is not interested in occult stuff. Where on Earth are Mary Sue elements?
Fine, it can be argued whether her character development has happened “too quickly” but one thing is certain : Mary Sues don’t have any flaws, and Ginny HAS. Mary Sues are depicted to handle everything perfectly; Ginny does NOT show this characteristic – she’s good at hexes, charms, Quidditch and duelling, but not in potions, non-verbal magic or Parseltongue unlike Harry. She’s not as academic as Hermione either.
In conclusion, perhaps those who accuse her for “being perfect” don’t even know what the words Mary Sue or Gary Stu mean. Some people throw such tropes without even being able to explain why they think a particular character embodies these stereotypes. And if Ginny “grew up too fast” then so did Harry! Everybody can claim : “Oh, he’s just a dumb unrealistic Gary Stu” despite the fact that we’re SHOWN his growth and character development.
Many acclaimed authors find very difficult to create books with NO loophole or very slight inconsistency. And this is understandable because of a clear reason : when the author focuses on a hero’s or heroine’s personal journey, he/she simply has no time to describe EVERY SINGLE character in detail. It’s only possible in annotated guides.
Therefore, in this case, JK would’ve lose her own time, had she been sitting for years explaining, say, Mcgonagall’s, Hermione’s, Hogwarts founders’, Weasleys’, Hagrid’s, etc etc etc biographies. Elementary – it’s HARRY’S story that Joanne tells. What’s more, we have many, many guidebooks now, containing much more information (by JK herself or other authors) than one could find in canon books.
Overall, there are other issues and problems Harry Potter books deal with. They’re NOT discussing how many boys a girl should be with. They speak about prejudice, racism, corruption, violence, facing difficulties, overcoming the pain of being rejected by society, sacrifice, friendship, loyalty, compassion, mercy and many other things.
Dear haters, if you think that Bellatrix’s loveless sex within “proper” marriage to Rodolphus just because of money (which basically equates with prostituting oneself in patriarchal world), bullb**ch Marge’s rant about children needing “a good thrash” and Arthur Weasley beating his own child (one of the biggest endemic problems many people deny), horrific abuse of house elves and scorn werewolves are treated with, domestic abuse Eileen Prince lived, how Lucius Malfoy harassed his son, how shamelessly Rita Skeeter lied, the shitty way Tom Riddle, both her father and brother treated Merope Gaunt, rotten Cornelius Fadge’s and his lackeys’ propaganda, Harry’s humiliation, school bullying, Hermione disfiguring Marietta Edgecombe, Umbridge’s racism, torture, pure blood mania, death penalty (plus, very gruesome one – by Dementor!) are less problematic than Ginny having more than two boyfriends; if you believe that we, Muggles don’t have similar troubles and instead we should fumble our hands in women’s private areas and worry whether their hymens are intact or not, congratulations! You’ve won the prize “THE MOST DUMBASS AND SELF-RIGHTEOUS PERSON” ever created to pollute our Earth.
In all seriousness, please get a life. You don’t even realize that you’re just parroting the hypocritical “values” your precious mommies and daddies forced down your throats. You painfully lack originality, you simply mimick and swallow every bull…. mainstream brainwashes you with. You’re so lame Ginny wouldn’t even pay the attention to your worthless, spiteful gossip. She’s too awesome for that; you know damn well it’s true and you’re just jealous, because you fail at everything. And you also know that everything I wrote is true, truth always hurts in the butts.
Pheeew, what a relief to put something out of chest. Hope my readers will know that this was aimed towards HATERS only. Of course, as I said, not all Harry Potter fans are like that. :)
Of course, when a part of fandom (of course, I’m not generalizing, that’s why I said SOME and A PART delibarately) starts to bash feminine characters (more generally – mainstream behaves the same way towards famous or not so famous women, doesn’t matter which one), one of the most “necessary” thing to do for them is to insult their looks, then attack their sexuality, and finally – stick a label, trope or stereotype. Now I’ll try my best to deconstruct these tendencies and show that such behavior is a direct result of double standards and sheer hypocrisy sadly common in our society. So, here we go.
Stupid argument 1 – she’s a slut
OK, so just because Ginny dated Dean Thomas and Michael Corner, this fact only makes her a leg-spreader “slag”. I’m not sure whether those who rattle out such low idiocy have actually read the books.
First of all, It was HERMIONE GRANGER in HALF-BLOOD PRINCE who advised her to stop waiting for Harry and go to MICHAEL CORNER, hoping that both her friend and Harry would clarify their feelings for each other in time. Well, I guess if we follow the pattern of our haters, Hermione is a “slut” as well, for giving her close friend this kind of advice. Lovely logic…
Second, I thought we lived in a world which stopped shaming women for their sexuality; unfortunately it’s not the case. Women are still expected to be either “pure, sweet, virginal” good girls, or “horny, slutty, whoring” bad girls. If we don’t dress sexily we’re “prudes”; on the other hand, if we’re clothed in short skirts and cleavage dresses, we look like “harlots” and we’re “asking for being raped”. In romantic matters, if we don’t have a boyfriend, we’re just prim and proper virgins; if we have more than two --- the horror!!!! We’re less than prostitutes! We’re expected to fit into pornographic images, do what “brings money”, follow fashion without any criticism, believe everything glossy magazines tell us, and right after, we’re scolded for it! Sexualization => public shaming. We create frustrated Bella Swans from Twilight, Anna Steeles from 50 shades of Grey ourselves and then spit incredible hatred in their faces! We assert that sex is something intimate and sacred, homosexuality is acceptable, yet we either condemn or perverse them; we use the word “gay” as offensive slur. We put pressure on men that they must be insensitive “bad boy” macho domineering machines, then wonder why Edward Cullens, Christian Greys, Voldemorts, Draco Malfoys are born. What’s next, I wonder? Insulting Dumbledore because of his homosexuality? Start glorifying Death Eaters’ actions or what? But let’s continue speaking about Ginny.
Since we live in messed up “values”, that’s why hypocrites screech every time a girl goes against above-mentioned labels. Had Ginny not been in love with Harry, involved with Dean or Michael, fought in Dumbledore’s Army, she would still be hated (Cho Chang anyone?). Poor 11 year old shy, adorable girl is thrashed for “fangirling” over Harry in the beginning, and then when she becomes a beautiful young woman, loved and admired by many male students, the same hypocrites scream obscenities at her!
I can’t remember a single moment someone criticizing, say, Sirius Black so harshly. Typical tall, dark, handsome guy, whom nearly all female students fawned over. I’m sure he would’ve move through the girls just like Ginny moved through the boys quite quickly. The same dashing cool guy was a total jerk towards Severus Snape, just saying. Yet he’s blindly revered!
This is not to say that Ginny’s treatment of Dean or Michael was perfect. Nor I excuse her offensive attitude for Fleur, far from it, or course! I’m just pointing out that she’s hated for her sexuality, just because she’s got a vagina. It’s totally okay for Harry to get over Cho, but not for her!
Stupid argument 2 – she’s ugly
All right, here I can’t really say anything. This “reason” is so dumb and disgusting, it’s not even funny. Perhaps just because she has freckled skin and red hair. Oh well, I guess all females must look like tall, curvy, dark-haired, strikingly handsome Bellatrix; slim, fair, golden-haired Narcissa or comely brunette Andromeda to be considered beautiful. Nothing but classic sexism, non-existent “ideals” of beauty forced upon many young girls; moreover, it’s a rude innuendo aimed at Bonnie Wright, a wonderful actress who does her job in an awesome manner. Or maybe “it’s not what they meant” according to haters, doesn’t matter. We still have blatant and clear sign of sexism here, what’s even worse --- sexism spread by women. It hurts me to see how the number of women treating their own gender in such a disdain has increased. And some snooty, know-it-all folks argue that we don’t need feminism anymore?! WTF!
Stupid argument 3 – she’s a Mary Sue
Just beyond my understanding – how the Hell is Ginny Weasley a Mary Sue or Joanne’s self-insert? What’s the proof of this? Joanne is blonde, Ginny is redhead; Ginny is athletic, Joanne does not seem to be; Ginny is a witch, Joanne is not interested in occult stuff. Where on Earth are Mary Sue elements?
Fine, it can be argued whether her character development has happened “too quickly” but one thing is certain : Mary Sues don’t have any flaws, and Ginny HAS. Mary Sues are depicted to handle everything perfectly; Ginny does NOT show this characteristic – she’s good at hexes, charms, Quidditch and duelling, but not in potions, non-verbal magic or Parseltongue unlike Harry. She’s not as academic as Hermione either.
In conclusion, perhaps those who accuse her for “being perfect” don’t even know what the words Mary Sue or Gary Stu mean. Some people throw such tropes without even being able to explain why they think a particular character embodies these stereotypes. And if Ginny “grew up too fast” then so did Harry! Everybody can claim : “Oh, he’s just a dumb unrealistic Gary Stu” despite the fact that we’re SHOWN his growth and character development.
Many acclaimed authors find very difficult to create books with NO loophole or very slight inconsistency. And this is understandable because of a clear reason : when the author focuses on a hero’s or heroine’s personal journey, he/she simply has no time to describe EVERY SINGLE character in detail. It’s only possible in annotated guides.
Therefore, in this case, JK would’ve lose her own time, had she been sitting for years explaining, say, Mcgonagall’s, Hermione’s, Hogwarts founders’, Weasleys’, Hagrid’s, etc etc etc biographies. Elementary – it’s HARRY’S story that Joanne tells. What’s more, we have many, many guidebooks now, containing much more information (by JK herself or other authors) than one could find in canon books.
Overall, there are other issues and problems Harry Potter books deal with. They’re NOT discussing how many boys a girl should be with. They speak about prejudice, racism, corruption, violence, facing difficulties, overcoming the pain of being rejected by society, sacrifice, friendship, loyalty, compassion, mercy and many other things.
Dear haters, if you think that Bellatrix’s loveless sex within “proper” marriage to Rodolphus just because of money (which basically equates with prostituting oneself in patriarchal world), bullb**ch Marge’s rant about children needing “a good thrash” and Arthur Weasley beating his own child (one of the biggest endemic problems many people deny), horrific abuse of house elves and scorn werewolves are treated with, domestic abuse Eileen Prince lived, how Lucius Malfoy harassed his son, how shamelessly Rita Skeeter lied, the shitty way Tom Riddle, both her father and brother treated Merope Gaunt, rotten Cornelius Fadge’s and his lackeys’ propaganda, Harry’s humiliation, school bullying, Hermione disfiguring Marietta Edgecombe, Umbridge’s racism, torture, pure blood mania, death penalty (plus, very gruesome one – by Dementor!) are less problematic than Ginny having more than two boyfriends; if you believe that we, Muggles don’t have similar troubles and instead we should fumble our hands in women’s private areas and worry whether their hymens are intact or not, congratulations! You’ve won the prize “THE MOST DUMBASS AND SELF-RIGHTEOUS PERSON” ever created to pollute our Earth.
In all seriousness, please get a life. You don’t even realize that you’re just parroting the hypocritical “values” your precious mommies and daddies forced down your throats. You painfully lack originality, you simply mimick and swallow every bull…. mainstream brainwashes you with. You’re so lame Ginny wouldn’t even pay the attention to your worthless, spiteful gossip. She’s too awesome for that; you know damn well it’s true and you’re just jealous, because you fail at everything. And you also know that everything I wrote is true, truth always hurts in the butts.
Pheeew, what a relief to put something out of chest. Hope my readers will know that this was aimed towards HATERS only. Of course, as I said, not all Harry Potter fans are like that. :)
Wax Seal
Bellatrix Lestrange
