The Implications for Gender in Harry Potter Novels

Harry potter novels series by J.K Rowling is basically presenting the magic world which is similar to our reality in terms of good and evil and other similarities such as gender. Harry Potter is the main character in the book series. He discovered that he is a wizard, then he went to Hogwarts school for magic, he meets new friends, Ron Wesley and Hermione Granger. During Harry’s years in Hogwarts school, he encountered various problems and catastrophes but luckily he could face these problems with the help of his best friends. It is noticeable in the stories that there is a different between the male and female role. Therefore, this paper will emphasis that Hermione Granger was treated differently because she is a female.

The cultural discourses that are presented in our reality today and in the past took place in Harry Potter book series “ I believe that the Harry Potter novels present readers with the cultural discourses and story lines of our own times and of times past” (Cherland 275). The cultural discourses affect the way of treating or stereotyping both males and females, for example, in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban novel Harry and Ron were shocked when Hermione talked to Professor Trelawney in a bold way. They stereotyped Hermione as polite, it may be because they have an idea that girls should be polite even with people that bother them.

Harry and Ron stared at her with a mixture of amazement and admiration. They had never heard Hermione speak to a teacher like that before. Professor Trelawney chose not to reply. She lowered her huge eyes to Harry's cup again and continued to turn it. (116)

Another example, there is noticeable differentiation between males and females in terms of discourse in Harry Potter novels as Cherland stated “Rowling uses a certain discourse (a familiar pattern of language) to create gender as a set of two opposites categories and to support a common-sense view of how the two genders interact and relate to each other “(275). He added that males’ converses was logical more than females “ Rowling, for example, often uses a discourse of rationality to mark male characters as reasonable and a discourse of irrationality to mark female characters as foolish“ (275). These examples indicate the fact how girls in Western culture talk “these all draw on discourses and story lines that work to constitute girlhood in Western culture and that offer subject positions that girls can take up” (Cherland 278). The characteristics of Hermione’s character in the novels indicate the discrimination between males and females and how the writer tend to preference males “positioned against Hermione, Harry appears cool, calm, and capable of acting in- dependently. Comfortable with binaries and dualistic thinking ”(Cherland 278).

Moreover, the other male character Ron Wesley was preferred by the writer, though Hermione is smarter than him, ”Hermione is positioned in such a way that even Ron-oafish, clumsy Ron—can be seen as more logical”(Cordova 24).The writer tends to indicate that males are reasonable and females are not, as Cherland claimed:” together Hermione and Ron enact the binary of male/female and of rational/ irrational”(279). The smartest and knowledgeable character in the novels was Hermione Granger. She reads many books, active at class, and know numerous information as if she was a walking encyclopedia, but the writer underestimates this character “ She has been interpreted as capable, knowledgeable, and fairly self-assured, but it is not enough that Hermione acts alongside her fellow heroes in the series”(Cordova 19). Another example, “when Hermione exhibits the strong use of her knowledge-bearer role, the writing either quickly diminishes her power with unfortunate language descriptors or Hermione must suffer the consequences of her magical prowess, which several times involves her spells having unintended consequences” (Cordova 24). In addition, Rowling shows that Hermione is an obedient female according to Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban novel, when Harry thought that Ron warned Hermione not to send a message to him. It indicated the females as obedient:

Harry suspected that Ron had warned Hermione not to call, which was a pity, because Hermione, the cleverest witch in Harry's year, had Muggle parents, knew perfectly well how to use a telephone, and would probably have had enough sense not to say that she went to Hogwarts. (8-9) It may indicate the fact that females are stereotyped and they are judged by males, as Harry when he thought that Hermione is following what Ron is telling her because he is male.

It seems that J.K Rowling assure the role of motherhood in Hermione’s character as a female, as Cordova said: “ Rowling's inclusion of Hermione's suspicion that she is providing for them because of her gender paints a picture of Hermione as a reluctant caretaker (22). In Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban novel, Hermione seemed angry and worried about what Harry did with his aunt Marge as a mother who modulates her wrong child’s behavior:

Mr. Weasley, who worked at the Ministry of Magic, would of course have heard the whole story of what had happened to Aunt Marge.

'Did you really blow up your aunt, Harry?' said Hermione in a very serious voice.

'I didn't mean to,' said Harry, while Ron roared with laughter. 'I just – lost control.'

'It's not funny, Ron,' said Hermione sharply. 'Honestly, I'm amazed Harry wasn't expelled.' (63)

To conclude, Harry Potter stories magical world reflects the reality and its culture, such as the inequality and differentiation between males and females. The writer J.K Rowling is affected by that because is presenting it in her novels. The novels presented the cultural discourses between the characters. Especially, when the males characters like Harry and Ron are stereotyping Hermione and judge her based on her gender. Moreover, the writer was bias to males because even if Hermione was the smartest girl, the writer focused more about Hermione’s weaknesses and presented the male’s logical character. In addition to that, the writer emphasized the role of Hermione as a mother with Harry and Ron in different events in the novels.