Looking through the history books, one will find several instances of a barrier between the genders. In early civilization, men were the hunters and the women gathers. In ancient Greece, the men waged war while the women either waited at home or were carried off as prizes by other men of war. In the 1920s women fought for voting power and began the feminist movement, which still continues today.

Atleast two religions and a good part of the world population blame a woman for all of mankind’s suffering. It was Eve, the temptress, who ate from the Tree of Knowledge and pulled her husband along with her.

But the Bible was not the last and only book to present women as beings less than their male-counterparts. Inevitably what is part of our culture appears in our literature. In this lesson we will be looking at J.K. Rowling’s books from the first in the series to the fourth in attempt to see how sexism appears in the Harry Potter novels.

Lets first look at the fact that women in the magical world are referred to as “witches.” Rowling divides the genders, giving each its own distinct name. But the word “wizard” does not carry the same negative weight as the word “witch.” It was “witch trials” that were carried out in Salem. In literature, a wizard was an eccentric, yet wise, man who often wore a gray beard to the ground and carried a staff or walking stick. Names such as Merlin and Gandalf and other such benevolent figures epitomize the word “wizard.” On the other hand, witches were the villains of childhood fairytales. They ate children in “Hansel and Gretel” or poisoned a child in “Snow White.” Even Shakespeare cast them as ugly old women who spent their days boiling potions and stirring up trouble. Thus, we start off with a term for women which carries an old and negative connotation.

Looking at women physically, child-bearing is an important difference when comparing men and women. In Harry Potter, there are several examples in which bloodlines are spoiled by women. First we have our hero. It is his mother’s muggle blood that ties him down to the Dursleys and results in the decade of suffering and abuse. Voldemort finds his muggle blood on his father’s side, but remember that it through is mother’s blood that he finds his Salazaar Slytherin ancestry. A third example is seen in Hagrid who suffers prejudice within the magical community for the giant blood inherited from his mother. The fear and hate directed towards Hagrid results in shame and embarrassment. It is unusual how in all three cases, the woman is at fault.

But these women are all characters removed from the timeline in which the series occurs. Let us now look at the active women in the books. From Hermione to Ginny, McGonagall to Sprout, and Rita Skeeter to Molly Weasley, the women in Harry’s life are important to the twists and turns in the books.

In the first book Hermione arrives on the scene with an air of arrogance much to the annoyance of both Ron and the readers. She is a “by the books” girl with a “goody-two shoes” attitude. Though she is a key part in the fabulous trio, she is a mostly inactive character in a series of books using action as a driving force. While we admire Hermione for her brains and the fact that she avoids the “stupid girl” cliché, she remains the damsel in distress. The circumstances in which the group becomes friends revolves around a trapped Hermione and the boys who fly to her rescue. It could be accepted that while Hermione is not necessarily a character of action, that her brains should be appreciated as a helpful tool. However, she makes simple mistakes when her knowledge is most needed. “'So light a fire!' Harry choked. 'Yes - of course - but there's no wood!' Hermione cried, wringing her hand. 'HAVE YOU GONE MAD?' Ron bellowed. 'ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?'” (Stone, 299). Again in Chamber of Secrets, Hermione messes up on the Polyjuice Potion and is unable to accompany the boys on their adventure. Here we might use the “replacement theory” which would ask why not have Ron be the one to end up with the animal hair so that he might be left. Instead, it is Hermione, the girl and non-fighter that makes the vital mistake and thus becomes useless.

The “vital mistake” is a common observation made in favor of the sexism argument. This mistake theory stems from Eve’s mistake, the one that is the reason for the suffering of man. One of the most obvious mistakes is made by Ginny in Chamber of Secrets who puts her trust in a diary, which incidentally holds a memory of the boy who would be Voldemort. Once the mistake is made, Ginny becomes the typical damsel in distress to be saved by Harry and Ron (Hermione lies in hospital wing, helpless once again.) Ginny is a clichéd figure of weakness. In her first years at Hogwarts, Ginny is controlled by her girlish crush on Harry. She serves her purpose in Chamber of Secrets and is disposed of for the third and fourth book aside from a quick line here and there.

The female side of romance and “crushes” is full of tales of fainting and blushing at the mere presence of a desirable man. We find a chief example in Lockhart. At a book signing, throes of women flock to him including Mrs. Weasley, and surprisingly, Hermione Granger. The man fools even Hermione, for all her wits and intelligence, with nothing more than a good smile and vivid lies.

Several older women in the series fall into the stereotypical mother/woman role in regards to occupations and behavior. The head of medicine at Hogwarts is Madame Pompfrey whose approaches to health strongly resemble an overprotective mother rather than a trained nurse. Professor Sprout tends to her plants with the kind of care often associated with human beings. Molly Weasley is the typical stay at home mother devoted to the lives of her children and little is seen of any other life outside of cleaning and cooking. Despite this being and age of male-nurses and stay at home dads, these roles are still the work of women who are meant to spend their lives concerned for others. Apparently, it is believed that there is nothing manly about tending to a pot of daisies.

Professor McGonagall is the most respected of the older witches in the books. But even her job is secondary to Dumbledore, for she is only a Deputy Headmistress to his title of Headmaster. Her duties are mostly the organization and maintenance of rules at Hogwarts. She is like a mother figure in the way she imposes rules on the children she is in charge of. Unlike Dumbledore with his childish good nature, McGonagall is less charming as a character. Her strict adherence to the rules makes her a joke among the studenet body. "Professor McGonagall, with her hair in a tight bun, looked as though she had never let her hair down in any sense"(Goblet, 337). Dumbledore seems to deem him worthy of respect without all the evident work McGonagall does.

Another stereotype is particularly strong and that is the cliché of the woman gossip. Petunia is described as having long neck which was used "[to crane] over garden fences, spying on the neighbours" (Stone 7). And no character knew scandal and lies better than the infamous Rita Skeeter. There is no chance of having a RICK Skeeter. According to society, gossip and drama are the choices of women.

The main characters aside, there are also more subtle female representations that fall on the side of negative. Some are put there as part of the story, such as the lack of girls on Slytherin’s Quiddith team that supports the old aristocratic way of life that Slytherin families live. However, others add nothing to the story. For example, of the four house ghosts only one is female and the two most talked about, Nearly Headless Nick and the Bloody Baron, are both male. The fifth most important ghost is Moaning Myrtle, a depressed and miserable character who is overly self-absorbed. We should ask once again why this role was made a girl. Fleur comes off the worst several times during the Triwizard Tournament challenges. The very name of the games would imply that they were not meant for women, who are best known for inaction rather than action. It might have been better to have a woman as a villian simply for the fact that such a role would require something more than useless knowledge, gossip, or a motherly nature.

I would not openly come out and say that Rowling’s books are sexist. Rather, I find it unusual and a bit unsettling how often women are presented in a negative light.