Hermione Granger, you should be Ashamed of Yourself


When discussing the dearth of positive female role models, I often hear Hermione Granger cited as an example to look up to. True, she is a major character who is seen and respected as capable in her own rights. She also flies in the face of tradition by being able to battle, and not always just tagging along with the boys, but is clearly independent in both thought and action. I see these as all Good Things which I hope that young girls would aspire to.


But here's The Thing. I think that Hermione is the epitome of how women have moved from wanting to 'have it all' to 'having to do it all'.


Now, firstly, I have no problem with anyone who would like to have both a job and children. I find it very odd that the two appear to be mutually exclusive, if certain points of view are taken into account. I'm not a great historian, although I have quite an interest in history, and I am unaware of any society  when people stopped working in order to have children, or when no children were born because society was needing more cash to build up their economy. Every society has always managed to combine work and children, so women wanting that seems, to me, to be erm, normal. Laudable, even, rather than some kind of criticism.


But now it appears that modern women are expected not only to have a job, but also to provide the entire support system demanded of a 1950s housewife - a full time job in itself. And this is where my gripe with Granger begins. Who has all the information and knowledge gleaned from hours of research? Hermione. Who carries all the necessities of daily life in her chic-if-you're-a-teenager-but-really-a-mum-bag-in-disguise? Hermione. Who tends to the sick? Hermione. Campaigns for the downtrodden? Hermione. Takes care of people's feelings? Tidies up? Carries the fecking tent and makes the beds? Yep, you guessed it. Hermione.


Harry sits around in angst-ridden gloom, getting all the glory. Ron is a typical teenage boy, emotionally illiterate, and doing a runner when the going gets tough.


And Hermione does EVERYTHING ELSE. She is mother, girlfriend, best friend, nurse, housemaker etc etc. She does get some admiration for it, but how often do any characters say 'let me get that for you H'? or 'it's my turn, have a nap'? Never. She simply slips neatly into the role of provider-of-all with barely a flicker of an eyelash, and STILL she comes out fighting when needed.


So, Hermione, take your wand and wander off for some me time. Get selfish. Put a spell on those boys that makes them pick up their own socks or carry the books. Fill that bottomless pit of a purse with stuff that YOU would like  - movies and popcorn, make-up or books for light reading. Basically, take your wand waving, bag toting, all-knowing, loving, nursing, dancing, reading, bed-making, tent-providing, magic making, spell-binding, instant-healing, hair-flicking, problem-solving, eye-candy dress-wearing OFF our screens, and go and do something for yourself.

What I have against 'feminism'


I have always felt reluctant to label myself with the term 'feminist', and I had no idea why.


In the last few weeks, a few minor events, and my own thoughts, got me to an answer.


Feminism is not about attempting to promote one section of the population at the expense of the other. Nor is it about being 'militant', burning bras and having same-sex relationships just to 'make a point'. It can include some, all or none of those things, but they are symptoms of the cause, not the cause itself. Sadly, though, some people make assumptions the moment that they hear the f-word.


Feminism is about Civil Rights. Martin Luther King didn't campaign for 'blackism'. No such word exists. It is beyond insulting to define someone by part of their physical appearance. Yet, for some reason, not only do we believe it entirely appropriate to refer to this detail, but we define ourselves, and an entire Civil Rights movement by this. In addition, it is so acceptable to see 'feminism' as a fair target for criticism that there are newspapers dedicated to arguing against it. Can you even imagine a book called, 'The Black Racket' which wrote about racial equality being nothing more than some kind of 'con'? Yet an anti-feminism book along these lines does exist.


At the heart of 'feminism' is the very real truth that by default we refer to humans as 'he', and that women are seen as 'other'. In addition, we view women not only as other, but odd/different/inferior etc. So, when attempting to bring this to the attention of others, when pointing out that 'separate but equal' really isn't about equality, when refusing to fill in a form with Miss or Mrs, or not addressing an envelope to Mr and Mrs, we aren't trying to scream, 'look at me, I'm a woman, me, and I'm trying to be pushy and overbearing and subjugate men. I'm political correctness gone mad.' We're trying to live out our Civil Rights, to be seen as an equal part of the human race, to be accepted not just tolerated.


You don't need to see someone's skin color to engage with their ideas, or assess their working abilities, and you don't need to know my sex either. Unless you are my doctor or having sex with me, it really is none of your business. As such I will avoid giving people that information unless it is on a 'need to know' basis. It may well be staring you in the face, but online and on paper, I choose to remain neutral.


And instead of 'feminist', I claim to be a Civil Rights activist.

Why Oh Why?

Why have I bothered to set up a blog?


Well, apart from being so in love with the sound of my own voice, that I feel the need to also commit my thoughts to a screen, I had a moment of enlightenment.


It occurred to me that the main reason I hadn't started a blog was that I thought that other people would think (are you following this?) I was just being pretentious. After all, what do I have to say that is worth other people listening to? Half the time I can barely form a coherent sentence, let alone put together entire blogs. And the chances of my train of thought actually being train-like, rather than kangaroo bounds of dis-associated meanderings and mumblings?  Well, if you manage to keep up, you're doing better I than can.


So, then I realized that actually, sometimes I just have to get my thoughts 'out there'. If not, they tend to go round and round without giving me any kind of reprieve. So, this blog is my couch. I shall recline and hold forth on my own thoughts. They may not mean much to you, but it's worth it to me.