I said to Luke when I read that, “You know, Luke, it hasn’t happened yet in the story, but I’d already planned out, before I read your post, that when I want to have Harry screw up a conversation with Hermione as badly as possible, I’m going to have him start talking about evolutionary psychology. You literally did that in the way I’d imagined as the worst way possible.” (Though the actual chapter didn’t come out quite that way when I wrote it—there isn’t anything about evolutionary psychology until the very end.)
So I thought of this as a stereotypically male-stupid thing to do, and independently Luke, who happens to be male, went and did it. Can you name a woman who’s done the same?
I didn’t read Harry’s statements as stereotypically male-child-stupid or even stereotypically male-stupid, but stereotypically hyperintellectualist-male-stupid—as in specifically similar to behavior like Luke’s, not that of any non-Internet non-rationalist man I’ve actually met. A male child of ordinary intellectual background, no matter how stupid, could not have made the specific mistakes Harry made here, because he drew his deemed-inappropriate ideas from “enlightened” papers.
A good example of stereotypically male-child-stupid is Ron’s lines you quote here (and many of Ron’s actions in general). These are stupid comments Ron was able to make in spite of not having read any papers.
Hermione’s reactions are stereotypically female-child-stupid. She reacted the way she did precisely because of not reading these particular enlightened papers. This is the exact opposite of Harry’s stupidity! I think I understand why you wrote the scene with these results—Harry has read lots of rationalist papers you think more people should read, while Hermione in spite of her intelligence does not have the exact same background. However, because Hermione’s actions fit with “stupid female child”—not alleviated by her intelligence—and Harry’s with “stupid-though-very-intelligent male adult” (Harry’s reading on these specific psychological ideas is very incongruent with that of even most well-educated 11-year-old boys), we get subtext like Alicorn points out about female infantilism and so on.
As for some anecdata, last month when I was explaining to a progressing-to-ex-boyfriend that he did not meet my paramour standards, he said I should consider lowering my standards, and I said he was proof that strategy could not possibly work for me.
...do note that Hermione at one point reacts in a genre-savvy fashion by saying that it’s fine for Harry to have a dark side.
Please keep in mind that a lot of this apparent problem is generated by the unalterable fact that Harry, who has Stuff Going On and has been through hell as the title character and has to grow fast enough to be competitive with people like Dumbledore and Professor Quirrell (all genders chosen by Rowling) happens to be male, whereas Hermione, who like many other characters is going to have difficulty competing with Harry at this point in the story, happens to be female. I mean, suppose Rowling had made her professionally paranoid Auror a woman. It’s not unthinkable that someone might complain about how Harry, a male, managed to land a stun on Madam Moody. Symmetrically, if Draco had discovered Harry doing science with Hermione some chapters earlier, he wouldn’t have had the same reaction but he would’ve had an equally difficult reaction for Harry to deal with, and yes I would’ve figured out some way to make the adultery joke there too.
The main lesson I’m learning is that there are potential Problems when you arrange the plot so that you have the main character interacting with two different tiers of powered characters (Harry-Draco-Hermione and Harry-Dumbledore-Quirrell) and you haven’t arranged the plot to have the main character’s companions go through everything the main character does… but that problem is far too late to correct now.
P.S: In retrospect there’s exactly one important canon character in this story whose gender I could freely choose, and I did happen to make her female, but that’s not going to be apparent until later.
P.S: In retrospect there’s exactly one important canon character in this story whose gender I could freely choose, and I did happen to make her female, but that’s not going to be apparent until later.
Clearly, this line is the only important part of this comment. Let the games begin!
(Tonks would be the obvious guess, since there’s long been speculation about gender-bending metamorphamagi. But she’s presented as female in canon, and Eliezer would probably object to the notion that the mere ability to change body shape would count as changing sex.)
Hmm, he didn’t say “she’s not going to appear until later”, he said “that’s not going to be apparent until later”. This suggests that the character has already appeared, doesn’t it?
(I might have guessed that the androgynous Voldemort could have been a female character in this fic, but I believe Eliezer has already flat-out stated that he’s sticking to Quirrell = Voldemort.)
Hmm, he didn’t say “she’s not going to appear until later”, he said “that’s not going to be apparent until later”. This suggests that the character has already appeared, doesn’t it?
I’m going with Penelope Clearwater. The competent, sober, older-Ravenclaw-prefect role could have been just about anyone (thus fulfilling the “important character who’s gender I could choose” requirement), but Penelope was chosen (thus the “make her female” requirement). She hasn’t done anything outstanding yet, thus the “apparent until later”.
I’ve had strong suspicions for a while that both Penelope and Goyle will have awesome roles to play in the future.
Eliezer would probably object to the notion that the mere ability to change body shape would count as changing sex
I have no idea what Eliezer would think on the subject.
My feeling is that if a metamorphamagus is changing the body, then this means changing the hormones—they’re a member of the sex they appear to be in every way with the possible exception of childhood memories. (I don’t remember at what age the ability to metamorphize kicks in.)
I could argue that that they’re “really” a gender we don’t have a word for.
My feeling is that if a metamorphamagus is changing the body, then this means changing the hormones—they’re a member of the sex they appear to be in every way with the possible exception of childhood memories. (I don’t remember at what age the ability to metamorphize kicks in.)
Well, that depends on how said hormones are affecting brain development during childhood and in the womb—and I don’t recall hearing tales of transsexuals taking such hormones having, say, their sexual orientation affected. (I haven’t researched this.)
On the other hand, there’s mention in canon of a baby changing their hair color, which would indicate that it doesn’t “kick in” at a specific point in time. I’m not sure what this means for the gender-changing-Tonks hypothesis; is there any research into children with irregular levels of sex hormones, or who started taking hormones in childhood?
I could argue that that they’re “really” a gender we don’t have a word for.
Androgynous? Hermaphrodite? Genderqueer? Those are words, and while their meanings are … fluid … they could all probably be applied to such an individual.
Ultimately, we can never be entirely certain one way or the other without Word of God; magic can cover a multitude of sins. Unless his opinions have changed since he wrote that article, however, I’m guessing the most she could achieve would be an inferior “penis-shaped vagina”, perhaps with looks based on a specific individual for realism. If her powers actually bother dealing with hormone levels and such, it’s presumably dealt with automatically, so it could simply refuse to mess with sex hormones beyond certain limits. She carried a baby to term in canon, and there was certainly no mention of having to avoid certain transformations. Not that there would be, necessarily.
Hat & Cloak turning out to be McGonagall would be the most mind-bending and awesome plot twist ever. Unfortunately Hat & Cloak isn’t a canon character (right? I didn’t read the books), so this wouldn’t fit EY’s hint.
I didn’t read Harry’s statements as stereotypically male-child-stupid or even stereotypically male-stupid, but stereotypically hyperintellectualist-male-stupid—as in specifically similar to behavior like Luke’s, not that of any non-Internet non-rationalist man I’ve actually met.
If I had to imagine a male doing that with a straight face in Real Life, it would likely be a right-wing dick talking through his ass who likes evolutionary psychology because it supports his position rather than because he actually has a good understanding of it (Exhibit A). OTOH, I can imagine hyperintellectualist males doing that tongue-in-cheek, and occasionally the joke would fall flat unless his interlocutor was hyperintellectualist herself.
I said to Luke when I read that, “You know, Luke, it hasn’t happened yet in the story, but I’d already planned out, before I read your post, that when I want to have Harry screw up a conversation with Hermione as badly as possible, I’m going to have him start talking about evolutionary psychology. You literally did that in the way I’d imagined as the worst way possible.” (Though the actual chapter didn’t come out quite that way when I wrote it—there isn’t anything about evolutionary psychology until the very end.)
So I thought of this as a stereotypically male-stupid thing to do, and independently Luke, who happens to be male, went and did it. Can you name a woman who’s done the same?
I didn’t read Harry’s statements as stereotypically male-child-stupid or even stereotypically male-stupid, but stereotypically hyperintellectualist-male-stupid—as in specifically similar to behavior like Luke’s, not that of any non-Internet non-rationalist man I’ve actually met. A male child of ordinary intellectual background, no matter how stupid, could not have made the specific mistakes Harry made here, because he drew his deemed-inappropriate ideas from “enlightened” papers.
A good example of stereotypically male-child-stupid is Ron’s lines you quote here (and many of Ron’s actions in general). These are stupid comments Ron was able to make in spite of not having read any papers.
Hermione’s reactions are stereotypically female-child-stupid. She reacted the way she did precisely because of not reading these particular enlightened papers. This is the exact opposite of Harry’s stupidity! I think I understand why you wrote the scene with these results—Harry has read lots of rationalist papers you think more people should read, while Hermione in spite of her intelligence does not have the exact same background. However, because Hermione’s actions fit with “stupid female child”—not alleviated by her intelligence—and Harry’s with “stupid-though-very-intelligent male adult” (Harry’s reading on these specific psychological ideas is very incongruent with that of even most well-educated 11-year-old boys), we get subtext like Alicorn points out about female infantilism and so on.
As for some anecdata, last month when I was explaining to a progressing-to-ex-boyfriend that he did not meet my paramour standards, he said I should consider lowering my standards, and I said he was proof that strategy could not possibly work for me.
...do note that Hermione at one point reacts in a genre-savvy fashion by saying that it’s fine for Harry to have a dark side.
Please keep in mind that a lot of this apparent problem is generated by the unalterable fact that Harry, who has Stuff Going On and has been through hell as the title character and has to grow fast enough to be competitive with people like Dumbledore and Professor Quirrell (all genders chosen by Rowling) happens to be male, whereas Hermione, who like many other characters is going to have difficulty competing with Harry at this point in the story, happens to be female. I mean, suppose Rowling had made her professionally paranoid Auror a woman. It’s not unthinkable that someone might complain about how Harry, a male, managed to land a stun on Madam Moody. Symmetrically, if Draco had discovered Harry doing science with Hermione some chapters earlier, he wouldn’t have had the same reaction but he would’ve had an equally difficult reaction for Harry to deal with, and yes I would’ve figured out some way to make the adultery joke there too.
The main lesson I’m learning is that there are potential Problems when you arrange the plot so that you have the main character interacting with two different tiers of powered characters (Harry-Draco-Hermione and Harry-Dumbledore-Quirrell) and you haven’t arranged the plot to have the main character’s companions go through everything the main character does… but that problem is far too late to correct now.
P.S: In retrospect there’s exactly one important canon character in this story whose gender I could freely choose, and I did happen to make her female, but that’s not going to be apparent until later.
Clearly, this line is the only important part of this comment. Let the games begin!
(Tonks would be the obvious guess, since there’s long been speculation about gender-bending metamorphamagi. But she’s presented as female in canon, and Eliezer would probably object to the notion that the mere ability to change body shape would count as changing sex.)
Hmm, he didn’t say “she’s not going to appear until later”, he said “that’s not going to be apparent until later”. This suggests that the character has already appeared, doesn’t it?
(I might have guessed that the androgynous Voldemort could have been a female character in this fic, but I believe Eliezer has already flat-out stated that he’s sticking to Quirrell = Voldemort.)
Ooh, well caught.
Hmm, Tonks has already appeared...
I’m going with Penelope Clearwater. The competent, sober, older-Ravenclaw-prefect role could have been just about anyone (thus fulfilling the “important character who’s gender I could choose” requirement), but Penelope was chosen (thus the “make her female” requirement). She hasn’t done anything outstanding yet, thus the “apparent until later”.
I’ve had strong suspicions for a while that both Penelope and Goyle will have awesome roles to play in the future.
Isn’t Penelope the only older Ravenclaw we’re shown in canon?
Is that why you chose her specifically to be voiced by Zoe Chace?
Hm… not consciously. I just felt like she’d be a good match, and wouldn’t take too much time.
I have no idea what Eliezer would think on the subject.
My feeling is that if a metamorphamagus is changing the body, then this means changing the hormones—they’re a member of the sex they appear to be in every way with the possible exception of childhood memories. (I don’t remember at what age the ability to metamorphize kicks in.)
I could argue that that they’re “really” a gender we don’t have a word for.
Allow me to enlighten you.
Well, that depends on how said hormones are affecting brain development during childhood and in the womb—and I don’t recall hearing tales of transsexuals taking such hormones having, say, their sexual orientation affected. (I haven’t researched this.)
On the other hand, there’s mention in canon of a baby changing their hair color, which would indicate that it doesn’t “kick in” at a specific point in time. I’m not sure what this means for the gender-changing-Tonks hypothesis; is there any research into children with irregular levels of sex hormones, or who started taking hormones in childhood?
Androgynous? Hermaphrodite? Genderqueer? Those are words, and while their meanings are … fluid … they could all probably be applied to such an individual.
Ultimately, we can never be entirely certain one way or the other without Word of God; magic can cover a multitude of sins. Unless his opinions have changed since he wrote that article, however, I’m guessing the most she could achieve would be an inferior “penis-shaped vagina”, perhaps with looks based on a specific individual for realism. If her powers actually bother dealing with hormone levels and such, it’s presumably dealt with automatically, so it could simply refuse to mess with sex hormones beyond certain limits. She carried a baby to term in canon, and there was certainly no mention of having to avoid certain transformations. Not that there would be, necessarily.
Ooh, a guessing game. I’ll go with… the Giant Squid.
No, it’s clearly Mrs. Barbara Dementor.
Fawkes
Mrs. Hat-and-Cloak
Hat & Cloak turning out to be McGonagall would be the most mind-bending and awesome plot twist ever. Unfortunately Hat & Cloak isn’t a canon character (right? I didn’t read the books), so this wouldn’t fit EY’s hint.
Fawkes is male in HPMOR.
e: unless the “that’s not going to be apparent until later” means that he will be revealed to have actually been female all along later on.
I would guess that phoenixes are hermaphroditic. Or maybe they’re spontaneously generated?
True conflict strengthens narrative. But then, you’re not really complaining about creating problems for your characters.
If I had to imagine a male doing that with a straight face in Real Life, it would likely be a right-wing dick talking through his ass who likes evolutionary psychology because it supports his position rather than because he actually has a good understanding of it (Exhibit A). OTOH, I can imagine hyperintellectualist males doing that tongue-in-cheek, and occasionally the joke would fall flat unless his interlocutor was hyperintellectualist herself.
Real or fictional? If the latter, Amy Farrah Fowler from The Big Bang Theory does similar stuff.