Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This reads like a doctoral dissertation, and not a terribly interesting one at that. Two thirds of the book is spent on a literature review of the theory and methodology used to critique the book, with only one chapter actually analyzing Harry Potter (plus the requisite dissertation conclusion chapter, "Where do we go from here?"). The author goes into way too much detail about theory and methodology to be of use or interest to anyone. For scholars interested in the theoretical perspectives, her summaries are simplistic and unoriginal, and for HP fans new to theory, they are too long-winded and tedious to maintain interest until the one chapter that actually applies the theory to HP.
And what's with the lame titles? "Not all that empowering" -"You've got to have theory" - "Method to my madness"? Too cutesy for my taste. Throughout the book, the writing style flip-flops from incredibly dull exposition in the form of literature review (perhaps intended for a "scholarly" audience?) to this patronizing cutesy tone (perhaps intended for children/Harry Potter fans? It sort of reminds me of Bellatrix Lestrange and her penchant for baby-talking to Harry and Neville). Perhaps the book is intended for both audiences, but the final product is worthy of neither one.
Plus, although this was published in 2006, the author only discusses Sorcerer's Stone. Much happens with female characters in the next five books that is worth discussing from a gender perspective, some of which refutes or at least better frames some of the female characters and their agency within the texts.
Certainly, the Harry Potter series includes many aspects that portray females in traditional and un-empowering roles, and as such, the series needs to be critiqued from a feminist perspective more than it has been (yet, despite the author's claims that no one has done this, there are articles in several critical Potter anthologies that do just this - but of course, it could be done more thoroughly and incorporate more perspectives).
But as it stands, this book? Not all that worthwhile.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Females and Harry Potter: Not All That Empowering (Reverberations: Contemporary Curriculum and Pedagogy)
Females and Harry Potter is a deconstruction of the representations of women's agency in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Using critical discourse analysis and focusing on five themes (rule following and breaking, intelligence, validating and enabling, mothering, and resistance), Mayes-Elma explores the construction of traditional gender roles in the book. Additionally, the author locates the foundations of feminist epistemology--binary oppositions, gender boundaries, and woman as "other"--that is deeply embedded within the book's themes. Traditional gender constructions of both men and women are found throughout the Sorcerer's Stone.Ultimately, the book explores the sexism inherent in the Harry Potter series: a hero and his male friends are the focus and center of activity and the female characters are enablers--at best. Passive and invisible female characters exist only as bodies, "bound" by traditional gender conventions; they resist evil, but never gender stereotypes. Mayes-Elma concludes with a discussion of the implications for development of school curricula that enable students to critically deconstruct these texts.
