Females and Harry Potter - (Reverberations: Contemporary Curriculum and Pedagogy) by Ruthann Mayes-Elma (Paperback)

About the Book

This book explores the sexism inherent in the Harry Potter series, books in which a hero and his male friends are the focus and center of activity and the female characters are passive enablers--at best. Using critical discourse analysis and focusing on five themes (rule following/breaking, intelligence, validating/enabling, mothering, and resistance), the author explores the construction of traditional gender roles throughout the books. She concludes with a discussion of the implications for development of school curricula that enable students to critically deconstruct these texts.

Book Synopsis

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.

Review Quotes

"This book is an interesting and thorough analysis for academic and feminist collections." --VOYA

"This is a long-awaited volume which weaves feminist theory with the importance of the Harry Potter books. Mayes-Elma has created a new genre in which to explore both the teaching of literature and social theory. Following Rowling's females and their actions, this book has established a new way to view character roles within literature." --Shirley R. Steinberg, associate professor Series Editor and associate professor, Mcgill University Faculty of Education

About the Author

Ruthann Mayes-Elma is a writer, researcher, and educator whose research centers on the intersections of children's literature, social justice, and media literacy. She has contributed chapters to various published and upcoming books, as well as a a book of her own: Readings in Sociocultural Studies in Education (2002). She has presented at various national and international conferences and has held the office of delegate to Ohio Education Association (OEA).