Throughout our world’s history, men have always been the heroes of our stories and women are nothing more than the moral support, those who are waiting for them at home with a warm plate of food and a nice hug to receive them after a long day of hard work in making the world in their image. Which is why we should not be surprised at all when Harry Potter, a male character, is the hero of our story. He’s portrayed as the bravest, the nicest, the best wizard. But is he really? The thing is that even if we did have someone else to compare him to, the framing would still favor him infinitely more than everyone else who might come close to stealing his spotlight. Like Hermione Granger.
Through all of the books in the Harry Potter series, Hermione is the most knowledgeable of all of the Hogwarts’ students, only the professors’ intellect rivaling hers; not only does she know the information, but she knows how to execute the spells perfectly and powerfully, granting her, intuitively and logically the position as the best witch. However, as readers, we don’t get that image of her, since Harry is always in the spotlight, with Hermione standing behind him.
And so, our monster of gender inequality strikes again. It’s not even funny anymore, how women are always disregarded and discredited. In another world, Hermione would have been the main character – she certainly deserved it – and we would be reading about the adventures of Hermione Granger instead of those of Harry Potter.
“Behind every great man there is a great woman.” Shaunti Feldhahn’s words ring ridiculously true. In the majority of those adventures, it’s thanks to Hermione that Harry is still alive and kicking. As much as he was always the one in the spotlight, it was Hermione who allowed him to remain there, with her bright ideas and quick logical thinking, opposed to Harry and Ron’s recklessness. And still, instead of actually crediting Hermione, we all just shake our heads and say to ourselves ‘boys will be boys’. Because that’s all it is, isn’t it? Boys being boys with girls behind the scenes to help.
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