I don't think JKR's intent was to portray women who did not want to become mothers as evil, just that someone as evil as them never
could be mothers because motherly love is pure and selfless and one who does so many evil acts like that and has a sadistic mind cannot ever be a mother.
Hermione may not be a feminist hero, but I disagree that the reason for that is that she marries and has kids. That doesn't even make sense.😕 Marriage does not mean anti-feminism. It is when you marry that determines that. None of the trio married right out of Hogwarts. They got careers and after several years married the ones they loved. That did not make their careers secondary.
Anyhow, marriage is such a sacred ritual that for a married couple, career should be secondary. Their vows they made in marriage give them duties towards each other which is more important than marriage. Yes, career is important, but our life shouldn't revolve around that either. For one who values career above all else, I advise them not to get married until they learn to love their partner at least as much as their career, if not more.
Having kids doesn't make someone anti-feminist. A feminist is not all the time someone who only participates in ralies for women's rights and cares nothing but for her own independence and career. I do not like women like that anyway. A feminist is one who believes in women having the right to make their own choices. Hermione chose to return to Hogwarts for her final year though she didn't have to because she valued her education. She chose to find a job out of Hogwarts instead of marrying right off and only when she had a stable career did she marry Ron and have children. Yet, she never gave up her career. She both worked and was a mother and wife. If that is not a feminist, what is? She made her own choices and no one, not even Ron, could influence her out of them even if they wished to. No one ever forced her to make her choices for her and she never let anyone make her choices for her either.
Yes, she is probably not the embodiment of feminism, but she is the biggest feminist in the series. I don't like how some people think being mothers or being wives makes a person anti-feminist or 'not feminist enough', because that is demeaning the meaning of womanhood and all the mothers as wives out there who work hard to bring up their families and stay home to spread love and comfort to their loved ones, not being forced into it but simply because they want to.
Bella is an anti-feminist because she married right out of high school with no other thought to her career or education. She cared nothing for her mom, dad, friends, or anyone else. She went into depression because her boyfriend of not even a year (he was not even her husband yet, for crying out loud) left her, and she used Jacob for her convenience. When Edward came back, she accepted him and did every single thing he wanted even if she didn't want that, simply because she didn't want him to leave.
Hermione may not be the ideal of feminism, but she never let anyone make her decisions for her, and she certainly gave importance to career and education.
Edited by _LalithaJanaki_ - 15 years ago
