Harry Potter girls are wicked because they are 1) different and 2) well written. Their main character traits aren’t being a girl. Aren’t being feminine or being a badass.
Hermione is nerdy and introverted and genuinely loves learning and is quite emotionally detached. It isn’t viewed as a flaw - it is her character. And her friends love her for it. Even though she isn’t perfect. She really isn’t.
Ginny is extroverted and popular, but she’s also a real badass, she’s also brave and sharp tongued but not in a boy attracting way, not in a bitchy way, she just doesn’t give a fuck what anyone thinks of her and can and will protect those who need it.
Luna is dreamy, detached, weird and lonely. She’s weird not in a “I’m not like other girls so boys like me”. She’s just weird and stays that way even though people bully her for that because even if it’s not as visible, Luna is as metal as Ginny. She is a good friend, but she has always been lonely because she is actually different from everyone she knows (and in her case it doesn’t sound cliché). That is a well written, deep, original character.
Cho isn’t just a love interest like in the movies. Cho is described as a great Ravenclaw seeker. Cho is brave and strong because she joins the Dumbledore’s army even despite her mom’s position. Neville is praised for the same thing in the end of the Philosopher’s stone. Cho may be a little jealous of Harry but imo it makes her even more real. She has flaws just like Ginny and Hermione and Luna. She mourns Cedric but doesn’t turn into depression like fucking Bella Swan. She fights because that’s what Cedric would do.
Tonks is easy going and fun and reckless and amazingly brave and a Hufflepuff. She is basically the only argument you need when arguing with Hufflepuff haters. She is so young and already an Auror. But she’s also not unrealistically badass. She’s super clumsy (and not in a I’m clumsy in everything but things that are supposed to look hot and attract attention). She told Harry that she almost failed an exam because of her clumsiness. And it still doesn’t stop her from being amazing.
Andromeda is an example of a good Slytherin. She is brave and cunning at the same time. She went against her family too. She lost her family too. She still fought Voldemort, no matter the cost. She lost her daughter and her husband and her sisters and brothers and cousins and parents. She lost everyone and still stayed with Teddy because Teddy needed love and support. She is strong as hell but that is quiet strength. Other character’s are praised for what she went through silently.
Molly is a mother of a big family. She doesn’t fight the war (until Hogwarts), she doesn’t go out on missions, she didn’t come to rescue Harry in the beginning of TDH, she didn’t come to the Ministry in TOoTP. She stayed at the Grimmaud place to cook dinner for the tired Aurors, to make that house at least a little comfortable, to take care of the wounded, to raise her children. And other children. She stayed there and watched her family risk themselves, get wounded, even get killed. Molly is strong as hell and she’s still feminine. She does the “woman’s” work that many YA heroines disregard. Does anyone dare to disrespect Molly? I bet your sweet ass they would never.
Molly kills Voldemort’s right hand after all.
Lily Potter is kind but fierce and brave. Lily Potter joined the Order at the age of 19. Lily Potter died at the age of 21 protecting her son. Lily Potter was incredibly smart, maybe not the Hermione way, but still. Lily Potter is very interesting and it’s super sad that she’s eventually downplayed to being Snape’s love interest. However, Lily doesn’t fuck around. The moment he disrespected her she stopped being his friend.
Even Bellatrix. She is a great villain. She isn’t even a love interest of the main evil guy. She is loyal to him, maybe she loved him, but those aren’t her only motives. Bella is legitimately mad and evil because of her family and her story and just because she’s a bad person. Bella enjoys making others suffer. Bella is proud. Bella is a good villain because she doesn’t chase beauty or power like most female villains do. She actually had a rare interest for a woman villain — she enjoyed hurting people. She is racist. But she’s also not the boss. She’s interesting and I love her despite her being evil.
Fleur Delacour is beautiful and elegant but she isn’t scared of Bill’s scars, she isn’t scared of the consequences that hiding Harry, Ron and Hermione might bring in TDH, she speaks her mind and fights when it’s needed. She may be gentle, she may be fantastically pretty, she may be annoyingly proud, but she’s one hell of a character. She has character, not just smarts and looks.
Lavanda Brown and Parvati Patil were both girly and loved gossip but fought bravely against Voldemort nonetheless. They are an example of how being girly doesn’t equal being weak or boring.
Rita Skeeter and Dolores Umbridge are both villains. But they aren’t for Voldemort. And they aren’t similar. JK managed not only to create various and interesting good heroines, she created Bellatrix Lestrange, Dolores Umbridge, Petunia Dursley and Rita Skeeter and gave them absolutely different personalities, motives, stories and looks. Not many authors have many female bad guys. Not many authors can make them this realistic.
JK Rowling writes amazing female characters.
Thanks for coming to my TED talk.
