A01=Ruthann Mayes-Elma
Author_Ruthann Mayes-Elma
Category=JBSF11
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Product details
- ISBN 9780742537798
- Weight: 263g
- Dimensions: 189 x 231mm
- Publication Date: 02 Aug 2006
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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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.
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).
