The Archive of Feminism

Being a woman I am biased on how feminism was the greatest thing ever created. All
throughout history, stories have been written on how females are always side characters, but are
never shown as the main protagonist. Throughout different scenarios within the novel series,
Harry Potter, by J.K. Rowling, the theory of how women are never useful to the main character
is proven as a failure due to feminism. Yet, through this failure of feminism, there is still a
successful part that women sometimes arent the best choice to be used as the protagonist.
As stated by Stuart Hall, his famous notion is that theory is not the be all, end all unto it
self. Instead it is a detour en route to something else along the way (15). This is where the
reader might consider utilization getting lost over finding his or her own way. Instead of finding
the way automatically, readers might want to take the time and get lost. By doing this, the reader
is taking a journey through the low theory (15). Low theory is allowing the reader to take a
stroll through the unplanned, unexpected, improvised, and surprising territory of different kinds
of works. Misusing or using high theory for the practices of everyday life, in and of, the practice
attempts are created through low theory. Low theory happens when combined practices invent
their own economies of knowledge
According to Halberstams The Queer Art of Failure, in the perspective of feminism,
failure has often come out on top over success (4). Feminine success had always been measured
from standards of men, placing women under the pressure to measure up to those standards. This
is often why gender is an archive for failure because it never succeeds at what womanhood can
offer. Solanas suggested that if women only took on meaning to be in relation with man than we
should cut up men (4). This means that women were only given meaning or reason
because they would be interacting with the male species. The more acceptable form of feminism

is through positivity that women should be given meaning because they dont need to be in
connection with males (4).
In Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone, Hermione is a prime example of a character
that is measured up to the standards of men. One instance that displays how Hermione cannot
size up to Harry and Ron takes place the day of Halloween. This is when Professor Quirrell lets a
troll into the dungeon. Accidentally Harry and Ron lock the troll into the same exact bathroom
that Hermione was currently crying in (no thanks to Ron). When they figure out their mistake,
they immediately try and rectify it. By doing this, Hermione is shown as the damsel in distress
and the boys must come to her rescue. The shows the first time she cant measure up to males
since she is the one who needs saving, instead of being the savior.
During this scene from the movie, Hermione is exposed as a scared, insignificant female
character and is apparently not capable of being able to help herself out of the situation. She is
shown hiding in fear under the sinks and screaming psychotically. When Hermione gives Ron
support and guidance in order for him to perform a spell to help Harry out, she does so while
whimpering and crying. Even though Hermione needed to demonstrate to Ron how the spell
should be conducted, the fact that she was crying overpowers her usefulness in the setting. Her
act of crying showed how weak of a female character she was compared to the two males who
were fighting against a wild beast. The feminism side of this is seen as a success because
Hermione, being a female, had no part in the action. Instead she just sat back and watched as
Harry and Ron accomplished the task of knocking the troll unconscious. This just goes to show
how Hermione couldnt measure up to the standards of what the boys were held to (4).
On the other hand, this scene could quite possibly be the exact pinpoint of when the
feminism archive is proven to be a failure. Harry and Ron had so foolishly thought that by

locking the troll in the girls bathroom, they were being heroic and saving the school. In actuality
they were just trying to prove that males dont need help from females. However, no matter how
trivial Ron might have thought it to be of Hermione, she did in fact show him how to properly
swish and flick his wand to help Harry. In this case, Hermione, being a female character, was the
one in charge who subsequently saved their lives from the troll. Without Hermiones help of
encouragement, Ron never would have been able to save Harry from being hit in the head with
the trolls club. This proves that the female character was important and allowed Hermione to
break free of the traditional norm of feminism.
Another reason the archive of feminism is shown as a failure during this scene is because
Hermione could have completely avoided the girls bathroom. If Solanas suggestion was made
true, females could still consist of meaning, but not need relations with males, Hermione
wouldnt have been crying in the first place. Hermione could have escaped using the bathroom
because she wasnt the one who wanted to have relations with males. If this entire event has been
prevented, Hermione would not have been depicted as the female character always needing to be
saved. Yet, it was all because Ron needed to exchange relations with Hermione in the form of
petty comments, forcing her to cry in private. Hermione was only seen as a damsel in distress
because Ron had put her in that horrible position.
This failure could be viewed as half Rons fault, for making her cry, and half Harrys
fault, for thinking it was a grand idea to lock the troll in the bathroom. Both males were the
reasons why Hermione needing to be saved in the first place, especially sine they were fully
aware she had been in the girls bathroom crying. If Hermione had not been crying because of
Ron, she never would have reason for entering the bathroom. Instead she would have enjoyed
dinner and returned to her dorm with the rest of her house when asked to do so. As a result of

Harry and Ron believing that since they were males, they wouldnt need any help, Hermiones
was placed in life threatening danger.
Halberstam believes that in this male- dominated culture stupidity in women is often
expected (57). Oddly enough, there are women who support this theory only because in their
eyes, they can somehow find it rewarding by having the power to make men feel bigger, better,
and smarter (57). This archive of feminism is seen as a success through one instance in the book
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. When Ron tries out for Harrys Quidditch team he is
unfortunately up against a better player for the same position of Keeper. Hermione had noticed
how badly Ron was struggling to save the same amount of goals as his opponent in order to win
the position. In order to sway McLaggen off course, Hermione quickly performed a Confundus
Charm. This is because she wanted Ron to seem better than McLaggen for being able to save
multiple goals while McLaggen was failing to do so. At the time, Ron was confused, but ecstatic
that his challenger no longer seemed to be an issue.
Once the tryouts were over, Harry seemed to catch on to Hermiones plan and called her
out for executing such a charm only to benefit Ron. This is when the moment of success takes
place because Hermione acts completely stupid about Harrys accusations, which is expected of
her female character. By Hermione playing dumb and denying the fact that she really did
perform the charm, she was able to make Ron feel like the bigger player out on the field.
Immediately when Ron entered the conversation, this gave Hermione the chance to gush over
how much better his flying skills were over his challenger. She also flattered Ron by exclaiming
how smart he was by being able to save more goals than McLaggen. Even though Hermione
didnt act stupid directly towards Ron, her performance of playing ignorant with Harry was
enough to create the illusion that she could influence Rons mood.

Yet, this archive of feminism can be interpreted as a failure through the fact that
Hermione knew exactly what she was doing by casting the Confundus Charm. The only reason
she denied performing the spell and played dumb with Harry was to protect Rons feelings. Since
Hermione is such a strong female character, majority of the time she is rescuing other people
from predicaments. In this case, she was saving Ron from humiliation of being badly defeated by
McLaggen in front of their entire Gryffindor house. This shows that Hermione does not actually
play a stupid female character just to make Ron or Harry feel bigger, better, or smarter for being
a male. Hermione simply acted oblivious about her actions because she didnt want Ron to find
out just how horrible his tryout was. This proves the theory is a failure because Hermione can
make Harry and Ron feel better in other ways such as protecting their feelings.
From Halberstams article, male characters are usually clueless and need a spunky and
intelligent woman by his side to educate him (57). This theory is definitely demonstrated as a
success when it comes to the friendship of Hermione and Harry. One illustration describes the
event when Hermione reveals her secret of keeping a time turner for the entire school year in
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Hermiones female character is portrayed as brave
and extremely bright, while Harrys male character is incredibly nave. Not only is the male
character nave, but also exceptionally oblivious to the fact that Hermione had literally been
turning back the clocks over and over again.
When Hermione and Harry go back in time to save Buckbeak and Sirius Black,
Hermione is the one in control of the device. She informed Harry that for the entire year she was
gutsy enough to use the time turner, even though it was a huge risk. Hermione had to explain
explicitly to Harry that when using the time turner, no one was allowed to see it happen. Even
though Hermione was being bold by using it multiple times a day, she was smart enough to take

precaution on where and when she used the time turner. In the case that another person caught
Hermione during the process of turning back time, she would be risking their sanity. However,
Hermione had been using it every day for the entire year and was clever enough to never get
caught. In fact, Hermione had been well trained on how to use it, right down to knowing the
exact amount of turns it took to go back an hour in time. Since Hermione chose to use a time
turner for her entire third year of schooling it goes to show just how much of a success this
feminism theory is. Owing to the fact that Hermione is extremely intelligent, the time turner
allowed her the advantage of taking double the amount of classes any other student was taking.
From Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, this theory of the male character being
clueless and the female character is tough, bright, and educational is considered a failure
happened during the Chamber of Secrets scene. This is when Hermione and Ron seek out a
basilisk fang from the chamber to stab one of the horcrux. Hermione was completely baffled
about how they were going to enter the chamber since neither of them spoke Parseltongue. This
was Rons moment to shine and not be considered the clueless character any longer. Ron had
enlightened Hermione that Harry used to talk in his sleep and sometimes it would be in
Parseltongue. This is also when Ron showed his bravery by speaking Parseltongue in front of
Hermione, willing the chamber to open. Hermione was unaware as to how Ron could have
memorized a completely different language to replay it back under such dire circumstances.
Lastly, Ron displayed his toughness when he had to mentally prepare himself to physically stick
his arm up the basilisks mouth in order to grab a fang to destroy the Horcrux with.
The fact that Halberstams theory of male characters act clueless and will always need a
woman by their side proved to be the mask for gender inequality. Because of this inequality, it
ended up structuring the relationships between males and females (57). This shows that for the

feminism archive there will always be a failure and a success for each theory. Male characters
can act clueless and female characters can act strong, yet thats why they are seen as gender
inequality. If the theory was switched around, the female character can act clueless and the male
character can act strong, its still considered gender inequality only this time with a hint of
feminism. This brings me to what is considered the real catastrophe in gender inequalities and
feminism theories.
According to Proyects A Perverts Guide to Zizek, when speaking about the Titanic he
mentioned how the real catastrophe was not the boat sinking. Nor was the ship hitting into
iceberg considered the real disaster (Proyects 1). Most people believe the biggest
misfortune that came out of the Titanic was how the two lovers, Jack and Rose never end
up together. Unfortunately, Jack dying wasnt the main event, which was probably why
Rose had such an easy time letting go of his hand in the end. The real devastation was the
fact that Rose had declared she would leave the ship with her lover, Jack the next day when
it docked. The fact that she wanted to start a life with him in New York was the worst of the
worst kind of tragedy (Proyects 1). However, most people look this factor over because
everyone is so obsessed with their love story. Unfortunately, it really meant that Rose was
willing to give up her wealthy fortune in preference for the poor life (Proyects 1). This
showed to be the main fiasco because it proved that true love was the cause of corrupted
life amongst the rich. Therefore, the cataclysm of the ship sinking must occur in order to save
Jack and Roses illusion to their love life before it even began.
With this being said, the main catastrophes for the archive of feminism are politics
that issues not from a doing but from an undoing. They are also not from a being or
becoming but from the refusal of women to be or to become exactly what she had

been defined and imagined as by other people (Halberstam 124). The feminism theories
that prove a situation either as a failure or a success can be interchangeable. It all depends
on what role the gender decides to take. Since there is always going to be gender inequality,
the gender roles will continuously be switched back and forth. One theory might have the
male characters be in charge and another might reverse it. Theres no one set way in which
feminism will always be a failure, or it will always be a success. With success comes failure
and vise versa.

References:
Halberstam, Judith. The Queer Art of Failure. Durham: Duke University, 2011. Print.
Proyect, Louis. "A Perverts Guide to Zizek." Counter Punch. N.p., 18 Oct. 2013. Web. 10 May
2015. <http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/10/18/a-perverts-guide-to-zizek/>.
Rowling, J.K.. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. New York: Scholastic, 2007. Print.
Rowling, J.K.. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. New York: Scholastic, 2005. Print.
Rowling, J.K.. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. New York: Scholastic, 1999. Print.
Rowling, J.K.. Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone. New York: Scholastic, 1997. Print.