I still have yet to understand why Ron is considered the ‘token straight’ in the golden trio.
I mean, Harry ‘the bi who lived’ Potter is almost-canon by this point, and Ron (even if you don’t think he fancied Krum) certainly has many close relationships with other boys.
If anyone is the token straight of the trio, it’s Hermione. She just doesn’t like other women that much.
The things Hermione is exasperated by in women, I think she’d be far more exasperated by in men. Feminist women who are attracted to men have very high standards for dating since they are more often disillusioned with traditional gender roles. Educating men about their privilege is exhausting, and it’s not usually the basis of a relationship of equals since the woman has to invest so much time in just getting a partner who’s compassionate and thoughtful, who’s aware of how much space they take up in the world and who might need it more. Orrrr we could just date other women who don’t need to be educated about what it’s like to live as a woman under patriarchy, because we already know! I have a lot of bi/pan feminist women friends who have sworn off dating men after too many bad experiences, and whatever Hermione wants in her relationships, she is too analytical to fall into the unexamined role of heterosexual relationships just because they are default.
Hmmm. Interesting thoughts. I personally think that Hermione isn’t really attracted to anyone other than Ron. Granted, she might have had a childhood crush on Lockhart and been flattered by Krum’s attention, but she only ever seems to be attracted to Ron Weasley and no-one else. And, unlike a lot of men, Ron doesn’t consider Hermione’s intelligence to be emasculating for him; in fact, he actually finds it admirable and attractive. That’s not to say that their post-DH relationship is all plain-sailing, of course, but that’s just the reading I make of their relationship.
I wasn’t trying to imply that heterosexual relationships were somehow ‘the default’ and I apologise if my post came across that way.
What I meant was that (from what I’ve gathered from a few of my mutuals) Hermione doesn’t really get along with other women that much (especially women of similar age to her).
What’s everyone’s thoughts on this?
Sorry for harshing on your otp, especially for all your good work for the Ron Weasley Defense Squad 👍 By default I meant that it doesn’t necessarily follow that just because Hermione doesn’t like women that she would like men. She seems far more indifferent to romance overall than most of the other characters, and she just seems to have much bigger goals and interests than dating. I haven’t seen Hermione used often in aroace or demi headcanons, and I don’t know why she’s not, really. But in any case, if there is one character who understands the political implications of their sexuality, it’s Hermione.
(And I extremely agree that Hermione doesn’t like other women, and I wish it actually got discussed as a character flaw more often. Hopefully, like many of us, she grows up to undo a lot of her internalized misogyny.)
That’s no problem. I probably should have worded my original post better. You’re very much correct in that Hermione wouldn’t automatically like men if she didn’t like women.
Thank you; I’m glad you like my RWDS content!
That is very true; Hermione isn’t really interested in romance most of the time. I personally headcanon Hermione to be somewhere on the ace-demi spectrum, but the books were set in the nineties and there wasn’t so much understanding about sexuality at that time.
I also hope that Hermione un-learned a lot of her problematic behaviours and internalised misogyny. Like you say, it’s a character flaw that rarely gets discussed about the character. Like @hanukkahmagnus said in their reblog, in fanon (especially fanfiction) Hermione is more of an analysis of the character rather than the character as she was in-canon. Fans are going to interpret her in different way, be that her sexuality, or how she interacts with other people as a feminist.
Headcanonsandmore 