The Others

In this chapter, I consider those characters who contradict the norms in terms of gender expression and representation identified in earlier chapters. I look in depth at those female characters with traits that align more with those of male characters, and vice versa. George, in the Famous Five series, and her adoption of masculine ways of dress and behaviour, is indulged by the other characters, although her gender performance is frequently commented on and marked as unusual. In contrast, the White Witch in the Narnia books and the two large women, Miss Trunchbull in Roald Dahl’s Mathilda and Aunt Marge in the Harry Potter series, are very negatively assessed for their contravention of gender norms. I describe the transformation of Neville Longbottom, in Harry Potter, from a weak boy to a powerful man, with a corresponding change in evaluation of his gender performance. A closer analysis of the representations of these characters shows how they deviate from the patterns set up by the depictions of the other women and girls, men and boys who conform to stereotypical gender norms, and what the social penalty is for these differences.