Asymmetrical Divisions of Gender in “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”

In both the novel and film version of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, there are a variety of male and female characters ranging in leadership position, personality, and age. However, despite the variety, Harry Potter supports the asymmetrical division of labor by having more formal male leaders in comparison with its female leaders, who appear more maternal and parental overall than their male counterparts.
An issue prevalent in both film and novel version of Harry Potter is the perpetuation of a patriarchal social order that is achieved and shown by the asymmetrical division of labor between the genders. According to Penelope Eckert and Sally McConnell-Ginet, in their work Language and Gender,“The gendered division of labor in Western society relies heavily on the allocation of women’s function to the domestic, or private realm and men’s to the public realm” (25). This is shown heavily in Harry Potter. Every adult female character that is not a professor is a mom of somebody and only works in the home. The male characters, even Vernon Dursley, are given a job and life outside the home. The female characters that work outside the home, the professors, are barely mentioned or shown, except for Professor McGonagall.
Harry Potter has a number of women in leadership positions, but they serve as informal and maternal figures, even if their position is formal. For example, Professor McGonagall is a leader in the same right Dumbledore is, although Dumbledore has a little more power at Hogwarts as Headmaster and McGonagall is only Head of Gryffindor House and Transfiguration professor in this book. Despite their similarities, they are portrayed very differently. McGonagall is shown as being strict and having power over those whom she teaches, but she is also the only powerful female professor shown. Dumbledore is frequently shown and has a relatively similar personality to McGonagall, albeit a tad more quirky. However, McGonagall gives the reader a more maternal vibe than Dumbledore does as a paternal figure. She is a female character with a formal leadership role and works in the public sphere, yes, but she also serves as Harry’s maternal figure at Hogwarts. McGonagall is also the only female formal leader shown in this book, as Professor Sprout and Madame Hooch are pretty minor background characters and do not do much to lead. In comparison, Snape and Quirrell are heavily mentioned and shown. Even though all of these people occupy jobs in the same area and place, the patriarchal order is held up by the more frequent mention of them by Rowling and by their more obvious leadership, however bad they might be as characters.
The other female characters that portray leadership are Molly Weasley, Hermione, and Petunia Dursley. Two of these three, Molly and Petunia, are mothers, although not to Harry. In this book, Molly serves as the mother figure to lead Harry into the wizarding world, since his own mother could not. Petunia, although not a compelling character that the reader sympathizes with, also serves as a maternal figure to Harry. At the beginning, she is the closest he has to a mother and serves as such. Although Vernon may be the formal, working an leader of the Dursley household, she ultimately controls the men of the house. However, she is not shown as a formal leader as Vernon is. Both of the actual mom figures in the book are not shown as anything other than moms. They have no jobs and appear only to exist for the betterment of their children.
Hermione serves as the female counterpart to Harry’s leadership, but she is not even equal to that. At the end of the novel, after solving the logic puzzle in order to get through the flames, she puts herself down in order to put Harry up, allowing him to be the true leader of their group. She tells Harry “Books! And cleverness! There are more important things- friendship and bravery- oh Harry- be careful!” (286). This quote shows that even though Hermione possesses some of the traits that would be valued in a leader, especially if she was male, she does not believe herself to be a competent leader and says so herself in order to inspire Harry to go on alone, even though Hermione could have really helped him.
In the film, this asymmetrical division of labor is made even more obvious. Professor Sprout is not even shown at all and Madame Hooch is only shown twice. In comparison, Professors Snape, Quirrell, and Flitwick are all shown. Molly is only shown for a couple lines and in brief mention, and Petunia is shown as only being the obedient wife to Vernon. Male characters in the film like Dumbledore are given more screen time and are shown to be more compassionate overall. The viewer gets the impression that the men run Hogwarts and perhaps the Wizarding World overall and that they will continue to do so. By having male villains, majority male professors, a male Headmaster, and even a male main character, Rowling perpetuates the asymmetrical division of labor.
Overall, this combined effect of the novel and film leaves a neutral leaning towards negative impact on the viewer/reader. Since one is not just watching the movie, the reader/viewer gets the benefit of the increased female leadership that just watching the movie does not give.