Harry Potter is My Favorite Lesbian

Okay, okay. I cannot take full credit for that title either.

Jill R. Ehnenn opens her article up situating the reader into a queer reading of J.K. Rowling's pinnacle series. By inscribing new meaning onto one of pop culture's most pivotal characters, Harry Potter, we instantly begin to see our favorite wizard in a brand new light. Framing Harry Potter as looking like a lesbian, Ehnenn offers up the queer liminality that Harry Potter offers to its readers. Beyond a reading that analyzes the fantastical elements of the series, Ehnenn approaches the series from a unique lens. She chooses to find certain distinctions between fantasy text and queer text and find parallels between the two. But more than how the series functions as a non-normative reading of the queer identity, she offers up something a little extra-- she tells us precisely why the series is a crucial reading of queer politics.

In a way, we all know what it is like to be different. At times, we feel like we are on the outside, isolated, so far removed from our realities that we need to escape. On a surface level, Harry Potter works as an identity marker for so many of us who have felt like we do not belong. The stories are fantastic, whimsical, and empowering. But if we look beyond it as a mere form of escapism, we can also see that however fictional Harry Potter's adventures may be, in a way, we can all relate in some capacity. Ehnenn details that this may be especially important for queer youth and queer readers. I mean, let's think about it here for a second: Harry Potter begins his life living in a closet under the stairs. Why did I not draw that correlation before?? Ehnenn explains that in the world of Muggles v. Wizards, Harry is the queer, unspoken for identity. When we first meet him in the series, we know that he is bound to do great things-- the series is his name, after all. But living with the Dursley's, we see that he is shamed for his wizarding pedigree. But then he arrives to Hogwarts, and we find that there is no longer shame for who he is. There is pride. There is humility. And there is acceptance. But note! The series does not follow Harry's journey to popularity! Rather, it is about finding that acceptance from true friends.

I know. That may sound corny. But when you get down to it, an analysis such as one that Ehnenn offers was not only inevitable, but it must be read as valued. I know plenty of people who have denounced Harry Potter as a work of the devil-- teaching kids and adults to study witchcraft. That's satan at work right here, folks. Yet, for those who love the series and believe in its ability to empower, there is something so much stronger at work here. In regarding the impact of the series, far after the last page has been read, Ehnenn explains, "They [the Harry Potter books] begin to denaturalize hegemonic ways of perceiving identity and identity categories" (p. 241).

Indeed, Ehnenn concludes her article by insinuating that it is not enough to just sit around and say, "Hmmmm I think Harry Potter is a lesbian" or that there is homoerotic subtext between Harry and Ron (although that is pretty fun) or even that there is weird sexual tension between Hermione and Professor McGonagall. All of these are amusing and could potentially be read in that way. And don't even get me started on how we could view Dumbledore, and Rowling retroactively outing him after the series concluded. Instead, Ehnenn points to the idea that queer texts exceed beyond what makes them different from normative texts. Rather, we should be asking how and why such readings are important. Is it perhaps they empower the reader to think differently? And if so, how? And why do we need such readings. What can they tell us about dominant ideologies. And I leave you with this: think to your favorite book. It may be Harry Potter, it may be something else entirely. Regardless, challenge what you think you have know about that book-- read it again. And read it with a fresh perspective. Don't be afraid to jump right in once more into that world-- and find what makes it queer.