girls like Lavender and Parvati have no interest in Hermione because Hermione *isn't* the type to fawn over the boys and spend hours on her hair.
I would accept this as an explanation if it wasn't for two things - first, we don't know that much about Lavender and Parvati to put them into the 'cheerleader girl' category, and second, in HBP Hermione spent most of her time being concentrated on Ron and dating other boys just to annoy him, so IMO, she definitely was fawning over him. In comparison, we haven't seen Parvati fawn over anyone, and as for Lavender, just like Hermione, we've seen her fawning over one boy, namely Ron. I can't recall to have read anywhere that Parvati and Lavender are girls who fawn over boys and think of their pretty hair. Sure, we've seen them giggle a couple of times, but then again, we've seen Ginny giggle, too. Sure, Lavender and Parvati did admire Professor Trelawney, who is a horrible teacher, but Hermione and Ginny admired Hagrid, who is a horrible teacher, too. IMO, Lavender and Parvati are too vague described to be put into a certain category and say that Hermione wasn't worthy of them because she is a bookworm. It's Hermione who talked condescendingly of Fleur, not the other way around.
In the first book, we do see a Hermione who feels very sharply that she's an outcast and a misfit-- she's crying in the bathroom, remember? Why? Because Ron made a comment about no one liking her.
Well, I know I'm going to be in the minority with this comment, but I think that it's not easy to like Hermione. I was a studious girl, too, and even though I've always been vain, I happened to be very good friends with a girl the type you described - girl who didn't pay attention to her looks and was a bookworm like me nonetheless. The problem is, however, that this is not the only thing that characterises Hermione. She is a lot more than a girl who doesn't care about her hair and reads a lot. Being a bookworm and being an annoying (IMO) Know-It-All is not necessarily related.
Aside from that, I've never had the impression that Ginny is shallow, the way Lavender and Parvati and Cho come off.
Well, it seems that we have a very different perception of Ginny and therefore can't agree on that. I see the way Ginny treated both Michael (dumping him because he was a bad loser and then going and crashing into Zacharias Smith after a Quidditch match because of something he said is shallow to me) and Dean (dumping him because he wanted to help her to go through the portrait of the Fat Lady is shallow in my eyes) as not only shallow, but also immature. I don't see why exactly people think that Lavender sucking face with Ron makes her shallow, but Ginny sucking face with Dean makes her mature.
Ginny is witty and smart and talented
This is, again, a matter of opinion. I agree about the talented part, but I've never found anything Ginny's said witty or funny. The entire 'Phlegm' comments were lame and IMO, spoke of a girl who has a lot of growing to do. As for the smart part, I still have to see it, because only hearing of her amazing use of the Bat-Bogey hex can't convince me she's as wonderful as JKR clearly wants her to be.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-10-22 01:49 pm (UTC)I would accept this as an explanation if it wasn't for two things - first, we don't know that much about Lavender and Parvati to put them into the 'cheerleader girl' category, and second, in HBP Hermione spent most of her time being concentrated on Ron and dating other boys just to annoy him, so IMO, she definitely was fawning over him. In comparison, we haven't seen Parvati fawn over anyone, and as for Lavender, just like Hermione, we've seen her fawning over one boy, namely Ron. I can't recall to have read anywhere that Parvati and Lavender are girls who fawn over boys and think of their pretty hair. Sure, we've seen them giggle a couple of times, but then again, we've seen Ginny giggle, too. Sure, Lavender and Parvati did admire Professor Trelawney, who is a horrible teacher, but Hermione and Ginny admired Hagrid, who is a horrible teacher, too. IMO, Lavender and Parvati are too vague described to be put into a certain category and say that Hermione wasn't worthy of them because she is a bookworm. It's Hermione who talked condescendingly of Fleur, not the other way around.
In the first book, we do see a Hermione who feels very sharply that she's an outcast and a misfit-- she's crying in the bathroom, remember? Why? Because Ron made a comment about no one liking her.
Well, I know I'm going to be in the minority with this comment, but I think that it's not easy to like Hermione. I was a studious girl, too, and even though I've always been vain, I happened to be very good friends with a girl the type you described - girl who didn't pay attention to her looks and was a bookworm like me nonetheless. The problem is, however, that this is not the only thing that characterises Hermione. She is a lot more than a girl who doesn't care about her hair and reads a lot. Being a bookworm and being an annoying (IMO) Know-It-All is not necessarily related.
Aside from that, I've never had the impression that Ginny is shallow, the way Lavender and Parvati and Cho come off.
Well, it seems that we have a very different perception of Ginny and therefore can't agree on that. I see the way Ginny treated both Michael (dumping him because he was a bad loser and then going and crashing into Zacharias Smith after a Quidditch match because of something he said is shallow to me) and Dean (dumping him because he wanted to help her to go through the portrait of the Fat Lady is shallow in my eyes) as not only shallow, but also immature. I don't see why exactly people think that Lavender sucking face with Ron makes her shallow, but Ginny sucking face with Dean makes her mature.
Ginny is witty and smart and talented
This is, again, a matter of opinion. I agree about the talented part, but I've never found anything Ginny's said witty or funny. The entire 'Phlegm' comments were lame and IMO, spoke of a girl who has a lot of growing to do. As for the smart part, I still have to see it, because only hearing of her amazing use of the Bat-Bogey hex can't convince me she's as wonderful as JKR clearly wants her to be.