It's okay to be gay. A little make believe.

Sirius's dislike of cleaning can only be considered a gender issue if cleaning is considered a gendered task. In a world where cleaning is not "women's work", then anyone can dislike the task without being sexist. Whether it's considered a gendered task in the Wizarding World is up to us to interpret for ourselves.

I also don't recall Sirius being insulted about being made to clean, though perhaps annoyed, but insulted. Do you have a quote?

As for Hermione sitting with Parvati and Lavender, that would be a gender stereotype, but from a character that defies many stereotypes, I would never dream to assume she needed to defy all of them to make a point. Again, I agree it's a female stereotype the way she acts in this scene, but it is also out of character for her, and it is clearly not a representative way that all females in the story interact. Out of all the female characters, Parvati and Lavender, and possibly Romilda Vane, are the only three characters that seem to be the flighty gossipy types. People like this exist, so I don't consider it as bad that they are represented in these books.

As for your last point about Ron and Cho, then yes, I think these could indicate some level of gendered stereotypes, you're right. In a world where emotion isn't considered a feminine trait and lack of emotion a male one, then I think this conversation would have gone differently. Although there is evidence that suggests women's brains function in a way where they tend to be better at interpreting emotional nuances. Minor differences between men and women's brains should of course not influence government laws, but I think in writing characters, an author can certainly take these minor differences into account.

And I have noticed that most of the Death Eaters and leaders and doers in the books are men, something that has always slightly bothered me. And if I recall on Pottermore on the list of previous Ministers for Magic, the first female Minister is noted as such. In a truly equal world, a woman Minister would never be specifically spotlighted for being a women because it would simply be a non-issue, like saying "The first Minister to have green eyes!", so I do think you're right, there are some gender issues that could be put into light, but I still do not think it is a major issue for the Wizarding World, at least not in the UK, maybe it other areas of the world.

/r/harrypotter Thread