Gender Portrayal in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels are known throughout theworld. They are credited with getting children and adults away fromother forms of entertainment and back to reading a book forenjoyment. However, what do children and adults learn from readingthese novels? This book examined J.K. Rowling's (2003) novelentitled,Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Although thisnovel has not yet been classified as a fairy tale, it does containfairy tale elements. This work reviewed literature in the field offolklore, fairy tales, and feminism. Foss' (2004) four-stepfeminist criticism model was employed to analyze gender portrayalsin the novel. According to Foss' model, the novel was analyzed formasculine or feminine perspectives of the world, effects on theaudience, improvement of women's lives, and impact on rhetoricaltheory. Although Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is not afeminist tale, it has the potential to affect women and menpositively and negatively. The study found women's roles were morerealistically portrayed while men's roles were more traditionallyportrayed. Thenovel both affirmed and contradicted gender rolescreated by society.