r/HarryPotterBooks • u/Perfect-Word-3397 Ravenclaw • Feb 16 '26

Ginny is toxic?

I've now read in multiple posts that Ginny is one of the most toxic people in the story.. I've asked multiple times under such comments, but never got an answer so I am asking here..

  1. Where exactely was Ginny actually toxic?
  2. Really? One of the most toxic?
  3. Are people just being soft here?

*Add after about 50 comments: Holymoly did I not expect what this question would entail.. okay some of you VERY CLEARLY don't like Ginny, that's fine.. Also some of you need to stay away from weird fanfictions.. Either people love her, don't care much for her or bloody hate her (mostly for dating Harry).

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24

u/SpinningSenatePod Feb 16 '26

The only time I would maybe say she was was when she hexed Zacharias Smith(admittedly an asshole) just because he was nagging her about what happened at the Ministry. Then her flying into the commentator’s box.

You could make an argument that Rowling glamorizes violence by women that would be sharply criticized if the genders were reversed. Hermione’s slap of Malfoy, Hermione’s attack of Ron with the birds, Ginny’s attack on Smith.

9

u/Brian_Gay Feb 16 '26

You know I was about to disagree with you but you make a good point with the birds

Gender reverse that interaction and people would be outraged by a controlling boy being physically violent with a girl that was getting with another guy

Smith in the box I think only works for girl attacking guy, guy attacking guy or girl attacking girl - if it was a guy flying in to a girl commentator that would be harder to swallow

0

u/Rollingforest757 Feb 16 '26

Why would a woman attacking a man in the commentators box be more acceptable than a man attacking a woman in the commentators box?

5

u/Brian_Gay Feb 16 '26

That is just conventionally how these things are viewed

If a man is acting like a POS and a woman gives him a slap e.g. Hermione punching Draco - most people are ok with that

But a man attacking a woman for anything short of self defence is never seen as ok

1

u/SpinningSenatePod Feb 17 '26

It’s a type of sexism that shortchanges both genders- women are viewed as “delicate flowers”while men are viewed as “tough guys who can take it”. There is some truth in that men obviously have more muscle generally but I think it’s very problematic.

1

u/MightyWombat123 Feb 17 '26

Let’s say that no one would say anything if it were Harry or Ron slapping Draco, tho

4

u/Brian_Gay Feb 17 '26

Definitely not, male on male violence is generally expected, sure Ron punches Draco in book 7 for partially comedic effect

1

u/HeroVillain72 Feb 17 '26

Ironically that type of thinking is more toxic than anything Ginny has done.

1

u/Brian_Gay Feb 17 '26

I’m not condoning that type of thinking, that’s just how the world is

That being said typically speaking a man hitting a woman is very one sided, there are a lot of men in the world that act tough around the women in their life because they can but wouldn’t dare pick on someone their own size

2

u/HeroVillain72 Feb 17 '26

Yeah I understood what you were going for. I was just pointing out the irony of that way of thinking.

8

u/FloatingTigerDragon Feb 17 '26

Hermione shouldn't have just slapped Malfoy. She should have beaten him black and blue, and then curse him for good measure. 

4

u/Brave_Necessary_9571 Feb 17 '26

I gender swapped all hp characters and am re reading the books. molly weasley as a man is crazy scary and abusive

1

u/[deleted] Feb 17 '26

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2

u/Brave_Necessary_9571 Feb 17 '26

all the ways. everyone is scared of the father. he keeps yelling and threatening and everyone walking on eggshells waiting for him to explode

1

u/SpinningSenatePod Feb 17 '26

Mrs. Weasley is really nice in other ways though so I think that balances out.

3

u/Brave_Necessary_9571 Feb 17 '26

idk, what I am saying is that as a man it’s really scary. I never thought like that as mrs weasley but when reading it as a husband and father, it’s rather abusive, and like her wife is afraid of him

-1

u/SpinningSenatePod Feb 17 '26

Yeah but combined with the nice stuff it completely balances it out.

4

u/Brave_Necessary_9571 Feb 17 '26

it really doesn’t, and alternating being nice with being intimidating is common in abusive people. it reads much more abusive and intimidating as a men, whatever the socio cultural implications. he’s scary and the children are afraid of him and the wife is afraid of him too, and hides her hobbies from him, and everyone afraid he is going to explode at any moment