Speaking of which

Which I was, in the previous post --

The kid has latched onto Harry Potter. Thanks to our fearless leader (what did Scott Card call him in that darling essay? Statesmanlike? What the fuck ever) anyway, thanks to Prince George and his No Child's Behind test that she had to take last year, the school knows she's reading on at least the 11th grade level, so they have started sending her into the upper elementary side of the school for her silent reading books. (Montessori school has silent reading every afternoon.) Anyway, she found a Harry Potter book last week and now she's reading all 3 of the first 3 at once, which is how she does things, this kid.

Where as I?

Oh, right, Hermione.

"Why are Harry and Ron so mean to Hermione?" she demanded of me last night as I was making her bedtime snack. She had just read the scene where Hermione is crying in the girl's bathroom and almost gets pulverized by the troll.

"Excellent question," I said. "Why are they mean to her? What do you think the problem is?"

"Is it just because she's smart? What's wrong with being smart?"

"Are they mean to other people who are smart?" I nudged. "Like...oh...Percy?"

She frowned. "Well...they make fun of him a little...but no."

"They don't despise him they way they do her. Do they? Hmm," I say. "What's up, do you suppose?"

She gave me a suspicious look.

"What's the difference between Percy and Hermione?" I said. "I'll give you a hint. It's one word."

"Patriarchy?" she said, annoyed.

I grinned at her. "But don't worry. Harry and Ron get over it in a bit here and stop being patriarchal jerks. Well, mostly."

She scowled at the book. "It's not Hermione's fault she's a girl."

"Uh," I said. "Sweetie? There's nothing wrong with being a girl."

She kept scowling.

Fucking patriarchy.