featherxquill

Well said. I've ranted about the not-so-subtle sexism involved in the Mary Sue witch-hunting before, so I'll try to keep this brief, but I'd venture to say that a LOT of the female characters in fanfic who get labeled "Mary Sues" wouldn't raise an eyebrow if they were male. The idea that women are not supposed to be Good At Stuff is so ingrained in pop culture that people actually miss the fact that in the Potterverse, they are; JKR has given us, as of OotP, an excellent cast of interesting and competent female canon characters. (Of course, quite a few readers, under the influence of too much fanfic, insist on labeling Hermione / Ginny / Tonks / Luna "canon Sues" -- an accusation I have never heard anyone level at Bill or Cedric or Sirius. But that is another rant for another time.)