April292012
goldenheartedrose: [image description:  Black box with a photo of Dobby the house elf in the upper left hand corner.  White text reads: “I’m not convinced Hermione was right.  It’s not a black & white issue.  The people who treat them badly are horrible people, without question, but who are we to tell the elves how they should live their lives? Our idea of freedom might not be their idea of freedom.  They enjoy working without pay.  Winky fell into severe depression when “freed”.  The Hogwarts elves freaked out when Hermione tried to impose her concept of freedom on them.  Dobby was happy, but the other elves weren’t inspired by his lifestyle, they were repulsed.  Even when shown a happy alternative, they chose to remain the same. People always fall back on the fact that “it’s all they know.”  But as we saw with Dobby, they have the mental prowess to imagine a different life.  They’ve got the power to leave.  Their “slavery” is basically self-imposed. If they CAN imagine a different life, and they CAN leave, how come Dobby was the only one to do it? Isn’t it possible that they truly do not WANT our kind of freedom? Isn’t it possible that they just don’t work the same way we do?] I’ve been saying some of this for a long time — that Hermione was basically trying to speak for the house elves, rather than trying to give them their own voice, and that’s not really okay.  

goldenheartedrose:

[image description:  Black box with a photo of Dobby the house elf in the upper left hand corner.  White text reads: “I’m not convinced Hermione was right.  It’s not a black & white issue.  The people who treat them badly are horrible people, without question, but who are we to tell the elves how they should live their lives? Our idea of freedom might not be their idea of freedom.  They enjoy working without pay.  Winky fell into severe depression when “freed”.  The Hogwarts elves freaked out when Hermione tried to impose her concept of freedom on them.  Dobby was happy, but the other elves weren’t inspired by his lifestyle, they were repulsed.  Even when shown a happy alternative, they chose to remain the same.

People always fall back on the fact that “it’s all they know.”  But as we saw with Dobby, they have the mental prowess to imagine a different life.  They’ve got the power to leave.  Their “slavery” is basically self-imposed. If they CAN imagine a different life, and they CAN leave, how come Dobby was the only one to do it? Isn’t it possible that they truly do not WANT our kind of freedom?

Isn’t it possible that they just don’t work the same way we do?]

I’ve been saying some of this for a long time — that Hermione was basically trying to speak for the house elves, rather than trying to give them their own voice, and that’s not really okay.  

(Source: harrypotterconfessions)

social justice rage and brilliance critical fandom thought 

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