Man, I'm not quite sure if you mean what I think you mean when you reference the "crazier reaction" to Hermione and Ginny having kids-- what you come off as saying to me is that not liking the way almost all of the top female characters in HP had either had kids or died (after having kids) by the end. Let me know if that's how you intended your comment or not.
But, for the sake of the argument, I'd like to lay out my point of view, as one of those who might be seen to be having said crazier reaction. I have nothing against female characters having children; what I had a problem with was every single female character I cared about in the HP series going down that path.
Neither do I feel like motherhood disqualifies a woman as a potentially strong character. On the contrary, I loved and will always love Cordelia Naismith's portrayal in Barrayar (or was it Shards of Honor). I have a soft spot in my heart for Lily's stand. What I dislike is when that is the only model for female strength presented or upheld in a book or series.
For example, Cordelia was a damn fine soldier before she had Miles and kicked ass to protect him, and afterward, she was a force to be reckoned with in Barrayaran society. Lily was a damn fine, er, ah, er...did we even find out what her profession was before she had Harry? After, total pass on that, but before? I would sure have liked to hear more anecdotes about what she (and James, heh) were up to in that period where they supposedly defied Voldemort three times. I would have loved to see some defying, up close and personal. Instead, the most satisfying kind of defying I got to see up close was Narcissa, imho, and that was shaded as cowardly to some degree.
In conclusion, for me the sucky portrayal of female characters in HP is more the whole thing taken together than the individual parts. There's no one portrayal in the books that might not have been just fine on its own, or been fine when read together with everything else if it was cast in the right light. Lily The Passive is fine when balanced by Narcissa, Molly, Bella, Minerva, and Tonks The Collective Active, and so forth. But, uh, the only living, unmarried central-ish female character without children by the end of the story was Minerva, iirc. Like I said, the whole thing together just annoyed me a lot, especially when JKR keeps being held up as some kind of feminist idol. She herself may be someone to look up to, but her writing, and the way she wrote her female characters? Not so much.
When I think of female characters to look up to, I think of Sabriel. I think of Cordelia Naismith, of Buffy (and Anya!), of pretty much every female character Scott Westerfeld's ever written. Lily Potter? Eeehh, no. Same for pretty much every character in the books, save for maybe Narcissa and Minerva.
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But, for the sake of the argument, I'd like to lay out my point of view, as one of those who might be seen to be having said crazier reaction. I have nothing against female characters having children; what I had a problem with was every single female character I cared about in the HP series going down that path.
Neither do I feel like motherhood disqualifies a woman as a potentially strong character. On the contrary, I loved and will always love Cordelia Naismith's portrayal in Barrayar (or was it Shards of Honor). I have a soft spot in my heart for Lily's stand. What I dislike is when that is the only model for female strength presented or upheld in a book or series.
For example, Cordelia was a damn fine soldier before she had Miles and kicked ass to protect him, and afterward, she was a force to be reckoned with in Barrayaran society. Lily was a damn fine, er, ah, er...did we even find out what her profession was before she had Harry? After, total pass on that, but before? I would sure have liked to hear more anecdotes about what she (and James, heh) were up to in that period where they supposedly defied Voldemort three times. I would have loved to see some defying, up close and personal. Instead, the most satisfying kind of defying I got to see up close was Narcissa, imho, and that was shaded as cowardly to some degree.
In conclusion, for me the sucky portrayal of female characters in HP is more the whole thing taken together than the individual parts. There's no one portrayal in the books that might not have been just fine on its own, or been fine when read together with everything else if it was cast in the right light. Lily The Passive is fine when balanced by Narcissa, Molly, Bella, Minerva, and Tonks The Collective Active, and so forth. But, uh, the only living, unmarried central-ish female character without children by the end of the story was Minerva, iirc. Like I said, the whole thing together just annoyed me a lot, especially when JKR keeps being held up as some kind of feminist idol. She herself may be someone to look up to, but her writing, and the way she wrote her female characters? Not so much.
When I think of female characters to look up to, I think of Sabriel. I think of Cordelia Naismith, of Buffy (and Anya!), of pretty much every female character Scott Westerfeld's ever written. Lily Potter? Eeehh, no. Same for pretty much every character in the books, save for maybe Narcissa and Minerva.