In Salon, Christine Schoefer claims that the books are full of stereotyped characters following traditional male and female roles. Harry's world, she claims, is dominated by men, and women play only supporting roles. Some of her points are valid. Many of the characters are stereotypes -- there's the school bully, the deadly boring history teacher (so deadly, in fact, that he's actually a ghost), the sports-mad captain of the Quidditch team and so on. That Rowlings uses these clichés for humorous effect seems to have escaped Schoefer's notice, but in our politically correct world, humor is not always a desired quality. Safety is.

On the surface, the wizard world might seem suspect because it is run by men. The only members of the Ministry of Magic whom we meet are men. The wise and beloved school headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, is male; Professors Binns, Flitwick (who teaches the dancing pineapple tricks) and Snape (the silkily evil Potions teacher) are male. The Defense Against the Black Arts professors are all male. And the very female and very funny Professor Sibyll Trelawney, who teaches Fortune Telling, is most certainly an incompetent idiot, even if her doleful pronouncements often steal the show.

But that's only half the story. The Ministers of Magic may be men, but they all seem to be blundering idiots. As it turns out, most of the Defense Against the Black Arts teachers, male or not, are complete incompetents or have shady pasts. Professor Snape is the most hated teacher in the school. Professor Flitwick squeaks. Frequently. Adult males are usually -- to steal one of Rowlings' favorite words -- dunderheads. Indeed, the school's most respected and competent teachers are women. They include the tall, stern Professor McGonagall, who exudes authority but permits rule-breaking under certain conditions and harbors a sneaking love for sports. There are also several other female teachers -- Professor Spout, Madam Pomfrey and Madam Hooch. They play only bit parts, admittedly, but it's worth noting that Madam Hooch is the sports teacher and is as obsessed by racing brooms as any other boy or girl.

Speaking of sports, what about those attractive members of the Griffindor Quidditch team -- Chasers Alicia Spinnet, Katie Bell and Angelina Johnson? (Quidditch is the wizard form of soccer, with two major differences: It's played high in the air, and instead of one ball, the players have to worry about four.) Quidditch isn't just about catching the Golden Snitch -- to win the Cup, those Chasers must put the ball through the Quaffle, which apparently involves a lot of spectacular flying, darting around other flyers and dodging big black balls called Bludgers. It's painful and bloody, and the girls certainly get their share of it.

Granted, we don't hear much about Harry's distaff classmates Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil -- although Pavarti's few brief scenes do suggest that she has quite a fighting spirit. On the other hand, we don't hear a lot about Harry's other male classmates, Seamus Flannigan and Dean Thomas, either, even though they all sleep in the same dorm and could conceivably be joining in more of the adventures. If these characters don't turn up too often, it seems more for the sake of limiting confusion by focusing on only a few of the many students in the school. The only other classmates who do play a major role are the hapless Neville Longbottom, who can't even control a toad, and the school bully Draco Malfoy.

And, oh yes, two girls, Ginny and Hermione. Schoefer is dismayed by the portrayal of both girls, claiming that they reinforce stereotypes about girls -- they stay on the sidelines and don't get to go on adventures. There is some truth to this. Because the book centers on Harry, Hermione and Ginny play supporting roles in the book, roles that force them to be offscreen during the books' climactic moments against villains. But the same can be said for numerous other characters, including Harry's friend Ron and the wise professor Dumbledore. At the end of each book, Harry faces his enemies entirely alone.

But this hardly keeps girls on the sidelines. Hermione in particular accompanies Harry on nearly all of his adventures; as for Ginny, Schoefer's complaints take several quotes made about the girl out of context. The quotes Schoefer uses -- "Poor little Ginny," "the foolish little brat" and "all her pitiful troubles and woes" -- do indeed appear in the book, but they are all said by the villain, and the reader is not supposed to agree with or believe them. Other insults are made by Ginny's brothers and sound distressingly like the mean things brothers of that age tend to say. (I'll introduce you to mine, if you have any doubts.) Ginny, the shy younger sister of six boisterous older brothers, is one of the most touchingly portrayed characters in the books.

Maya Angelou reads from "The Heart of a Woman"