rogueslayer452 | Just some food for thought.

I always found it interesting that Harry Potter fans are well aware how flawed, archaic and damaging the Hogwarts Housing system is, as there's been plenty of discussions/essays/metas about how no House defines who you are, and yet for some reason the fandom itself becomes so intensely focused about which House they belong to. We take it so seriously that it actually becomes part of critical debate when deciding which fictional character from other fandoms gets sorted into which House, even more so then for ourselves.

It's similar to horoscopes, in a way. Most people know horoscopes are bullshit because the descriptions are so incredibly generic it could mean anything for anyone regardless what sign you looked at, and yet whenever we come across them we cannot help ourselves from looking at the description for our particular sign and when we see something that we personally agree and associate with, there's a little sense of validation and being like, "yeah, that is so me."

Just a random observation that I found fascinating, is all.

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I've noticed that as well. Although I keep seeing sign stuff on my Tumblr and I'm like 'no, science is not my favourite subject, you are wrong' and there's a lot of descriptions that are coming up all wrong lately, so I'm pretty sure half of Tumblr is full of shite. ;)

lol, I think most of those Tumblr posts are more tongue-in-cheek than anything. I laugh at some of the ones that are intentionally being mocking of the whole trend. But regardless, I still find myself looking at all of them and seeing which ones I fall under. Heh. :3

I have conflicting feelings. On the one hand, I kinda see it as being one of those things that, despite the many mature themes in the HP books, definitely keeps them in the middle grade category. (Don't get me wrong, I love them, but there's a lot of "oh right, this is for kids" reminders.)

However, I do also think it can be seen as more complicated than it first appears - the problem is the books don't delve into that much. Gryffindors tend to choose a "knight" and follow him or her and that legion. This is usually a desirable trait as it means you're generally selfless, so you get "good" out of it. But Peter and Percy's knights and legions were the worst. The reasons people follow their "legions" don't have to be good. Slytherins, meanwhile, tend to think of themselves and have a narrow list of priorities when it comes to other people. But this doesn't have to make you a bad person - but if you're mostly looking out for yourself and one other person, it might make you do bad things. And so forth. That's what I get out of the books, anyway - not sure it really could be applied to RL.

We do sometimes look for things that aren't there, true. Especially when you notice that sometimes traits will actually be the same thing, but with different wording, or they'll be quite generic once you take away certain wording.

Edited 2015-03-31 17:27 (UTC)

I agree. I feel the same way about the personality tests--like Enneagram and Myers Briggs--but I guess those are slightly more scientific and accurate? Hmm.

That's actually a good point, because I've taken the Myers Briggs test a few times and I've gotten at least two different types (though they both generally were underneath the same umbrella type, just with a little difference); but it does bring into question personality tests online that happen to supposedly based on scientific research.

I feel the same way about the personality tests.

All of this is true. And yet I do find sorting quizzes fun.

Yeah, and I think because there are so many different sorting tests out there that it makes you curious which House you'll get each time. I also found it hilarious seeing the different reactions on what House people got when they took the test on Pottermore, because since it was created by JKR it meant it was "official", lol.

Even though I'm personally not into doing this, simply because I've never been that much into the Harry Potter fandom itself, that is so very true, actually. And I totally get why people find it so interesting/are so into it.

Yeah, people are obsessed with labels.

I think the fascination with categorizing ourselves is that it shows what facet we value most about our personalities. True, everyone is brave, ambitious, loyal and intelligent (just to sum them up in one word), but I think we all place more value in each aspect differently.

For instance, if a person believes that loyalty and patience are not necessarily more important but better suited to their personality, identifying with Hufflepuff (house pride!lol) is a clear message to everyone that that is what the person feels compelled to show and work on the most. It's sort of like wearing a t-shirt for your favorite fandom. You like other fandoms, but that one is your favorite. I've found that house pride often reflects what a person values most in other people as well.

As for applying Hogwarts housing to other fandoms, I see that as merely a character study. Every character can be placed in other houses, but people have an opinion on which house they'd be placed in and just go with it. It's sort of like fanfiction/fanart. It's just a fun thing.

The danger is, of course, if we let our house qualities define us and completely ignore the other qualities. That's not a good thing, obviously, as is anything that could leave a person or fandom feeling conflicted.

Oh dear, I've rambled. I hope I haven't confused you about my opinion on this! lol

Awesome observation!

Don't worry, you haven't confused me at all! :)

As for applying Hogwarts housing to other fandoms, I see that as merely a character study.

This is quite true. I've seen some interesting analyses examining why certain characters would be perfect for a particular House based on their characteristics and what they've done in their respective canons and apply accordingly. I've done it myself for some characters. It can be very insightful on seeing these reasons, and comparing notes with others about where they would sort them, etc. Of course, it can lead to using the House stereotypes and arguments over inaccurate characterizations and such. But overall it's still interesting nonetheless.

The danger is, of course, if we let our house qualities define us and completely ignore the other qualities. That's not a good thing, obviously, as is anything that could leave a person or fandom feeling conflicted.

I completely agree.

It's kind of why I've adopted the combining of House names, like Slytherclaw or Gryffinpuff. Sometimes you don't fit into a particular box, and that's okay.

I have noticed that as well but I have took sorting quizes just for fun.

I do that as well, just to see which House I'd get. I just like seeing the variety of questions each quiz has, and sometimes you'll notice a particular pattern in some of them.

It's weird how out of everything in the series, the one with the most staying power, or at the least in regards to showing up in other fandoms, is the House sorting. And while it sort of works with characters, if only because characters are for all intents, fictional constructions, not real people, etc, but the importance that's given to it is so strange? Like, who cares if X is a Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff? It's a canonical fact that the sorting process is far from exact, scientific or trustworthy without getting into the issues of houses.

I just lump it into the same category as the Myers-Briggs test, which just gets a resound 'meh' from me.

the metaphor of horoscopes and the houses is so on point. i never really considered it before but it's true.

curious, where do you think you'd belong? i'm a hufflepuff i feel haha

I honestly felt like I'm very Slytherin myself, though I don't know whether it's because I want to be or not. I've taken quite a handful of sorting tests and have gotten a variety of answers, lol. Though mostly, I feel Slytherin in my bones.

Just some food for thought.

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