Unicorns are mentioned in PS/SS when unicorns were being slayed by Voldemort in order to remain in his half life state by drinking their blood. Unicorns are also mentioned in Goblet of Fire during Care of Magical Creatures. What intrigues me though, as a reader, is why do adult unicorns prefer the attention of females? Does this have anything to do with their magical abilities in general?

And the opposite is true of foal unicorns. They aren't as afraid of the male students, and Hagrid allows the male students to pet the foal unicorns.

In addition, I've always wondered why unicorns are seen as being defenseless creatures. Would they not defend themselves if under attack? Are they too pure of heart to try to defend themselves, even in the face of death?

So what do you think

Have fun

Full-grown unicorns prefer women because women are less likely to hurt them. Women really are the gentler, less violent gender. Less testosterone + more estrogen = less violent, more nurturing. So if unicorns really are totally defenseless, then naturally they would avoid men, since a man is far more likely than a woman to hunt them down and kill them. I'm not sure what, if anything, this preference has to do with their magical abilities, though. I mean, women may be the gentler sex, but that doesn't mean women are innocent and defenseless, like unicorns. So it can't be that unicorns regard women as kindred spirits or something.

I remember reading The Once and Future King when I was about fourteen, and I remember that in that world, a unicorn would only come to a virgin female...not just any female. I'm glad J.K. did away with the virgin requirement in her world, though, since I find it rather insulting.

I guess the foals don't mind boys because they are too young to know better yet? I dunno.

I do wonder how they can be defenseless, though, when they've got that great big horn, perfect for goring people.

The idea that unicorns could only be tamed by virgins is found in several different cultures throughout history (according to Wikipedia). I'm not entirely sure why this is true and have yet to find an answer as to why this idea came about, especially since this particular creature has been described as anything but "beautiful" or "pure" in some ancient cultures. In fact, Marco Polo described the unicorn as being much like a Rhinoceros. I'll keep digging and get back to you!

During the Middle Ages the unicorn was a symbol for purity (and later on for Jesus Himself). Legend had it that only by using a maiden as a bait they could be captured. Maybe JKR is playing with this tradition.

Ms_Linnea_Snape has a point, but I hope you allow me to go on a tangent there. It is said that women discovered agriculture while men hunted. I think that the fact that men are more associated with hunting than women is something not to be overlooked.

However, I believe unicorns are not defenseless. In fact, I got the impression that the reason why Prof. Grubbly-Plank did not let the guys get next to the foals first was her student's wellbeing. I might be wrong about that, but even then, I don't think unicorns are "defenseless", maybe they are just non confrontational.

Unicorns' preference for (virgin) women has long been a generalization about how the female gender is much more kind/gentle than men. I think it's rather silly that Rowling keeps to that tradition, considering how "equal" women and men are usually displayed in her stories.

No more insulting, I'm sure, than I find the entire male gender being stereotyped as violent and untrustworthy. In fact, I think it's rather biased to keep the border between the sexes, but throw out the relation between innocence and sexuality.

I agree with Crimson Artist. When one has known people like Rita, Umbridge and Bellatrix, one wouldn't loosely speak about the female sex being more gentle and nurturing. Dumbledore, Remus, Harry and many other men are shown to be very kind, considerate and caring in the HP world in contrast with Voldemort and Co and it is so with the real world too. One generally assumes things based upon one's experiences. Not only that, a very notable naturalist disagrees with the female + gentle theory. He said : The female of the species is deadlier than the male.

Coming to the defence question, I do not think Unicorns are as defenceless as they are projected to be. Ollivander remarked once the a Unicorn nearly gored him to death after he plucked out one of its tail hairs. I see Unicorns as creatures that keep mostly to themslves and are never aggressive unless provoked. Of course, that applies to a lot of animals. But perhaps Unicorns are thought to be defenceless because the instances of Unicorns attacking humans are extremely rare and are known to shy away from people 99% of the cases thus obviating any unpleasantness.

I assume you are referring to the same "notable naturalist" who wrote, "The White Man's Burden," about how it is the responsibility of the white race to educate and take care of all the brown savages. Perhaps we ought to take his word with a grain of salt...

Women really are less violent than men. That is a fact. And it is a fact that is very closely related to the traditional gender roles: men hunt, women nest. So it makes perfect sense that unicorns would prefer females, since females have been traditionally less likely to hunt them down and kill them.

Nobody ever said women were "nicer" than men, nor did anybody say that it was impossible for a woman to be violent and cruel. Only that in general, as a species-wide rule, women are less violent, and more nurturing.



I don't see why you should be insulted by the biases of a wild animal. My younger cat, the little black one, doesn't like men. Particularly tall men. I assume it's because she was hurt or abused by a man when she was a stray kitten. How is this any different than the unicorns' bias? They're animals. They're not supposed to think rationally. Their thought process is, "Men have traditionally hurt us, and women have traditionally not hurt us. Therefore, women are safe, men are bad." You can't expect unicorns to have complex thoughts like, "Well, given how modern society has affected traditional gender roles...etc., etc..."



I don't know about women being kinder, but as I said before, I do say that they are less violent. So I don't find the "unicorns only come to women" thing insulting.

I do find the "unicorns only come to virgin women" insulting, since the implication is that any non-virgin woman is tainted and dirty. This is insulting because non-virgin men are not also regarded as tainted and dirty. Only women.

Linnea

Adult unicorns I think like females because females have warm, soft and welcoming hearts there motherly quality attracts them. Fouls maybe like males because they need a strong had that some men have.
rules
i Draco

Then why would you?
"I'm glad J.K. did away with the virgin requirement in her world, though, since I find it rather insulting."

If this particular stereotype is simply the view of a wild animal, then you (or Rowling) should be no more insulted than I am. However, it is a fictional wild animal, and its characteristics are created by people and not by reality. So if a unicorn is prejudiced against men, it is because the writer wants it to be and not because it's a wild animal that would fear men. Most animals in real life do not fear men--at least none that I've ever known specifically, and certainly not an entire species--and, while you could argue again that unicorns are capable of at least some rational thought (and can somehow connect that men hunt and women nest), then they wouldn't be termed "wild." And, further, if they were that rational, they would notice that a wand is no more powerful in a man's hand than in a woman's.

And yet all men are treated equally tainted and dirty, virgin and non-virgin alike. The female gender still gets the upper hand.

But the virgin requirement isn't the conceit of one specific writer. As Ginerva86 pointed out, the idea that unicorns could be tamed by virgins is one that spans many different cultures. Which suggests that idea is acceptable, even plausible, to millions and millions of people. Which is what I find insulting: not that one person thought of it, but that millions and millions of people had no problem believing it.

It is true that the unicorns' fear of men is J.K.'s decision, not the unicorns'. However, it is also true that the idea that women are less violent than men is one which has at least some basis in reality. However, the idea that virgins are somehow clean, and non-virgins somehow tainted and dirty, makes absolutely no logical sense at all.



Oh, great news. Really makes up for the fact that a woman still earns seventy-five cents for every man's dollar...

The fact that sexism in the real world has prevented women from exceeding is no excuse for sexism against men, imo, fictional or not.

So I'm guessing it's entirely impossible for a magical unicorn to tell if a woman's been with the all-feared man, is it? To me, it's equally logical.

Well, the second post says it all:


Besides that
When I read about unicorns and girls, I inmediately thought in the fact that almost all girls have a weakness for unicorns, pegasus and horses.

At least I am on that package, any kind of horses (Ponys, Pegasus, Unicorns) are my weakness, definitely.