Putting a positive spin on it.

[amanuensis1]

I have decided that, if the film of GoF is uncanonically portraying Durmstrang and Beauxbatons as old-fashioned in their lack of co-educational status, this means that the homoerotica in both schools is rampant--and that Hogwarts is by comparison a hotbed of progressiveness and so there's even less homophobia there than we slashers pretend, in our giddy fandom brains.

So meh.

Comments

[chrysantza.livejournal.com]

Chapter 16 of GoF: "The boy with food all down his front nudged the girl next to him and pointed openly at Harry's forehead."

There's at least one girl amongst the Durmstrang crowd, and I think Harry or someone would have noticed if there were no, or only one, girl.

My surmise as to why wizarding schools were co-ed when so many other institutions of education were not was, among other things, the dangers of children's uncontrolled magic. Witches are just as powerful magically as wizards, and young witches need to be trained so as not to be a danger to themselves or others - unless some cultures have found a way to "squib-ify" girls or suppress their magic, and we have not heard of any such thing so far.

[malefics.livejournal.com]

Hee. I bow to your superior knowledge of the books. :D

And I agree that witches are just as powerful as wizards, and had to be always accepted as so. I do not, however, think that segregation of schools necessarily had as much to do with putting down women as all that. The ORIGINAL segregation of education did, because women didn't go to school at all. They were generally only educated in practical matters.

By the time there were schools for girls, my understanding is that their course content was relatively equal.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Ooh, you're good! I agreed that I thought Harry would have made an observation if it had been all boys but I hadn't been able to find a specific quote. Thank you!

[venivincere]

Except we still don't know, do they? They did sit down at a table full of Slytherins, and perhaps he was nudging a Slytherin girl?

[venivincere]

Er, we. Do we.