A Scandal in Fandom: Steven Moffat, Irene Adler, and the Fannish Gaze

[jblum]

The thing about the latest round of "Is Steven Moffat sexist?" that's currently flapping round the blogosphere, is that if within the same week you can manage to get accused of hating women by a Guardian blogger, and simultaneously accused of championing women and hating men in the Christmas special by the Daily Mail ... you're probably doing

Comments

[kattahj]

The thing with patterns, though, is that there can be more than one of them simultaneously, and sometimes contradicting ones. I found your post baffling in that it suggested that Matt Smith's Doctor was any ruder to his companions than any of the previous ones, and frankly insulting in that it suggested that the only reason fans could still stick around was for the men).

Moffat has some largely problematic ideas about women, yet he simultaneously writes female characters that I love with all my heart. (Though I admit that this doesn't cover Sherlock, which I've mostly found "meh" on all counts, but I've loved pretty much all women in four of his other shows.) This to me is no stranger than that Aaron Sorkin could simultaneously write fantastic female characters in West Wing and keep undercutting them with sexist remarks, or that Joss Whedon can be a feminist and still have no surviving female characters older than forty.

It is absolutely valid to stop enjoying a show because of problematic elements. I did it - with other problematic elements - back in previous seasons. But don't assume that you know what our preferences are just because they don't match yours.