'ain't i a woman?'

[subtle1science]

Still thinking about "The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe" (DWW)....This time, because I'm thinking how much I love Moffat's depiction of women in not only that episode, but the whole series run.  I like tuning in and feeling confident that I am not going to be insulted with, yet again, some stereotype of useless females.  Particularly useless

Comments

[suo_gan]

Thank you for this. You've articulated my thoughts better than I could have, because I would have descended into rant.

The body of Moffat's work in DW has been respectful of women, and men, not deviating into stereotypes. I agree that this was heavy handed, but not nearly as heavy handed as a randy old woman trying to pinch the Doctor's bum, or two companions fighting over him. That's the nadir.

In all, we've had a male nurse who shows superhuman courage and steadfastedness, a warrior/nurse who is really all about healing, a female warrior who is not motherly, but is an Athena, advising the Doctor with wisdom, and Amelia who grows from the trusting little girl to a woman capable of great strength and compassion. And an older goddess-type, who shows great compassion towards replicants. And then there's River, who defies categorization - nice hair, has her own gun, and the Doctor loves her.

I believe Moffat took the Nativity aspect of Christmas, filtered it through his own creative process and came up with Madge, who can carry worlds within. I suppose there are those who think we should find this misogynist, or at the very least sexist, but I don't. I don't think Moffat was defining all women by their reproductive status, I think he was saying at that time, and at that place, Madge who kept hearth and home together for her family was the strongest one. She was a fully mature woman, the one uniquely able to carry the life force. There might well have been better ways to describe the inability of the Doctor to carry them than 'weak', but I'm going to cut him slack and attribute it to a faulty translation of an alien concept. ;)

[subtle1science]

Or a harridan who does nothing but berate and criticize her own daughter--oh, wait: we had two of those....Donna's and Martha's mothers. The latter of whom turned her own daughter in to the authorities, too. Oh, wait--three: Rose's mother was no prize either: the sexually desperate, amazingly stupid, trashy Jackie. The middle-aged bitch who ran the London Torchwood, interchangeable with the middle-aged bitch who helped the rich, stereotyped obnoxious American guy hide the Dalek in his basement. Don't confuse them, of course, with the middle-aged bitch who was the nanny for the Adipose.

It sure ain't Moffat who's sexist.