“You’d make a lousy feminist!”
My son’s words followed me down the garden path as I left. As a child of my generation, I am used to the changing face of the familiar, but his throwaway comment of, ‘It’s a female Doctor!’ had shocked me profoundly.
‘I suppose it had to happen eventually…’ and ‘Shouldn’t be allowed…’ were my immediate comments upon hearing the news. The thought of a female Doctor just seems plain wrong to someone who was around for the very first episode of Doctor Who. William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, John Pertwee and Tom Baker… it was bad enough when the face of the Doctor changed back then, but to have a sex change as well just doesn’t sit right, even though I know the storyline allows for it.
Personally, I gave up on Doctor Who after Tom Baker, though I did see the odd episode here and there. Even so, and although opinions vary on the acting, production and characterisation, Hartnell remains the Doctor for the child in me.
The parting rejoinder from my son, though, did make me think. He is quite right. In spite of the many battles I’ve fought for equal rights over the years, as a worker, a woman and as senior management, I would make a lousy feminist.
While I am a firm supporter of equal rights and the continuing need to address the political, economic, personal, and social discrepancies that still exist between the sexes, I am also of the opinion that the same level playing field should be extended beyond gender to include all human beings, not just women, regardless of ethnicity, religious affiliation or any other of the false separators that currently cause the divisions and inequalities between us.
I have been refused jobs on the stated grounds that, being a young woman, they wouldn’t want to waste their time training me, only to have me go off and have babies. I have been given jobs where I earned three quarters of the salary of the men I was employed to train. I remember the bra-burning years, when women fought to be allowed to do ‘men’s jobs’ such as working on building sites… and even demanded the right to work shirtless like their co-employees. I agree with wanting the right to be able do so, but have to question the practicalities of bra-less building, if only on safety grounds.
In the same way, the morals and social mores that have been acceptable for the male of the species from time immemorial should be equally permitted for women… sauce for the goose, and all that… but there are few things more unattractive than a drunken young woman, senseless and vomiting in the gutter outside a bar. Just because you can, doesn’t always mean you should…and it certainly doesn’t mean you must. Equal rights, in essence, means having the legal, political, social and economic right to make that choice for yourself.
I do not see roles as gender-defined… there are women who can hold a household together through the darkest times, wield an axe or a power drill, or reach the top of ambition’s ladder, just as there are men who are more tender mothers than their partners, and others who lead armies, in the workplace or on the battlefield. Who we allow ourselves to be should not depend upon the body we wear, its gender, age or race. The expectations of societal norms are moulds made to be broken.
Continue reading at The Silent Eye
Sue Vincent's Daily Echo 
I have seen many changes in my lifetime, some welcome and some not so much. I think women should be allowed to take on any role they want to handle, and have equal pay! Personally, I think the new Doctor Who will be a credit to the legend…
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I haven’t seen her play the part as I don’t have TV, but I do wish her the best of luck with it. Just doesn’t seem right somehow…
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That’s the thing about progress. Nothing seems right until you get used to it…
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And some things take a bit of getting used to 😉
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Reblogged this on Campbells World.
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Thanks for reblogging, Patty.
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I’m looking forward to seeing how she does. I hope the BBC are not using it as a ploy to stop the programme, if they get less viewers. I think we should give her a chance, and it’s also down to what scripts she gets.
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I don’t really have a say in this one as I haven’t watched TV in years… but nostaligia still clings to the early Doctors. I wish the actress the best of luck and hope she is given a good part to play, not used as either a gimmick, a sop or an excuse.
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I totally agree with you x
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Reblogged this on Viv Drewa – The Owl Lady.
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Thanks for sharing, Viv. Hugs xxx
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Yes, all that being true and also having been — and still being — a fighter for women’s rights — the Doctor has to be a man. He just HAS to be. Because there is such a thing as destiny, at least on television.
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I’m with you there, Marilyn.
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Unfortunately there’s this little problem … those accustomed to their positions of power, equality feels like oppression, and they will not give up that power willingly. The best we can hope for in our lifetimes, I think, is that enough women and men will awaken to their true Power, so the balance, the égalité you mentioned, has a chance to continue it’s blossoming.
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Typing one-handed whilst eating butter chicken and veg is not conducive to good grammar, both at the beginning of my comment and the end. 🙂
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I get your drift …and know the feeling (frequently…though usually with coffee or an insistent dog rather than chicken. She’s never let me type with chicken around 😉 )
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We’ve seen a lot of shifts in the past few decades… but the pendulum is still a little wild and wobbly 😉
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I know whereof you speak! I think different generations have different views of feminism. I know I don’t always agree with my daughter.
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Reblogged this on All in a Day's Breath and commented:
This is excellent. My feelings exactly. Look at all the Rosy the Riveters who served during WWII and I just read a researched article about women serving in the Civil War. I am sure that in every period, there have been women who showed that they could do whatever work they made up their minds to do. I know I always have. Yes, I have never understood why we have been treated like second-class citizens throughout history. Hopefully one of these days . . .
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