Hi Everybodeeeeeee *Kermit Flail*

[charliesmum]

I'm sitting here at the fiance's house, playing on my laptop while he's out getting coffee with his BFF, as he does on Sunday.

I keep thinking I want to write an essay on Stephen Moffatt and his female characters, to address how I feel about the accusations of him being a bit of a mysoginsit, but it would be something that would take more thought and care than I currently feel like giving it at the present time.

What I will say, though, is we have to be careful about creating what we think a woman 'ought' to be. Is there a resaon someone can't make women who are smart, clever, adventurous and yet would still like to get married and have babies?

I always felt that feminism was about a woman having a choice in what her role would be. In a perfect world, everyone would have a choice, even. If a man wanted to be the stay at home dad, he could do that without people thinking he's a loser or a layabout, and if a woman decided she wants to stay at home and tend to the house, she won't be considered setting the movementn back 50 years.

I was never built to have a 'career' I think; but I made choices in my life that made it impossible for me to do the housewife thing. I think I'd have been happier if I could have done that; I really do.

I have friends who have amazing careers and couldn't imagine them giving that up when they had children, so they beccame working mother's, and did a good job of it.

And I have a few friends who were stay-at-home mothers, because that's what they choose to do.

Are the working women better than the ones who didn't follow a career? No. The only idiot in that bunch was me, because I didn't know what the heck I wanted to be when I grew up when it was time to grow up. But I don't regret it. I am what I am, and all.

Sorry I got rambly anyway. I'd love to know everyone else's thoughts on this, and female characters in Doctor Who and other fandoms, and whatever else you may feel like sharing.

Ready...go.

Comments

[lareinenoire.livejournal.com]

I always felt that feminism was about a woman having a choice in what her role would be. In a perfect world, everyone would have a choice, even. If a man wanted to be the stay at home dad, he could do that without people thinking he's a loser or a layabout, and if a woman decided she wants to stay at home and tend to the house, she won't be considered setting the movementn back 50 years.

This. Exactly this.

Feminism should be about conforming to pre-existing standards; it should be about making those standards irrelevant and obsolete. If a woman wants to devote her time to being a mother or a man to being a father, there shouldn't be any stigma attached to that--after all, isn't that just as much a full-time career as anything else? It isn't my choice but I would never dream of looking down on someone else for doing so--it's what my grandmothers did and at least in part what my own mother did when she gave up a surgical practice for a field of medicine that would give her shift work instead of being on call all the time. I am in the lucky position of having a husband who would be a stay-at-home father if my job paid well enough to support us fully (which sadly it does not and most likely never will) and who is more than happy to split household chores with me when we're both working.

As for Steven Moffat, I have never fully understood why people think he's any worse of a misogynist than anybody else in the entertainment industry. Does he objectify women? Sometimes, but no worse than anyody else--a great counterexample, I thought, was Irene Adler on Sherlock, who clearly used her sexuality as a tool but that was it. A tool. (Of course the last five minutes bothered me but I'm willing to accept that it was 98% of a fantastic episode.) And, yes, it's a bit annoying that River Song went from being utterly amazing in those first few episodes (and even in most of Series 5) to defining herself based on the Doctor, but, again, I don't want to jettison her character altogether.

Whenever I run across a "Moffat is a misogynist" thread, I always feel guilty that I don't agree with it because it makes me a bad feminist. I feel the same way when I dress up or wear skirts or care about my appearance or let a man help me with my luggage in an airport. But even as I feel it, I know that feeling isn't correct--because isn't the point of feminism that there is no wrong way to be a woman?

[finmagik.livejournal.com]

Irene Adler in the ACD canon was implied to be a Courtesan that's what Adventuress meant. And everyone gets in over their head. I didn't quite like it. But I liked the fact it mean her and Sherlock could be together and potentionally have sexy times.