Feminist Theory and New Doctor Who
May. 14th, 2010 02:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dweomeroflightI posted this annonymously for my feminist theory class online but I thought I'd pop it here for some interesting discussion. Under cut link for bloody long list of thoughts :P
I wasn't sure where to post this Rebecca, but basically there has been alot of online conjecture about the new season of Doctor Who and wether or not it conveys a feminist message (I personally think yes) and alot of ideas around feminist debate from class were coming up so I thought I'd post it here.
I will discuss the characters of new companion Amy Pond and recurring controversial character River Song. If people wish to read this but do not know what I am talking about, you can get a basic understanding of the characters discussed by going to the ABC website, clicking on TV, then iview, then Time of Angels. The first 5-10 mins of the episode should be enough to get an understanding of what I'm on about.
Ok, so first off, there has been much feminist debate surrounding the character of Amy Pond. Is she sexist or feminist? being the crux of the matter. The debate is to do with sexuality. Amy from the first is someone at home with sex- she wears short mini skirts and her professional job is that of kissogram (from what I can gather, someone who gets paid to go to parties and kiss men there). Some feminists argue that she is a sexist character because she is so highly sexualised ie she is there to be the object of the male gaze and to pander to male heterosexual fantasies.
On the other hand (and I'm in this camp), there is the feminist view that because Amy is confortable with her sexuality she is actually empowering. Amy does not use her sexuality to get what she wants with men or as a way to have control (or at least not so far); she instead is highly intelligent and problem solves to save herself. In fact, The Doctor is usually reliant on her for solutions to a problem. Her sexuality is something used for herself alone (ties into theories of pleasure centred sex?). Also, from what we know about Amy, she chose to be a kissogram and is comfortable with this choice and therefore she had agency when she chose that job. On top of this, Amy is "sexy" but that is not her whole character. In fact, Karen Gillan plays her as a girl who is out for a fun adventure and is caught up in the whole fantastical-ness of her experiences, not as a girl concerned with if the men around her admire her (again indicating her security in her sexuality)
Further food for thought. Feminist ire was raised when The Daily Mail printed an article in the UK claiming that Amy was a slut because of what she wore. Feminists were asking questions such as Is there really a link between what women wear and how they behave sexually? Or is this labelling simply a way for a patriachal society to control women and put them into a definable place? Why is it not ok for women to be comfortable with their sexuality? If you want to elaborate on this feel free :) This reminded me alot in fact of feminist debate around prostitution.
Secondly I wanted to discuss the recurring character of River Song, easily one of the most feminist characters to hit TV in a long while. Most feminists do not debate that River Song is a feminist character, but rather ask questions about how she upsets gender norms and speculate on why she is disliked (fandom both loves and hates her).
River Song is sexy and presumably knows it undermining the gendered age discrimination problem (referring to the 'if you're over 40 and not hot you won't get cast' line of thought) evident in both TV and film. For the record, Alex Kingston who plays River Song is currently 47 and isn't conventionally attractive. River Song has her own profession in archeology. She is smart and also knows it, she is confident and knows her own value.
Interestingly, she has all of the power in her relationship with The Doctor. She knows exactly where they're going, while he must depend on her for information that she chooses to give him (She knows him, he does not know her). She is no damsel in distress, but she is also sure of The Doctor's affection for her eg when she jumps into space to have the doctor appear with the TARDIS she is confident he will be there on time. She can fly the TARDIS, shoots The Doctor down when he gets too egotistical, speaks his language fluently and is never jealous of the current companion that he is travelling with. For example, when she and Amy Pond meet neither is jealous of the other, but rather chat as friends and even have a moment where they joke about The Doctor behind his back. Amy does not try to prove The Doctor's affection for her to River but rather asks for information to add to the knowledge that she already has for her own purposes and River does not resent Amy travelling with The Doctor.
Despite this, Doctor Who fandom is split down the middle about River Song with people's dislike of her largely relating to statements such as "She's too arrogant and smug." Alot of women don't like her oddly enough. Feminists argue that this dislike largely comes about because River undermines the gender dichotomy. She is not weak, passive, dependant, or powerless; traditional realms of the feminine. In fact, she adopts male traits of strength, power and arrogance. This leads to questions such as why is it ok for the alpha white male (The Doctor) to be arrogant and smug (especially pertinent when you consider that David Tennant was largely like this and one of the most popular Doctor's to date), and yet when a woman adopts these traits she becomes a bitchy shrew?
Feminists argue further that viewers are not comfortable with River as a character because she completely subverts traditional views of gender. She is comfortable wearing lip stick, a black dress, killer heels and carrying a handbag, but at the same time she is also comfortable wearing military uniform and carrying a gun. However, whilst in military uniform she still wears jewelry and make up. In season four she is depicted as nuturing, loving and compassionate. In other words, she isn't a case of failed femininity, nor is she judged for how she acts by others in the show.
The scriptwriter (interestingly a male), has written River Song as a character who is both deeply feminine; someone who is kind and nurturing (seen is her episodes in season four), but also someone who makes her own choices and sacrifices based on what she wants, someone who is powerful, confident, active and someone who has all of the control in her relationship (that is not to say it is not a consensual relationship). In other words, she adopts both masculine and feminine traits depending on circumstance. This makes River someone who not only undermines gender stereotypes, but also someone who transcends them, making people uncomfortable when faced with her character.
I hope someone out there followed all of this and congratulations for reading all of this if you get to here! Also, if anyone is interested there is also some interesting stuff out there on Doctor Who and queer theory based around Jack Harkness and his spin off Torchwood, a bit of which also relates to River Song.
Feel free to comment.
I wasn't sure where to post this Rebecca, but basically there has been alot of online conjecture about the new season of Doctor Who and wether or not it conveys a feminist message (I personally think yes) and alot of ideas around feminist debate from class were coming up so I thought I'd post it here.
I will discuss the characters of new companion Amy Pond and recurring controversial character River Song. If people wish to read this but do not know what I am talking about, you can get a basic understanding of the characters discussed by going to the ABC website, clicking on TV, then iview, then Time of Angels. The first 5-10 mins of the episode should be enough to get an understanding of what I'm on about.
Ok, so first off, there has been much feminist debate surrounding the character of Amy Pond. Is she sexist or feminist? being the crux of the matter. The debate is to do with sexuality. Amy from the first is someone at home with sex- she wears short mini skirts and her professional job is that of kissogram (from what I can gather, someone who gets paid to go to parties and kiss men there). Some feminists argue that she is a sexist character because she is so highly sexualised ie she is there to be the object of the male gaze and to pander to male heterosexual fantasies.
On the other hand (and I'm in this camp), there is the feminist view that because Amy is confortable with her sexuality she is actually empowering. Amy does not use her sexuality to get what she wants with men or as a way to have control (or at least not so far); she instead is highly intelligent and problem solves to save herself. In fact, The Doctor is usually reliant on her for solutions to a problem. Her sexuality is something used for herself alone (ties into theories of pleasure centred sex?). Also, from what we know about Amy, she chose to be a kissogram and is comfortable with this choice and therefore she had agency when she chose that job. On top of this, Amy is "sexy" but that is not her whole character. In fact, Karen Gillan plays her as a girl who is out for a fun adventure and is caught up in the whole fantastical-ness of her experiences, not as a girl concerned with if the men around her admire her (again indicating her security in her sexuality)
Further food for thought. Feminist ire was raised when The Daily Mail printed an article in the UK claiming that Amy was a slut because of what she wore. Feminists were asking questions such as Is there really a link between what women wear and how they behave sexually? Or is this labelling simply a way for a patriachal society to control women and put them into a definable place? Why is it not ok for women to be comfortable with their sexuality? If you want to elaborate on this feel free :) This reminded me alot in fact of feminist debate around prostitution.
Secondly I wanted to discuss the recurring character of River Song, easily one of the most feminist characters to hit TV in a long while. Most feminists do not debate that River Song is a feminist character, but rather ask questions about how she upsets gender norms and speculate on why she is disliked (fandom both loves and hates her).
River Song is sexy and presumably knows it undermining the gendered age discrimination problem (referring to the 'if you're over 40 and not hot you won't get cast' line of thought) evident in both TV and film. For the record, Alex Kingston who plays River Song is currently 47 and isn't conventionally attractive. River Song has her own profession in archeology. She is smart and also knows it, she is confident and knows her own value.
Interestingly, she has all of the power in her relationship with The Doctor. She knows exactly where they're going, while he must depend on her for information that she chooses to give him (She knows him, he does not know her). She is no damsel in distress, but she is also sure of The Doctor's affection for her eg when she jumps into space to have the doctor appear with the TARDIS she is confident he will be there on time. She can fly the TARDIS, shoots The Doctor down when he gets too egotistical, speaks his language fluently and is never jealous of the current companion that he is travelling with. For example, when she and Amy Pond meet neither is jealous of the other, but rather chat as friends and even have a moment where they joke about The Doctor behind his back. Amy does not try to prove The Doctor's affection for her to River but rather asks for information to add to the knowledge that she already has for her own purposes and River does not resent Amy travelling with The Doctor.
Despite this, Doctor Who fandom is split down the middle about River Song with people's dislike of her largely relating to statements such as "She's too arrogant and smug." Alot of women don't like her oddly enough. Feminists argue that this dislike largely comes about because River undermines the gender dichotomy. She is not weak, passive, dependant, or powerless; traditional realms of the feminine. In fact, she adopts male traits of strength, power and arrogance. This leads to questions such as why is it ok for the alpha white male (The Doctor) to be arrogant and smug (especially pertinent when you consider that David Tennant was largely like this and one of the most popular Doctor's to date), and yet when a woman adopts these traits she becomes a bitchy shrew?
Feminists argue further that viewers are not comfortable with River as a character because she completely subverts traditional views of gender. She is comfortable wearing lip stick, a black dress, killer heels and carrying a handbag, but at the same time she is also comfortable wearing military uniform and carrying a gun. However, whilst in military uniform she still wears jewelry and make up. In season four she is depicted as nuturing, loving and compassionate. In other words, she isn't a case of failed femininity, nor is she judged for how she acts by others in the show.
The scriptwriter (interestingly a male), has written River Song as a character who is both deeply feminine; someone who is kind and nurturing (seen is her episodes in season four), but also someone who makes her own choices and sacrifices based on what she wants, someone who is powerful, confident, active and someone who has all of the control in her relationship (that is not to say it is not a consensual relationship). In other words, she adopts both masculine and feminine traits depending on circumstance. This makes River someone who not only undermines gender stereotypes, but also someone who transcends them, making people uncomfortable when faced with her character.
I hope someone out there followed all of this and congratulations for reading all of this if you get to here! Also, if anyone is interested there is also some interesting stuff out there on Doctor Who and queer theory based around Jack Harkness and his spin off Torchwood, a bit of which also relates to River Song.
Feel free to comment.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2011-04-08 10:29 pm (UTC)Also, if anyone is interested there is also some interesting stuff out there on Doctor Who and queer theory based around Jack Harkness and his spin off Torchwood, a bit of which also relates to River Song.
If you wouldn't mind, could you direct me towards this, please? I'd love to read up on this.
no subject
Date: 2011-04-13 01:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-04-13 03:05 am (UTC)