A British politician was triggered by Jodie Whittaker’s version of The Doctor and we’d like to take this moment to play him the world’s smallest violin. Because this right here is the epitome of fragile masculinity rearing its ugly head disguised as worry over the young Doctor Who and now look up to a woman, as if that’s bad. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. First up, what the British politician who shall not be named said.
Apparently, this fragile man was worried about the trend of women playing male roles. He was worried about a trend he’s been seeing, ranging from Ghostbusters to Doctor Who. In his mind, this has created a vacuum where young men have no one to look up to. And their only recourse is to look up to male characters on shows like Peaky Blinders. While of course led to this gem, “Is there any wonder we are seeing so many young men committing crime?”
To say we are baffled is an understatement.
Many of us here at Fangirlish are women or female-identifying. And we grew watching men take the helm. There were no role models for us. And when women were around, they were secondary to the male character. And did we flip out and start committing crimes and looking up to violent women? No, we didn’t. We started advocating for our own role models that represented our interests/experiences and we started creating our own works.
So, this fragile man, complaining about the “lack” of male characters for young men to look up to is sad bullshit that trivializes progress, innovation, and the amazing work that characters like Princess Leia, Storm, Wonder Woman, Ellen Ripley, Nyota Uhura, and more have done to make young women feel seen for the first time in their lives. And Jodie Whittaker’s The Doctor has become one of those iconic characters.
In his words, “There seems to be a call from a tiny, but very vocal, minority that every male character or good role model must have a female replacement,” Fletcher continued. “In recent years we have seen Doctor Who, Ghostbusters, Luke Skywalker, The Equaliser, all replaced by women.” This isn’t about replacing men with women. This is about leveling the playing field and making everyone feel seen. Because that’s how equality really happens.
And it’s equally frustrating that this man with the fragile masculinity of shriveled-up raisin thinks that we as women have some secret plan to oust male role models. This isn’t our secret agenda. Again, we want equality and to feel seen. And it’s not just us. There are plenty of men out there in the world who are comfortable with who they are as men and stand next to us, aware that their daughters, mothers, and friends deserve to see themselves in the content they consume.
Using Doctor Who to make a point in a public arena…well, all it did was backfire on you and show how fragile your masculinity is and how you don’t think that women can influence young men in positive ways. We were influenced by male heroes our entire lives and we were inspired by the likes of Luke Skywalker, Agent J, Indiana Jones, and plenty of other men. Because even at a young age, we knew that good role models can come from diverse places.
This applies to young men as well. They can learn valuable things from women, just like we did from men. And these female attributes that you’re so scared of, they’re not a bad thing. And we’re not going to let you or any other man with a chip on his shoulder because of toxic masculinity, come and tear down the hard work women (and men) have done to level the playing field. So take your Doctor Who hate and know that you’re wrong.
Change is here.
Change isn’t going anywhere.
And I hope the next Doctor is another woman. Because we’re already had over a dozen men. Surely, it’s time to balance things out? Yes, it is.
Doctor Who airs Sundays on the BBC.
