Steven Moffat, Sex And Me

Overly Devoted Archivist Uncategorized doctor who, feminism, steven moffat 18 Comments

“Show me the man who says anything against women, as women, and I boldly declare he is not a man.” -Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers

Steven Moffat ain’t a feminist. He’s said some really rubbish things, like that thing about how difficult it is to be a straight white male when it is most certainly not. Okay, I know a lot of quotes from him were taken out of context, but enough of them weren’t. Like this one, which really got me:

“A young married couple without a kid? They’re just dating. You tell yourself you’re married, but really you’re dating.”

That one hurts because I know people who are trying desperately for a kid and I’m pretty sure they’re married, since I was at the wedding and all. Or what about the people who don’t want kids? Or, selfishly, what about me? There’s something wrong with me now and children may not be an option any more. Things are piling up and sex might not be an option anymore. Does that make my future marriage mean less? I wish he hadn’t said that; I wish he’d use his not inconsiderable media power more wisely.

But I think Moffat’s writing problems spring from the fact that he thinks (or, you know, I think he thinks) that sex and the ability to have sex is the most important thing about a person. Sex gives you power, sex gives you control, sex gives you children. That’s why neither Sherlock or the Doctor can be asexual, why Amy, River and Irene all use sex as a weapon- to Moffat, that’s what makes characters good and makes them interesting. Sex and everything it creates.

Which brings me to Moffat’s attitudes on women, specifically. With only Moffat the writer to go on, not knowing the man…I think he’s jealous of them, in a way he probably doesn’t even know about. Womb envy or whatever it’s called. If sex is the most important thing, and if he thinks a woman can use sex as a weapon (or as a distraction- see Space and Time), and if he thinks a woman can have a baby and bond with it in a way a man probably can’t…I think The Doctor The Widow and the Wardrobe hinted that Moffat thinks being a mother is the most important thing in the world. And he isn’t one. Hence bad stuff. I doubt he even considered how traumatic a situation he put Amy in at the end of The Almost People– according to DWM, he “wanted Amy to have a baby just like that,” and thought about time
compression to reduce her pregnancy period before settling on the Ganger thing. And in the end poor old Amy suffered more than anyone, with things that wouldn’t have happened if not for her gender.

I wish he’d pay attention to his critics. (I do suspect The Doctor The Widow and the Wardrobe was a reaction to the misogyny criticism, just not the most well-thought-out one.) He badly needs to get some women on staff, for a start, and he needs to think about what his female characters can do rather than what can be done to them. Amy deciding to kill Kovarian was a good start, but River needs more interests outside the Doctor, and Irene needs to come back and kick everyone’s arse (including Sherlock’s) in style. I know Moffat will never read this, but I hope he picks up somehow that people want less Strong Female Characters (i.e. sex, guns, rock n’ roll) and more…female characters. If that makes sense. I think he can do it, he’s a great writer. Someday he may even be a good one.

Recently Moffat was rightly criticised for saying asexuality was boring. His worldview really does seem to revolve around sex and procreation, and I hope one day it doesn’t. I don’t know for sure if there is a place for me, or for many others, in Moffat’s Whoniverse. But I’m gonna force my way in anyway- I love Eleven and Amy and Rory and River and they, I’m sure, would welcome me with open arms.

I don’t really trust Moffat to make improvements, he has reacted badly to criticism so far, but I believe and hope that the world isn’t divided into good people and misogynists. (Paraphrasing the fabulous JK Rowling there- hey, maybe she should join the writing staff!) And regardless of what happens with my future children, I will be married, because I want to be.