As was predictable, no sooner than the BBC revealed that the next Doctor Who title character would be played by the actress Jodie Whittaker, than the British tabloid press (The Sun, Daily Mail and Daily Star) went off in search of some nude pictures of her from some of her earlier film and TV roles…and very fetching she looks too. 😉
Mind you, in a non-sexist way, had a young handsome dude been selected for the role, the same papers would have gone off looking from some images of his presumably beautiful body. They aim to please lechers of all sexes and orientations…so you could say that is progress! Still, there were no attempts to get nude pics of the current crusty incumbent of the Doctor Who role, Peter Capaldi. So perhaps they are just ageist instead.
On that score, you could call the BBC both sexist and ageist for casting a young attractive actress in the first place. The BBC talks a good fight when it comes to promoting diversity and women’s rights, but has been known to keep older women off the screen – a factor that has worsened the BBC’s gender pay gap (witness the recently published pay rates of the highest paid BBC staff).
In this modern era of equality it is not just the BBC that still shows sexism. Some diehard traditionalist fans definitely do not want a female doctor (young or old) and have been labelled sexist for saying so. Mind you they might help their defence better than to announce: “Time travel is for men, and men only.”
Others jokingly countered with: “Your dad thinks Dr Who being a woman spoils the realism of someone travelling space & time in a phone box fighting bins with plungers on them.” A subtle reference to the Doctor’s sworn enemies, the Daleks.
One Twitter contributor, called Anwen, rightly pointed out: “Interesting how the Doctor Who casting announcement reflects real-life issues such as time travel, as most comments about it came from 1534.”
On the traditionalist side, one fan moaned on twitter: “I just can’t picture a female doctor” to which someone else pointedly replied, “It’s a F***ing TV show mate, they provide the pictures for you.”
Another more intellectually gifted contributor said:
You (dumb): “Let’s argue about the gender of Doctor who.”
Me (smart): “Actually, it’s Doctor whom.”
Meanwhile, the last word goes to the Daleks themselves, as they announced that the gender of Dr Who would have no bearing on their desire to exterminate him or her (thanks to Mark Campbell for that one).
Post Script: The BBC has subsequently confirmed that the new female Doctor will be paid the same rate as her male predecessor. The non-sexist Daleks will be pleased.