{"id":128129,"date":"2015-11-08T08:35:34","date_gmt":"2015-11-08T08:35:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2015\/11\/08\/steven-moffat-doctor-who-needs-more-women-writers\/"},"modified":"2015-11-08T08:35:34","modified_gmt":"2015-11-08T08:35:34","slug":"steven-moffat-doctor-who-needs-more-women-writers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2015\/11\/08\/steven-moffat-doctor-who-needs-more-women-writers\/","title":{"rendered":"Steven Moffat: Doctor Who needs more women writers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Steven Moffat: Doctor Who needs more women writers<\/a><\/p>\n

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whovianfeminism<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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Okay guys, we need to talk about this interview. Because there\u2019s a massive disconnect here between what I see in the fandom and how I see Steven Moffat describing the conversation about the lack of parity in men and women writing for and directing Doctor Who<\/i>.<\/p>\n

I was actually really, really<\/i> happy with Moffat\u2019s hiring choices for Series 9. This series has two women directors directing two episodes each \u2014 and no less than the series premier and finale. It also has two women writing an episode each for the show. That\u2019s incredible. It may not be total parity, but it\u2019s a massive improvement from where the show was and I was so, so happy it happened. And I\u2019ve laid off criticizing the lack of women directors and writers lately because it felt like the show was making progress.<\/p>\n

But Moffat\u2019s tone in this interview is unbearably infuriating. Because instead of simply acknowledging the problem, highlighting his steps to fix it, and then moving on, he needs to take a step further and somehow try to portray himself<\/i>\u00a0as being the victim in all of this:\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe only thing I dislike about it is it\u2019s based on an assumption that I\u2019ve been trying to not employ women writers or directors. We\u2019ve employed more women writers, directors, editors and producers than any other era of Doctor Who. Stop assuming that I\u2019m a demon who\u2019s trying to prevent it, as opposed to the man who\u2019s done more to make it happen than anybody else.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Just\u2026wow.<\/p>\n

Look, I\u2019m not going to argue that there isn\u2019t someone out there on the internet who hasn\u2019t taken their criticism of Moffat too far \u2014 it\u2019s the internet.\u00a0But the vast, overwhelming majority of fans haven\u2019t been assuming Moffat is a \u201cdemon\u201d sitting up in his high castle keeping out women writers and directors. They\u2019ve just been fairly pointing out that, prior to Series 9, the gender imbalance in writing and directing was appalling.<\/i><\/p>\n

Before Series 9 started, Steven Moffat had hired absolutely no women writers<\/b><\/i>\u00a0for the show. That\u2019s four seasons and two specials, for a total of 56 episodes<\/i><\/b>. After Series 9, we\u2019ll have had two women write an episode during the 69 episodes he\u2019s overseen during his tenure as showrunner.<\/p>\n

The numbers are slightly better for directors. In total, four women have directed nine episodes. But there were a few Series where there weren\u2019t any<\/b> <\/i>women directors at all. When I started focusing on this issue (around the time they were announcing the Series 8 directors) there had only been\u00a0one woman who had directed two episodes back in Series 5.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I want to focus on Moffat\u2019s accomplishments in correcting that gender imbalance in Series 9 just as much as Moffat does. But I can\u2019t fucking do that because he gets defensive and attacks his critics whenever that imbalance is brought up. And now I\u2019ve spent most of the day after reading this interview feeling miserable and shitty because I feel like I need to defend myself against the unfair criticism that I\u2019ve portrayed him as some sort of misogynistic asshole.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s really nothing unfair or out-of-line about pointing out that this imbalance existed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sure, Moffat has some explanations, excuses, and justifications for that imbalance. They\u2019re beside the point I\u2019m trying to make, but let\u2019s look them over really quickly. Moffat said that the imbalance is partly historical \u2014 in the past it was more of a boy\u2019s show than a girl\u2019s show. Now because there\u2019s more gender balance in the fandom, he assumes more women will want to write for and direct the show and that the imbalance will start to straighten itself out. I don\u2019t really buy this. I just think that historically, these industries are more friendly and supportive to men than to women. So fanboys who wanted to write and direct for Doctor Who<\/i>\u00a0were more likely to get jobs in the industry than fangirls.<\/p>\n

Moffat also claims that women writers were more likely to turn down the opportunity to write for the show. Which, I\u2019m sorry, but seriously? Over four seasons and 56 episodes and he couldn\u2019t get a single woman to write a single one of those episodes because they all turned him down? Either he has absolutely the worst luck of any showrunner, or he needed to seriously re-evaluate his strategy.<\/p>\n

If I really wanted to try to be fair to Moffat, I could offer up some of my own explanations for this imbalance. In previous posts, I have given him credit for the fact that he is not responsible for the greater gender imbalance in the writing and directing industries in the UK. I\u2019ve been willing to understand that when you\u2019re busy and need to make decisions quickly, you\u2019re going to want to go with people you know can be reliable and who you\u2019ve worked with in the past. Or you\u2019ll want to go to the person who is dogged, determined, and constantly asking for the opportunity \u2014 something women are less likely to do because we are conditioned against doing it.<\/p>\n

And Moffat is not the only one who hasn\u2019t achieved gender parity with women writers and directors. And if I\u2019d been blogging when any of those other showrunners were in charge of Doctor Who<\/i>, I\u2019d have criticized them too. But Moffat\u2019s the showrunner now, and now it\u2019s his responsibility.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even if Moffat isn\u2019t being a \u201cdemon\u201d and deliberately working to prevent women from writing and directing\u00a0Doctor Who<\/i> \u2014 something which I and the overwhelming majority of fans have never<\/i><\/b> accused him of \u2014\u00a0he still hasn\u2019t hired nearly enough women to write or direct during his tenure. That\u2019s still on him.<\/p>\n

I want to give him credit and praise for saying that the show should have gender parity in writers and directors. I want to give him credit and praise for making serious improvements the past two seasons. I want to keep the conversation moving forward. But I can\u2019t do that if Moffat wants to defensively and unfairly characterize the motives and statements of the people who fairly pointed out that a massive gender imbalance did<\/i>\u00a0exist and still <\/i>exists despite his efforts to correct it.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Steven Moffat: Doctor Who needs more women writers whovianfeminism: Okay guys, we need to talk about this interview. Because there\u2019s a massive disconnect here between what I see in the fandom and how I see Steven Moffat describing the conversation about the lack of parity in men and women writing for and directing Doctor Who. … <\/p>\n

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