People who love science fiction are a passionate bunch. However many aren’t ready for the future as it comes to gender equality. The future will be one where women are the heroes to save the day, to hopefully wage peace and to make the big discoveries.
Some popular shows like Doctor Who have been rooted in a male dominant system where the lead character has only been a man. What if we imagined a woman in that role. If that were to happen what would be the reaction? Would people no longer be fans?
Is the idea of a science fiction character who is an alien taking a feminine form out of line with our still patriarchal mindset.
The future has yet to be written so if our fictional dreams of it are male centered then we are missing out on making things indeed better for all. Women should have a major role in science fiction and reality. The future will be it’s best when both men and women have equal roles in shaping it.
The Tony Burgess Blog 
Agree with this post now if you could get Disney to promote a “boy” character like they do all those damn princesses!
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You have a great point. Perhaps the princess thing with Disney is about empowering girls but sometimes they send the wrong message about having to have a prince come to their rescue. If you do a Disney Prince he must be a person that comes across as a everyday kid and not someone dashing and handsome which is a fantasy.
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Hell I’d take some Army hero, no more princesses!
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Short answer: Helen Mirren was born to be the Doctor.
Longer answer: So, so true. It’s widely understood that at least a huge part of the patriarchal approach to science fiction (even great, beloved sci-fi like DW) reflects, painfully, the fact that it’s written by men. Hence the huzzahs here:
http://nerdist.com/hooray-doctor-who-hires-first-female-writer-in-6-years-for-season-9/
It’s part of a larger thing — it’s not that men can’t write great women, but men ARE NOT women, and so it’s harder to write believable characters if your experience is entirely second-hand. It’s like all the straight, white, CIS men writing gay or black (or Asian, or Hispanic) or trans characters. Even the greatest writers have their limits of imagination — even in the realm of science fiction.
Respectfully, on the princess thing, the modern Disney princesses are specifically designed in opposition (or attempting to be in opposition) to the Disney stories of the past, though honestly, Frozen is the only one that’s truly feminist and egalitarian. Historically, research has shown that girls will watch programming with boys as protagonists, but the reverse is not true. (Hence, 70+ years of male-centric superheroes with women in the shadows.) The modern princess stuff (with humor injected) is the minority of movie/TV programming — it’s a handful of movies. Disney’s a marketing juggernaut, but animated movies focusing on female characters are still vastly in the minority.
BTW, an example? 10 of 14 Pixar movies fail the Bechdel test. http://www.avclub.com/article/thought-provoking-animation-about-how-pixar-films–211352
Two cents and on meds. (Starting week two of being sick; my thoughts are certainly jumbled.)
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Doctor Who has been a hodgepodge of goofy as well as handsome men. There is something to be said that those that desire the “prince” construct should also be able to trust that their long-running shows that bear those hallmarks are not messed with for the purpose of doing so in order to equalize some unsustainable social equation in entertainment avatars. If Doctor Who ever did try to “feminize” the roles, per se, my 15-year-old daughter would check out. She likes it just the way it has run for decades, and would argue that changing it would be tantamount to ruining it.
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That’s why a lot of people hailed Star Trek: Voyager as a new era – a first female captain (and lead role). Could have done a better job, however.
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