Venting

[teyla]

Okay, internet. ENOUGH with the heterosexual privilege fail.

Ever since this post went up at doctorwho, it reminded me to actually pay attention to how much heterosexuality is accepted as the only valid norm in all parts of western society, and good lord. It's making me tired.

Sure, you can be gay, as long as you act according to the norm. Nobody really cares about what you do in your bedroom, but don't you dare disrupt people's views of what men should be and how they should act, of what women should be and how they should present themselves. And this isn't even limited to people with a heterosexual orientation. Enough queer people are of the opinion that hey, as long as you don't get beat up on street corners for being with a same-sex partner, it's absolutely fair that you keep your head down and adapt to the heterosexual norm. Because anything else would create conflict, and gosh, we can't have conflict.

Yes, there are mistakes being made on both sides. That's because queer people as well as straight people are people, and people make mistakes. But to reach true equality, the queer community has to become a visible part of all aspects of society, and that won't happen if the they keep to themselves and adapt to the norm in order to avoid conflict.

And sexism isn't a thing of the past, either. Look at the representation of women in Hollywood movies; there's sexism for you, no matter if this is the 21st century or not. And no, don't shrug and say, well, they're Hollywood movies. They're the side of the media that's shaping the images that our society draws its norms and standards from, which means that if you want the images to change, the media needs to change first. And it won't do that unless the minorities keep pointing out that yes, they actually would like to be represented equally and fairly.


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Comments

[inlaterdays.livejournal.com]

has finally managed to breach the American market on a scale that Doctor Who has never before achieved

I don't mean to derail, and I do agree with your main argument, but I want to make a side point. (I guess that is derailing. Sorry.)

At least part of this is because we could only get it on public tv, long after air dates, back then. There was no cable, there was no SyFy or BBC America or anything - there wasn't even Fox. Or the internet. There were three or four local channels, affiliates of the main American networks, and PBS. If you were lucky and lived in an area with good reception! There were lots of American Whovians, and I firmly believe there would have been even more had more people had access to the show.

My first doctor was Jon Pertwee, so I was one of the lucky ones. :)

[teyla]

Derailing is fine! I was just venting, really, not actually trying to start a discussion--not that I mind having one, mind you.

Anyway, yes, I agree with you. I don't think that the only reason Doctor Who is being accepted and welcomed all over the world right now is because RTD added some queer representation. The ease of access definitely plays a major part, probably a bigger part than the open-mindedness of the episodes produced by RTD. However, the show is definitely not being rejected because it leaves room for queer representation and fully formed female characters. I do think that the ever-present attempt in the first four seasons to integrate all parts of society increased global interest in the show--everybody loves a scandal, as long as it isn't scandalous enough to be off-putting.

I always felt that this aspect of the show raised it above the level of being simply a silly SF show with an alien in a blue box--not that there's anything wrong with that; I love the Doctor Who concept--to the level of being a silly SF show with an alien in a blue box that actually had some relevance in regards to everyday life. Which, theoretically, might be the reason why a lot of people who aren't actually SF fans still like Doctor Who. This is just my theory, though. I might be miles off.