Dear BBC: You're Late With A Female Doctor

The 13th Doctor is a woman and that's great. It really is. Women deserve equal representation in art and entertainment. Women deserve to be heroes and villains just as much as men. Women deserve rich characters who aren't just damsels in distress or objects of desire. Women deserve to have deep conversations that aren't all about men. So I'm excited to see a female doctor; I fully support this and have no problem with it. Quite frankly, it's about damn time!

However, the timing just rubs me the wrong way. For one, in a series where the character regularly regenerates into a new form and gender isn't fixed, it's absurd and appalling it's taken this damn long to have a female incarnation. 1 out of 13? That's 7.69% representation for a gender that makes up roughly 50% of the worldwide population. Come on, BBC. This should have happened ages ago.

Moreover, it reeks of two smelly strategies: conservative cash-grabbing and political pandering. First, it reeks of a cash-grab thanks to the success of "Wonder Woman." It's as if the BBC execs went, "Oh hey, people are going nuts over a property with a female lead. It's making money hand-over-fist. Man, we had no idea. What an untapped market. We should totally invest now that it's a proven safe bet!" Now, to be fair, a female Doctor might have already been in the works before WW's box office success. Even if that's the case, it's irrelevant because all that really matters is how it appears publicly: a risk-free conservative choice prompted by prior proven success.

It also feels like patronizing political pandering because feminists have been clamoring for better female representation for so long that it's basically become white noise. That's sad because it really is an important issue and deserves better. So now that things are slowly changing and women are getting better representation, it feels more like they're being thrown scraps on the floor rather than being invited to sit at the table. It seems like studio/network execs are going, "Oh fine. They've bitched and moan for so long and so loud, just throw 'em a bone so they'll shut up already!"

To be clear, I'm not saying any of these things are true. I could be totally off the mark. Perhaps my perception is simply warped thanks to the overly-loud idiotic voices of the misogynists that garner undue media attention. Perhaps the studio/network execs really are listening with open hearts and minds and genuinely trying to change things for the better. Hell, maybe I shouldn't even be criticizing this positive move at all if I want progress to continue.

This is just how it feels to me and I'm saddened and frustrated by it. I really do hope I'm wrong. Women, you have deserved equal representation for so damn long and I'm sorry it's dragging out. It's great that things are slowly but surely moving that way, and I hope it continues until there is no gender gap in art and entertainment. I hope the day comes soon when no one is writing articles like this because there is no gender issue to write about because gender isn't an issue and never should have been in the first place because Jiminy Cricket, humanity, how silly can you get!

In the meantime, while I'm happy and supportive of a female Doctor, I'm not giving you kudos or credit, BBC. You're really late to the party, and with only 1 out of 13, you haven't even done anywhere near the bare minimum. Please don't stop here. But hey, thanks!