perpugilliam:gehayi:letseyx:Classic Who Watch | The Monster of PeladonI’d just like to add that The

perpugilliam:gehayi:letseyx:Classic Who Watch | The Monster of PeladonI’d just like to add that The Monster of Peladon was a Third Doctor story that appeared in 1974.1974: Independent feminist journalist companion says that there’s nothing ONLY about being a girl—and follows through with this not only in this episode but during her entire tenure on the show.2013: Showrunner “rewards” all good female characters with husbands and/or children, assigns most of them to traditional female roles and transforms an initially independent female character into someone whose entire life has been built around the Doctor.Maybe we do live in the Whoniverse. It seems as if time is going backwards.Here’s the thing about Sarah Jane’s feminism: it’s not particularly progressive, or even all that present. Both times she’s allowed to give mini-speeches about women’s lib (this scene and the one in the kitchens in “The Time Warrior”), she says men shouldn’t push women around, but she never says why: because they’re equal. It’s a massive, glaring omission. And both times, she ends on a weak note: the Time Warrior bit ends up being played for laughs (“You’re still living in the Middle Ages!,” she says while actually in the Middle Ages, thus robbing what she was saying of any seriousness), and this part ends on such a flat note, never giving Thalira anything concrete or constructive to stand on, just some generalized encouragement.Sarah Jane was created to be a feminist by Barry Letts (and to an extent Terrance Dicks) for two reasons: first was to take advantage of the popularity of the feminist movement in Britain at the time. Second was to provide conflict with Pertwee’s Doctor, as he was a more “traditional” figure. Ultimately, she was created and written by an all-male staff, and it showed (see the above “show rather than tell” moments re: SJ’s feminist beliefs). As time went on into the TBaker era (Letts and Dicks—the ones who created her and supervised her character’s first season—stepped down from their positions at the end of the Pertwee era), her feminism became even more of a plot device (if it showed in the story at all), a convenient way for the other characters to wind her up (particularly Harry, and even the Fourth Doctor, most notably in “The Ark in Space” when Sarah’s in the ventilation shaft and Four taunts her as being weaker to get her to go faster.). If you look at how Sarah Jane’s character changes between “The Time Warrior” and “The Hand of Fear,” how she becomes more childish and dependent on the Doctor (heck, even the way she dresses), it’s a pretty stark contrast.Sarah Jane was treated shabbily in the new series too. In “School Reunion,” her character is basically reframed as a former romantic interest to the Doctor. The writing makes it sound like she spent the last X years pining (we learn she never was never able to move on and do something with herself — I mean, she outright tells him, “You were my life,” and it’s only at the end of this episode that she feels like she can live her life), and her interactions with Rose are at best catty (because women can’t get along when there’s a man involved, amirite). When they do get along, it’s because they’re bonding over how they feel about the Doctor. It’s really shitty.Sorry about the rant, but I have a lot of ~feelings~ about Sarah Jane and her feminism. Even Elisabeth Sladen has admitted that “The Time Warrior” is Sarah Jane’s strongest point as a character, and after that, she’s never that strong again. -- source link
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