Let's get serious for a moment, and talk about a topic that I have tried to avoid during my stay here on Steemit. As much as I can, I tried to avoid it like the plague, but recent news has me thinking of revsiting this even once. Folks, I'm talking about gender roles and equality. It's not often that I talk about something that wasn't my original creation, so hang on to your hats!
It's the plague. Run!
I was a staunch defender of women's rights a few years ago. Some might even call me a feminist. I grew up in a household predominantly occuppied by women, so I developed a huge respect for the fairer sex. Well, that was until uber-feminazis ganged up on me in an online comments section while I was defending women's rights. Suffice to say, that's why gender issues are still a hotly debated topic. Even though there are more men than ever fighting for equal rights, equality has yet to be achieved. That's in no small fault of the effort put in by the coalition of both genders.
Fanatics do more harm than good, and I have a first-hand account of why the argument has yet to be won. While no gender can ever be generalized, those goddamn feminazis don't recognize a helping hand when they see one. Or, they do, but they refuse to accept a handout. Perhaps the reason why the argument never ends is because, in reality, equality isn't what they want to achieve. They want females to be the superior gender.
Image Source
Now, I would never claim to be an expert in math (or even just competent) or gender relations, but two straight lines parallel each other doesn't mean one is greater than the other. The placement of the lines makes you think though.
Don't get me wrong. I'm all for women empowerment, and all that, but there has to be a line. It's either you want equality of you don't. There's no 51-49 percent share.
The internet is filled with trolls
Image Source
Not that kind of troll! Oh wait ... Huh, maybe it is filled with those kinds of trolls. They come in all shapes and sizes, all shades and, uh, vices? These days, you can easily spot a troll in a comments section, and yet be surprised when you realize that said person is a troll. How the hell did I jump from gender equality to trolls, you ask? Well, the reason for that is the recent casting of the Doctor.
Yes, that's right. Exactly!
Image Source
Apart from @dreemit's latest question about the ratio of men and women on Steemit and @gavvet's recent post about demographic trends, Jodie Whittaker's casting as the eponymous Doctor had me questioning about equality. Well, not the casting itself, but the outcry of trolls on the internet. It's hilarious and puzzling at the same time.
Now, I won't bore you with the details. You can read about it elsewhere on the internet. TLDR: The Doctor (an extraterrestrial being from the planet Gallifrey who "regenerates" into a different actor once he has expired) is a role traditionally played by white Anglo-Saxon men since its inception in 1963. What I want to focus on here is the discussion regarding gender roles.
Personally, I'm okay with the female casting. First of all, the Doctor is a Time Lord and nowhere is there ever been a strict rule about him being a man. Heck, there might not even be genders in their race! Second of all, the Doctor's archnemesis had already set a precedent in terms of men transforming into women.
Image Source
Sure, there was pushback, but the reception since has been nothing but stellar. With all the arguments against pandering for the sake of political correctness, I have seen a comment that has resonated to me. I forgot where I found it, but I'll try to paraphrase it. The ire comes from the men who grew up used to the idea of the Doctor being a man. They had idolized the character, and somehow identified with him. That's where the point of contention lies. For every man who can relate, there's a woman who sadly couldn't. What if little girls were given the chance to grow up idolizing the very same character? Wouldn't that be positively swell? Given the context that the Doctor is an alien, the change shouldn't be too hard to accept.
The line needs to be drawn
Image Source
With all of that being said, there has to be a line. I'm all for equality, but this political correctness bullshit has a way of getting out of hand. Since we're talking about equality, allow me to throw the race question in the equation. I've written about racial diversity in the past, but I couldn't find the link to that post anywhere. At the time, The Flash TV series had just casted African-American Candice Patton in a role that wasn't originally African-American in the comics. How she would fit in the role had not been proven at the time I wrote that.
I also mentioned the casting of Michael B. Jordan in the role of the Human Torch in that waste-of-a-budget Fantastic Four fan film, and the creation of the character Miles Morales because of the fan petition around Donald Glover's campaign to be cast as the Amazing Spider-Man (which was gloriously wasted by Andrew Garfield ugh). In it, I posed the question whether it was right to swap out the race of the character people had grown used to. In a way, it was similar to the gender question I posed in this entry. The reason why I mentioned Patton's casting was that it would inevitably lead to a casting of an African-American Wally West (aka The Flash that I grew up with). At the time, the role had yet to be casted, but now it had been filled for a while now by Keiynan Lonsdale.
Jumping to the Flash for a bit, I understand (somehow) where the people opposed to the female Doctor casting were coming from. The Flash is my favorite DC comics superhero, so I'm protective of him. Being a ginger defined the Wally West I grew up with, and changing his race would affect it immensely. Now, I'm not a racist, but I just couldn't take a Wally that was different from the one I grew up with. Mind you, the Flash has many fantastic abilities, but changing his skin color isn't one of them. He's also not an alien who regenerated into, essentially, a different person when he dies.
Back to the gender issue, now there are talks of a female James Bond, gender swapped this, gender swapped that. I want you to focus on what I just said. A female. James. Bond. Now, I'm not saying that women don't have a right to be named "James" but come on! The proponents of Rule 63 must be having a field day.
A solution of sorts
Image Source
What I proposed before, and what has been the best solution so far, is what if instead of swapping (and in the words of many a troll, butchering) the gender or race or whatever of characters that people had grown up with, why not make new characters that fit the race or gender they want to satisfy. As much as I want all of you to hoist me above your shoulders for providing a logical solution, I wasn't the first and I wasn't the only one who thought of the same thing.
Marvel created the character Miles Morales and gave him the title of Spider-Man alongside the original one. Sure, the alias gets confusing, but Peter Parker had acknowledged it with humor. DC Comics split the NuWally (African-American) and the original ginger Wally West, stating (however unconvincingly) that the two Wally Wests are cousins. It's a stop-gap solution, but at least they made an effort to quell the public unrest.
Image Source
Yes. It's that easy. Create a new character.
Now, surely that's case-to-case basis. For the purpose of the earlier argument however, the Doctor is more of a title than a name. While James Bond could've easily been a title that could be passed to a Native American, African-American, Asian, etc (they botched it by the way by making it Daniel Craig's Bond's real name), it simply isn't. The ability to regenerate to an essentially new character opens up the opportunity for the Doctor to become anything. Heck, the Doctor could be a dog if they wanted to.
That's why I don't prefer describing exact physical features in my work. Not that I feel it would be adapted to live-action some day (though I surely hope so!), it's because I want everyone to identify with my characters based on the traits and the personalities. While some of my characters do have defining physical features, I try to make that aspect as fluid as possible so that any portrayal won't stray from the original source.
Ah! Now that feels better to get it off my chest. Let's move on and just be supportive of everyone.
What's your stand on gender swapping? Any arguments with the points I made? Feel free to chime in the comments section below. I would love to hear your thoughts about it :D
Oh, and the title is a play on words on "fender bender", because well, the topic gets people so worked up ;)