I remember exactly where I was the day Jodie Whittaker was announced as The Thirteenth Doctor.
I was sat in the living room with my wife watching the big Doctor Who news on TV, and the strangest thing happened. Upon learning that The Doctor would no longer be played by a man, I immediately sprinted into the garden, hopped over my neighbour's fence, and set about liberating the contents of their toolshed. I can't explain it! I only know that the second I discovered Peter Capaldi was being replaced by a woman, I was left with an overwhelming urge to do crime. So much crime.
I'm screwing around, obviously. But I get the feeling that Conservative MP Nick Fletcher genuinely believes this is what happened to a lot of young men around the country when a woman took the lead role on Doctor Who.
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Leading a Westminster Hall debate about international men’s day, Fletcher argued that casting women in roles previously given to men is robbing boys of proper male role models, thereby driving them to lives of crime.
Citing example such as Doctor Who, Ghostbusters, and Star Wars, Fletcher said that many of our classic male role models are slowly being taken away and replaced with women. The poor men of this country are left with nobody to look up besides characters from Peaky Blinders, apparently.
“There seems to be a call from a tiny yet very vocal minority that every male character or good role model must have a female replacement," he said.
"One only needs to consider the discussions about who will next play James Bond to see that. And it is not just James Bond: in recent years we have seen Doctor Who, the Ghostbusters, Luke Skywalker and The Equalizer all replaced by women, and men are left with the Krays and Tommy Shelby. Is it any wonder that so many young men are committing crimes? Such programmes make crime look cool.”
Conservative MP Nick Fletcher says Doctor Who being played by a woman has pushed young men into crime.
Not to point out the obvious, but men young and old have been out there committing crimes for centuries now. The concept actually predates Doctor Who! Suggesting there's been an increase solely because there are more female role models on TV and not because of, say, a decade of Tory cuts to a range of essential services, is silly. Very, very silly.
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This entire argument also seems to revolve around the incredibly dated and problematic notion that young boys can't possibly look up to women as role models, which is ludicrous. Jodie Whittaker is quite clearly an incredible role model for everyone, and that's the end of it.
Anyway, I'm off to do some more crime before Doctor Who this Sunday.
Featured Image Credit: BBCTopics: TV And Film