MAGICAL NARWHALS

feministwhoniverse:

Favourite Feminist Moments in Doctor Who - #3 Amy Saves a Starwhale

After waiting years for The Doctor to return and take her to see the stars, Amy Pond finally gets her first trip in the TARDIS. The Doctor takes her to Starship UK, a flying city, taking the British in search of a new home amongst the stars. But of course it can’t be that simple, it’s Doctor Who.

The Doctor and Amy set about finding out what’s really going on. They learn Starship UK is being carried through space, by a tortured Starwhale. Upon making this discovery The Doctor begins preparing a massive electrical charge which will render the animal brain dead, believing this is the only way he can stop the creatures pain without sacrificing the lives of everyone on board Starship UK. 

Amy, on the other hand, manages to see a solution, that will not only save everyone on the ship, but will also allow the Starwhale to live without being tortured. She manages to see that the lonely, old Starwhale wouldn’t leave the ship and doom it’s population. That it doesn’t need to be tortured because it volunteered to help Britain. 

What if you were really old, and really kind and lonely, your whole race dead. What couldn’t you do then? If you were that old, and that kind, and the very last of your kind, you couldn’t just stand there and watch children cry.

Amy used her unique perspective to see a solution, but she has been silenced and sent away by The Doctor, who is in a rage. Angry at humans for allowing this torture to happen.

Too frequently women’s views are ignored. We are dismissed as too emotional or not rational. Our opinions and ideas are not acknowledged. This scene mirrors a battle which many women face every day, just trying to get our voices heard. Amy forces her voice to be heard. She acts in a manner which, whilst rash, is very effective and saves a life by doing so. 

It is possible for us to make the world sit down and listen. It may not be easy, it may feel like an uphill struggle, it may feel like a battle we can’t win, but it can be done. This scene renews my faith that women and their voices will prevail in the end and that we will be heard.