.: The Red Brick – Dubai College's Student Newspaper :.

Doctor Who is one of the longest running television shows in the UK. Now in the seventh season of its revival, the Doctor is as popular as ever, but is the programme sending out some controversial messages?

The Doctor that each generation has known and loved has always been male, and possibly always will be, but is this a bad thing? The Doctor may be kept male purely because that is what the viewers are comfortable with, however some viewers and contemporary feminist writers from the website www.thefword.org.uk have suggested that people should be able to accept the Doctor if the BBC cast a female actor. The gender issues that accompany the profession of medicine may be reflected here as, although it is not the case, stereotypically Doctors are male and nurses are female. The nurses who act as their helpers may be related to the Doctor’s numerous companions.

In Russell T. Davies’ time as head writer for “DW”, the companions he has created have often been criticised for their weakness and conformity to female stereotypes. The term companion itself is fairly sexist, as they are obviously assisting the Doctor, and female characters get pushed to the back and become a necessity in Doctor Who, the closest anyone does come to being an “equal” to The Doctor in DW is “The Master.” Rose for instance was an unsuccessful young girl who did not have much of a life before the Doctor and seemed to be lost when she was left without him. The suggestion that Rose is “defined by the Doctor” seems to be a fair analysis here, as without him she has nothing.

Davies combated this archetypal character with the Doctor’s next companion – Martha Jones. This companion is a successful young woman, a medical student who has her own purpose and path in life and ability to make decisions. Throughout the series, particularly towards the end of series 3, Martha is shown to be a strong character capable of fighting for herself, and for the Doctor. However, Martha’s rather obvious love interest in The Doctor weakens her completely and makes her from a critical perspective an uninteresting whiny character that most “whovians” were keen to see gone.

Now in the era of Steven Moffatt (new head writer for DW and writer for the fantastic series “Sherlock”) has introduced the world to Amelia Pond. It appears that Moffatt has tried to subvert the traditional role of The Doctor’s companions by introducing a character in a committed relationship that cannot fall under the Doctor’s charm with a strong personality and many abilities. However, Amy Pond’s introduction was disappointing wearing a Police Officer’s uniform she appeared on our screens legs first, “Fantastic” we thought, another companion in a profession that removes the stereotype of the Doctor’s other companions, however disappointment was blatant when Amy revealed herself to be “A Kissagram” a demeaning job that set up for a complete change in opinion over this new character.

There is so much more to write about this issue, but ultimately does it matter? People around the world enjoy this programme unconditionally so why change now?

I’d like to leave you with a couple of questions to get you thinking about sexism in modern pop culture…

Would “Harry Potter” have been as popular if it was “Harriett Potter”?

Would you still watch Doctor Who if the next Doctor was a woman?

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Charity holds up 'half the sky'

In the time that has lapsed since my last article was published and I began writing this one, a number of people have asked me the same questions: ‘Why Communism? Why Mao?’ Admittedly, the great dictator is not, perhaps, the most likely choice for a role model, let alone a mentor for a charitable organisation. But occasionally, Mao did hit the nail right on the head. With ‘pink’ as the word of the month here at the Charity Committee, I’ve begun to realise the importance of breast cancer awareness and how little people really know about the disease. After all, as the Chairman himself said, ‘women hold up half the sky’. Thanks to the charity work put in by the Committee this month, we hope that women will continue to do so.
The initiative of my partner in crime, charity and Communism- Aashini Shrivastav (aka Jiang Quing)- has been the driving factor in the success of Pink Month at Dubai College this year, but of course, none of the work would have been possible without the dedication and determination of Charity Committee members and the rest of the school, many of whom donated regularly to the cause. It has given me great pleasure to see the majority of students and teachers sporting pink ribbons in honour of breast cancer awareness, and I have been even more touched by the amount of people who donated above and beyond what was expected or called for. Our first charitable parent’s evening of the year was an excellent start to the year as we raised in excess of 2,000 dirhams, due in no small part to the contributions of Geetu Navani, Aman Navani’s mother, who handcrafted some beautiful pieces for us to sell on the day. In addition to this, I must thank the many people who volunteered to bake, not only for parent’s evening, but also for the Pink Bake Sale, a deliciously successful event organised once again by our Committee’s co-chair. That said, the icing on the (pink) cake had to be the recent pink non-uniform day, an event I have always enjoyed as I pick out which unlucky students have clearly forgotten the theme and donned their uniform instead. However, it was only this year that I understood just how important these non-uniform days are for the Charity Committee; on Thursday, October 27, over 9,000 dirhams were raised simply through the participation of the entire school in a relatively basic charitable event. The moral of this little success story is, perhaps, that charity need not be about overly elaborate ideas or convoluted money-making plans; sometimes, the simplest acts are the most effective.
Of course, as two sub commissions in the Charity Committee will no doubt remind me, this month hasn’t been entirely fixated on breast cancer awareness. On the last Sunday of the month, the Harmony House group launched what was then the first major ‘event’ of the year by screening the final of the Rugby World Cup in the auditorium. As someone who is virtually clueless about the sport, I cannot say I was the leader of this initiative, nor do I know what actually happened during the final, but I am glad to say that the dedication of the group was palpable. Events such as these put the ‘fun’ back into ‘fundraising’, and the 4,000 dirhams which were raised through this hour of charity proves the crucial point that charity is, and should be, enjoyable. Equally creative was the Ethiopia sub-commission’s way of raising money at the year seven parent’s evening the day after, which involved auctioning off pieces of a cow; unusual, but no doubt effective, as their total of 1,800 dirhams proves. I look forward to seeing how other groups continue to inspire with their own benefits in the months to come.
This month, we have raised over AED 20,000 for charity through the efforts of the students, nearly all of which was made in one week. Certainly, it is a formidable sum, but what is even more important to me is the hard work that people have put in to make these events happen. Perhaps we underestimate people too much; to me, the truly remarkable aspect of humanity is the compassion which everyone seems to feel, deep down. Every time someone donates, I am touched, and I hope my dedicated Charity Committee members feel the same.

Although October is now behind us, I urge students not to let the very real issue of breast cancer awareness fade entirely from their minds. That said, if ‘women hold up half the sky’, then there is a whole other half we must not forget. In light of this fact, let us look forward to the month of Movember, which aims to raise awareness about men and prostate cancer. 20,000 dirhams is excellent, dedicated Communist minions, but the past is the past, and what matters to me right now is the future, and the charity that it brings. Continue to celebrate your successes, but remember that there is no limit to how much charity you can do, in or out of school. On a final triumphant note, I’d like to officially end Breast Cancer Awareness month with a particularly apt quote from a wise musician:
“Who run the world? Girls.”

Nayana Prakash