penned up inside another web

Martha Jones:

She was the first main Black companion on Doctor Who…I'll just talk about the fandom racism/misogyny itself and not the racism/misogyny in the show itself. She was subject to overt and subtle misogynoir from the fandom, especially since she came after white fan-favorite companion Rose Tyler. People disliked her for having a crush on the Doctor, which Rose also had, and was unfavorably compared to Rose. There's a lot more, but I don't want to write a whole essay.

She's a medical student, and incredibly smart and capable! In her stories, she's incredibly compassionate to those around her, and offers emotional as well as medical assistance. Also, she has incredible style!

Martha gets absolutely shafted by the fandom, most of whom cannot seem to forgive her for not being Rose Tyler. That she dares to leave the Doctor and live her own life is apparently an act more evil than any the Daleks could dream of. A lot of fans insist that Martha's race has nothing to do with why they dislike her. A lot of fans are fucking liars.

Martha is competent and intelligent and screams way less than usual for a companion so she is clearly excellent.

I think fandoms been very racist and misogynistic towards her, relagating her as some spineless woman always pining after the doctor instead of a badass MD who saved the day many times

Not only misogyny but racism too. Martha is an incredibly smart and brave character who doesn’t get half the credit that the Doctor’s other (WHITE) companions get. She gets dogged on by the fandom for a lot of reasons that are overlooked or forgiven when Rose Tyler does a lot of the same things.

She was the only RTD companion who wasn’t given superpowers in order to save the day. Girl saved the world with nothing but gumption and a good pair of walking boots.

I still see hate fics for her in the big year of 2026 please god she's not getting in the way of your ship she walked away from that bum ass alien 15 years ago

So many fans consider Martha a "rebound" companion for 10 and say that she only cares about impressing him or something. Completely ignoring the fact that she was charmed into coming with him! Just like everybody else who travels with the Doctor. She also canonically SAVED THE WORLD by giving the people something to believe in and got to leave on her own accord without something terrible happening to her. She's also shown to be incredibly smart and talented, quickly adapting to situations even if she might be freaked out at first. And after she leaves she gets to work with UNIT (and im pretty sure she also appears in the Torchwood spin-off series) and eventually she ends up with someone who understands what she's been through. Martha is SO MUCH MORE than just a rebound companion or a girl obsessed with the Doctor. Sheis (at the time of meeting her) being trained to be a full on doctor who has incredible will power and a clear desire to help others.

Helen of Troy:

many people blame her for so much shit she was Not responsible for. the trojan war was not her fucking fault people!!! also multiple translators have made her call herself a slut or a bitch even though she never refers to herself that way in the ancient greek text :/

give my girl a fucking break!!!! please!!!

COSMIC PUNCHLINE TO EVERY JOKE IN LITERATURE ABOTU HOW WOMEN ARE EVIL. AND WHAT IS LITERATURE IF NOT ILIAD FANDOM. ALL LITERATURE

SHE MAYBE DID ALL THAT BUT I LOIVE HER ANYWAY

I really love Helen as someone who always shows up with a Point Of View. Like she’s reduced to an object a lot (famously as Paris’s reward in the myths or “the face that launched a thousand ships” in pop culture, or even in other stories like the one about her getting kidnapped by Theseus as a kid :/) but she’s always got something In the Iliad she’s sitting on the walls of Troy, almost a decade into this war, lonely and wondering if her brothers are on the battlefield. She’s getting kidnapped by Aphrodite to go comfort Paris (and telling her she knew it was Aphrodite because the boobs on her disguise were too good!!!) and fucking hating it but not wanting to be attacked by a god. In the Odyssey she’s just fuckin drugging people?? She’s tragic and she’s weird and she’s probably doomed by her own nature as a demigod. And i just think she’s neat :)