British Comedy Guide

Catastrophe - Series 4 Page 3

One thing I hadn't thought about but a lot of people are talking about is the tribute to Carrie Fisher, which is especially fitting considering the third series of Catastrophe was one of the last things she filmed.

Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ 14th February 2019, 2:04 AM

Am I being sexist? Or are they? I'm not the one writing mainstream TV shows showing women to be preoccupied with relationships and sex above all else.

You are, because you wouldn't dismiss comedy by men based on whether it fits any stereotypes of men. In any case, it shouldn't have to go out of its way to placate bigots, especially when the thing being complained about is as arbitrary as there being a relationship in it.

Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ 31st January 2019, 5:18 AM

(Most) female writers of shows these days are incapable of writing anything that isn't about relationships, romance or sex.

Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ 14th February 2019, 2:04 AM

Am I being sexist?

No, you're not.

Your statement is simply a rhetorical exaggeration of what appears to be an essential truth.

Clearly, any writer (regardless of gender) is capable of writing about any subject on earth - although whether or not what s/he writes will be any good is another matter entirely.

If, however, you say that most female writers of shows these days don't write about anything that isn't about relationships, romance or sex, I think that's a perfectly reasonable thing to say - partly because it has the ring of truth about it but mainly because such a truth (if it is indeed a truth) does not diminish female writers in any way.

I think the assertion is probably equally true of women fiction-writers throughout history.

If someone were to crunch the actual numbers, I think they might find that fictional works by women writers are (and always have been) more often than not about relationships, romance and/or sex.

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