A later period maybe, but when my (working class, unskilled Lancashire mill worker's daughter) Granny went to teacher training college in North Wales in the 30's, none of the English girls there would have anything to do with her, because of her class. All her friends were Welsh- they were far more open minded.
As for the racism- you only have to look at some of the textbooks of the period to see the manner in which black people- especially africans were viewed as lesser beings- especially intellectually. My father has a set of encyclopedias from that period which contain an entry explaining why black people are intellectually inferior to whites (pretty much because they have just come out of the bush, aren't civilised etc)
I honestly thought that Joan's response was only to be expected from a woman of that period. Even from a lady as nice as Joan. Not only that, but the very fact that she is obviously a well educated lady would make her more racist, not less, given the scientific beliefs of the time.
I thought that it was about time that Dr Who addressed the subject of racism, and that it did so in a historically accurate and thoughtful way. Oh and I loved the look on Joan's face when Martha reeled off the names of the bones of the hand!
BTW, no I don't think that Joan's behaviour was immoral, even by the standards of the time.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
regna
(no subject)
Date: 2007-06-04 06:43 pm (UTC)As for the racism- you only have to look at some of the textbooks of the period to see the manner in which black people- especially africans were viewed as lesser beings- especially intellectually. My father has a set of encyclopedias from that period which contain an entry explaining why black people are intellectually inferior to whites (pretty much because they have just come out of the bush, aren't civilised etc)
I honestly thought that Joan's response was only to be expected from a woman of that period. Even from a lady as nice as Joan. Not only that, but the very fact that she is obviously a well educated lady would make her more racist, not less, given the scientific beliefs of the time.
I thought that it was about time that Dr Who addressed the subject of racism, and that it did so in a historically accurate and thoughtful way. Oh and I loved the look on Joan's face when Martha reeled off the names of the bones of the hand!
BTW, no I don't think that Joan's behaviour was immoral, even by the standards of the time.