ONTD Original: Gender Swapping in Television

[a_files06]

BBC News - Doctor Who: Jodie Whittaker casting splits fans https://t.co/m6ZmoB65wJ
well done, another diversity box ticked!!
- Jasmin (@ladyjasmin007) July 16, 2017
With Doctor Who regenerating into a female for the first time in the shows history and causing massive outrage across the galaxy, here are other examples of popular male characters turning

Comments

[fauxkaren]

Joan Watson is the best Watson of all Watsons.

I am ok with being the cheese the stands alone with not liking a female Doctor because it means that either the Doctor is not the same person across regenerations or it's leaning into the idea that gender is 100% a social construct and not something intrinsic to a person which I think is a complicated conversation that the show will never get into, so it's just like... well, I guess??

Whatever. I haven't watched Doctor Who since the first few episode of Tweleve so it doesn't matter what I think.

[t_snake]

yeah i got a few reserves on it but i really want to see how they'll play it. like to me the doctor is a man, so it would have made more sense to cast *let my imagination go wild* Idris Elba (you got the money bbc, you took bake off away from us, you can give me Idris on the telly!) we'll see.

and ofc it matters what you think <3

[t_snake]

eh i'm not perfect. can i ask you what's so awful about this comment? just curious

[nomorefrostbite]

The Doctor is a literal alien from a species that got rid of gender norms and gender associated stereotypes actually billions of years ago though.

The way the Doctor experiences 'gender' as we think of it is not related to or connected to gender as we even understand it. So for Time Lords/Gallifreyans it is neither intrinsic or a social construct, as has been established within the canon of the show.

If it was a HUMAN character though i'd understand that though and agree with you at the complexity of that issue.

But the Doctor is an alien from space, travelling around space and time in ship that looks like a police telephone box lmao, so.

Howevs bb, I definitely recommend you watch Season 10 because Bill Potts will save your ENTIRE life and soul. And then if you think on about it and feel like giving 13 a chance, then I hope to see you in my Who posts next season! <3

[fauxkaren]

Yeah, but the show doesn't exist in a vacuum and the audience is human (presumably). So it's starting a conversation a gender and then not finishing it or even really having the conversation and just getting pats on the back for ~revolutionary~ casting.

eta: I have heard good things about Bill, but lol I'm just so TIRED of Moffat's awful writing that idk if I have the energy to put myself through that again.

[mimblexwimble]

It doesn't have to start a conversation about human sex and gender. It's a fantasy and the character is an alien.

[nomorefrostbite]

It's a scifi fantasy kids show sis, it's not pitched as some revolutionary hardhitting drama asking all the hard questions about gender and identity, and also you haven't seen what they do with this or how it's handled yet, nobody has, so how do you know what conversations they'll be having?

Like wait and see before dragging - this can only mean good things for kids to see a female Doctor and have this role model, representation matters.

[fauxkaren]

I just disagree that the only representation that is possible/that matters is the Doctor. Like if you want a female Time Lord, Queen Romana is right there, waiting to be on the show again!

And lol my assumptions on it being handled poorly/not at all is just based in my lack of faith in Chris Chibnall. Because yes Broadchurch is great but he wrote some real turds for DW and Torchwood. So I am not expecting much.

[nomorefrostbite]

lmao like I want Romana back too but the Doctor is the main character, that's important representation. That's important full stop.

That the main heroic central character is played by a woman is imho important, just as it will be when the Doctor is played by a POC! Which I hope comes next.

[helyanwe89]

I would have preferred they just bring Romana back too. They also could always do some other spin-off about a Timelady if they really wanted to.

[bodyline]

Sis, Time Lords aren't real. They're fictional characters written by humans. Regardless of whatever may have been said to the contrary in the show, what they've actually shown for 50+ years over multiples Doctors and multiple companions and multiple writers and multiple showrunners is that they think they think sex = gender and fall into line with the human social construct of gender and gender norms.

[nomorefrostbite]

Exactly sis - they're not real. They're fictional aliens on a scifi fantasy kids show.

I know you're bitter that 13 is a white woman, but it is progress whether you think so or not, and it is important representation.

You'd rather it remained a white male?

You're completely right to drag all that has come before, even if the creator of DW said over 30 years ago that the Doctor should regenerate female. Like that hasn't come in over 30 goddamn years and THAT is a fucking travesty. And would I rather it been a WOC? Absolutely, my dreamcast is Noma Dumezweni and she would be actually beyond perfect. But i'm also pleased that steps forward are being taken and that kids will be getting this representation.

Yes we've had one thing for 50+ years, but for the kids watching it now, this will be what they know of the Doctor, and that's important.

[bodyline]

There's been more white women in the TARDIS than there have even been white men. By quite a sizable margin as well. Acting like the Doctor is the only one who matters for representation makes it seem like you're also saying that those companions, who've had just as much presence on the show as the Doctor, don't matter or don't count towards representation, when they do. And of those companions, there have only been two black women and one black man in 50+ years. So no, I wouldn't have rather had a white man, I 100% would have wanted a MoC, because that's what the show has been completely and utterly lacking in its entire run.

And if Doctor Who was alone in this, I wouldn't necessarily have a problem with it, but this is just one of many instances lately where successes for white women have been heralded as this huge step forward while they continue to leave PoC, especially WoC, in the dust. And WoC are expected to just be happy and supportive about it because woo, women.

[nomorefrostbite]

The Companions come and go, and whilst they have become more co-leads in the last few years it is still without a doubt a show where the Doctor is the central character, the constant where every other character either comes and goes and pops back up on occasion like the Master or is here for a couple years then gone pretty much forever

[helyanwe89]

I would have liked to see a MoC too. I also feel like recently the show has always given the Doctor a female companion, and once in a while a guy tags along but it's usually because of the female character (Mickey & Rory). The Doctor used to sometimes have 2-3 companions at a time, and they could have brought that back. He also hasn't had a Companion not for Earth in a really long time, so having someone from another planet as a companion seems like another missed opportunity.