[article] The Depressing, Disappointing Maleness of Doctor Who's New Time Lord - Ted B. Kissell

nigglereddit · 2013-08-06T16:54:03+00:00

Stopped reading at "patriarchy".

IHaveALargePenis · 2013-08-06T18:17:42+00:00

Having a woman as the smartest, bravest person in the universe, being able to fix any problem, save the world with her wits, a magical vehicle, and boundless courage--who wouldn't want to watch that show?

River Song? You know a character on the show who's pretty much just like the doctor? Yeah, they tried her and although she's fun here and there, nobody could stand her for too long. So they tried it, it failed and it's a good thing they didn't go through with it.

Of course, maybe it's for the best that the first female Doctor isn't in the hands of the current showrunner. During the regeneration of Mels into River Song, after all, we were treated to such Moffaty gems as her "focusing on a dress size," weighing herself, and going shopping.

Yeah, because THE FIRST EPISODE of every new doctor doesn't involve the male doctor finding out what he looks like or choosing his new fashion/clothing. This guy hasn't even bothered watching the show. It's like he just looked up "sexist + doctor who" on google and found his way from there.

yakushi12345 · 2013-08-06T17:44:48+00:00

How dare they cast men for male roles.

saint2e · 2013-08-06T16:11:47+00:00

I can understand why the show's Producers/Directors/etc. would want to keep The Doctor a male. Can you imagine the huge pressure to write for a female Doctor character? Ye gods, the amount of scrutiny and backlash over a female Doctor doing ANYTHING would be tremendous and would sully the spirit of doing such a thing in the first place.

I mean, even now it's a male and we're hearing about how he's "too old" when most of the Doctors throughout the show's history have been older than the recent iterations.

Hoodwink · 2013-08-06T20:09:13+00:00

The reason why the Doctor has to be male is for the female audience. Each and every doctor and companion relationship is a romance story (without the sex). If you switched it up, it would feel ridiculous awkward as women would not be turned on at all by saving the male companion with witty lines. And having a male look longingly as the companions do at the female doctor would actually be a signal of creepiness to a lot of women.

If you swap the gender roles, you're going to have to invent a whole new dynamic that is absolutely unfamiliar to everyone on the planet. Take a look at the series Gillian Anderson (Scully from X-files) is in 'The Fall'. It would look as awkward/ridiculous as that show.

Everything_Is_Rape · 2013-08-06T17:33:15+00:00

12 male actors in a row to play a male character? More like 12 rapes in a row.

2013-08-06T19:24:54+00:00

Young women angry that they cant use Dr. Who as a way to get off anymore. What bothers me most is that it's obviously their first Dr. Who was the previous one, especially when they go on their Twitter and say "Ugh, he's old!" Yes, as were like the firs 6-7 doctors. The last two were anomalies.

4man · 2013-08-06T17:35:34+00:00

Wow I never thought about this before but Dr Who just might be the last bastion of masculinity in western society. The one club that women haven't destroyed yet.

TracyMorganFreeman · 2013-08-06T19:23:59+00:00

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TracyMorganFreeman · 2013-08-06T20:34:48+00:00

I'm no whovian, but from what little I'm told by my friends the notion of a female doctor for a regeneration did not test well with female fans. If that's accurate then producers giving fans what they want or least not changing to something they would object to is a business decision.

typhonblue · 2013-08-06T17:24:58+00:00

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mechdemon · 2013-08-07T05:28:20+00:00

Oh for the love of...If there's any show that presents humans as humans, it's Dr. Who - Harriet Jones, Donna Noble, Craig (from The Boarder), Mickey, Captain Jack Harkness... Dr. Who, underneath the daleks and cybermen and timey-wimey wibbley wobbly bits is about how Humans can have such lofty highs and depressing lows; its an examination of humanity through the eyes of a flawed alien god who is alternately fascinated and disgusted by the apes that inhabit this unremarkable world in the galactic backwater.

It goes beyond gender and what we laughingly call race, and really gets inside and looks at what makes us, US.

2013-08-07T12:09:54+00:00

A father and son are involved in a car crash. The father is killed; the son is critically injured and is rushed to a hospital. The doctor on duty in the emergency room takes one look at him and says, "I can't operate on him because he's my son."

well he got me, I assumed the doctor was gay

2013-08-08T04:42:22+00:00

"River Song, Amy Pond, Clara Oswald--all of them were mysteries for the Doctor to solve, instead of simply people. "

All these characters are not "simply people". They are strong female characters, and yes they are mysterious. This isn't a bad thing.

"the British part should never change. An American or Australian Doctor would just be weird"

So gender should change but not being British is off the table?

"The Feminism of Doctor Who Tumblr, in anticipation of the announcement, ran a feature called The Time Lady Project, which suggested dozens of potential actresses who could play the part. . . having a woman as the smartest, bravest person in the universe, being able to fix any problem, save the world with her wits, a magical vehicle, and boundless courage--who wouldn't want to watch that show? But instead, another white guy. The structural sexism of the show remains intact. "

The people who make doctor who didn't follow the instructions of the "Feminism of Doctor Who Tumblr"? How rude not to focus on a minority of the audience wants to see.

Oh yeah and though this is his 12th regeneration, I'm sure they could write in some fancy loophole if they really want to cast a woman. And what if they did? They might be navigating a minefield with critics like these. I can just imagine them being pressured to write the "female doctor" a certain, "correct" way. And is this really the first "live regeneration"? I thought the last two morphed during the show?

999papercranes · 2013-08-06T17:30:55+00:00

I guess I don't understand either side; the people really pushing for a female and those who are vehemently opposed to it. Is it really that big of a deal either way?

LAMFF · 2013-08-06T18:34:12+00:00

What do you expect from the Atlantic? It's the house organ for feminists and their white knight sycophants to beat their PC shields and demand changes in public sphere that are a custom fit to their ridiculous world view. How about this one: the shows producers, in most likely a publicly traded company, came to a decision on the best option for their product, through the use of focus groups or whatever other hocus pocus is used to devine talent. Now, since they pay for this show in order to make a profit, they have the right to do (right or wrong) what they feel will maximize their profits.

Title	[article] The Depressing, Disappointing Maleness of Doctor Who's New Time Lord - Ted B. Kissell
Author	goodinbed
Upvotes	18
Comments	46
Date	August 6, 2013 4:03 PM UTC (13 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/1jtglr/article_the_depressing_disappointing_maleness_of/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/article-the-depressing-disappointing-maleness-of.1167057 https://theredarchive.com/post/1167057

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