Why women can't be Doctors

[shewhomust]

Monday's Guardian has an interview with Russell T. Davies (tucked away for some reason in the Media section). It contains few surprises, but this pair of paragraphs had me boggling:

He is not a man to shy away from controversial comments, and says Tennant's eventual replacement should not be female. "I am often tempted to say yes to that to placate everyone but, while I think kids will not have a problem with [a female Doctor], I think fathers will have a problem with it because they will then imagine they will have to describe sex changes to their children.

"I think fathers can describe sex changes to their children and I think they should and it's part of the world, but I think it would simply introduce genitalia into family viewing. You're not talking about actresses or style, you're talking about genitalia, and a lot of parents would get embarrassed."

I used to cherish the hope of seeing Miriam Margolies take over the rôle, and I'd come to terms with the fact that it wasn't going to happen. But as reasons go, that's bad one. "Because I don't want to," works better.

But no, Russell T. would love to. It's just that all the dads (who explained Captain Jack without blushing) begged him not to embarrass them. They have no trouble explaining time paradoxes, and the Doctor's general ability to regenerate is child's play.

But it seems that when the Doctor regenerates into a whole new person, new body, new personality, new style, new mannerisms, there is actually one part of him that doesn't regenerate, one small but important part that stays constant...

Do I believe this? No, I think it's a load of genitalia.

Comments

[vschanoes.livejournal.com]

Yeah, really. The Dads had no problem with Captain Jack...

Honestly, I always assumed that it was just part of Time Lord biology that they were male and female and regeneration didn't change that. Clearly I was cutting too much slack.

[janni.livejournal.com]

As if kids are even thinking of genitalia when they ask about the doctor changing gender.

Well, teens sure, but they're not likely going to be talking to their parents about it anyway ...

[inamac.livejournal.com]

Well, technically,(and I wasn't watching with any interest) didn't Donna 'become' the Doctor in the last episode? And how does the sainted RTD expect parents to explain the subsequent brain-rape to their 8 year olds?

There are good reasons not to have the Doctor regenerate into a female body (not least because it would be trite pandering to the PC element on the part of the BBC - oh...) but if he can do that then why not into any alien body? Hell, why not a Dalek? (I may regret saying that.)

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

I have to admit that I've always thought that the Doctor would stay male, but I think it would be fascinating to see the Doctor become female.

I suppose they could always give Jenny a TARDIS.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Children seem pretty much aware that there are differences between men and women already, so what's to explain? Besides, if they could cope with Tip becoming Princess Ozma in 1900, I'm sure they'll cope with the Doctor regenerating as female over a century later. And besides again, wasn't there already quite a lot of body-swapping between the Doctor and Cassndra in "New Earth"?

Apart from all that, where's he coming from with this "fathers" thing? Is he assuming that all sex-change explanations are naturally the province of men, or that mothers don't watch Doctor Who, or that mothers would be able to talk about sex without feeling the need to mention genitalia, or - well, what?

[shewhomust.livejournal.com]

Oh, clearly Doctor Who is for the Dads - never mind the casting of the Doctor, the casting of the companions makes that clear...

Besides, it is the job of fathers to explain to the kids when things get technical, and the job of mothers to comfort them when things get scary.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Thanks - it's good to get that clear, isn't it? After all, reaffirming conventional gender roles is what Doctor Who is all about.

[cinderberry.livejournal.com]

I can't help feeling that all of this genitalia waffle just stood for "...but I don't want to". Because the experience of the last 4 series shows that if RTS wants to do something, he does.

Mind you, I've also always thought that Time Lords were male or female, which the regeneration wouldn't normally change.

Essay question: Did transsexual Time Lords need a surgery to put the desired genitalia into place, or would a specialised regeneration process do the trick?