Doctor Who: Femininity and the Thirteenth Doctor, should they clash?

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – JULY 25: Actress Jodie Whittaker speaks onstage at the ‘Broadchurch’ panel discussion during the BBC America portion of the 2013 Summer Television Critics Association tour – Day 2 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on July 25, 2013 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

With the new change in the Doctor, some questions are following us around that we don’t want to admit…even those who support it.

When many people are talking about the thirteenth Doctor, they talk about PC, or politically correct. Many people hate the decisions BBC made because of politically correctness. It’s an understandable reason as to upset older fans. If the reason was made only to look like they were moving forward, that’s not okay.

And it falls under politically correct…ie: is it possible we only have a female doctor because BBC wanted a change? If you want to be cynical, yes. But let’s hope we’re wrong.

However, “politically correct” does have a whole other side: what happens now that there is a woman?

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Well, the “PC” thing to do would be to treat her exactly like a man. In real life, BBC is doing that. There’s no paying gap between Whittaker and Capaldi. And they’re also trying to push that there is an 80% majority who do like the idea of a female Doctor. That’s what we should be doing and focusing on.

But what about once the show begins? To be honest, this is where I wonder if I have a little bit of sexism myself because I keep asking myself this. Because, while on Gallifrey it might not be a big deal to change genders, for every Doctor Who fan — even those who support it — there are still questions running through the mind of a fan.

Is it sexist to want the female Doctor to be treated like a female?

Now, god forbid I don’t mean I want Daleks asking her to hold the door open for her before she runs away from getting exterminated. Nor do I want the Weeping Angels to apologize if they “looked in a wrong place” before they sent her off.

Let’s be clear: I don’t mean “let’s treat the thirteenth Doctor as she’s breakable”.

I mean her outfits. Her choice of a sonic. Maybe as a female Time Lord she’ll want to show some skin, or a different colored sonic (I do think we should keep the screwdriver though).

Where’s the middle? Where do we compromise between “same person” and give her something of all of her predecessors, “different face” while celebrating who she is?

I know this is very thing that most Classic Whovians fear, that the Doctor will change. But what if she were a bad ass? What if she wasn’t a woman who let the men hold the door open? What if she was a woman who was bad ass like Amy, River, Rose, Martha, Clara, Donna, any of the female companions before her.

Next: What will Twelve always be associated with?

I wrote an article a couple weeks ago about River, and how even though she was sexualized, she was still able to be a great character. This is what I want for the thirteenth Doctor. I want it to be recognized that she’s a woman. Because whether it’s agreed with, this is a huge change in Doctor Who history, and it should be celebrated and believed that women can play the same role a man can, and just as well. Who knows. Maybe even better.

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