Dr Who is transgender...

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

According to twitter

She specifically said that every cell in her body was being restructured. If humans could do that then yes changing sex would be possible - and great fun I'm sure. In the "Culture" novels of Iain Banks and other advanced-civilisation utopias there have also been beings who could do this - I seem to recall a line about it being considered normal to father at least one child and mother at least one by the age of 70 or so before working out what you really want to do with your life. I wouldn't mind doing a stint as a man, recreationally, if I could change back once the novelty wore off.

It's really not the same process as putting on a frock and declaring your name to be Karen.

It's an interesting thought experiment. Even if a man could replace every cell in their body, would they really be a woman?

It's not something that's likely to ever be realistic, but I suspect that male socialisation would still set them aside. You couldn't just relive your life.

It'll be interesting to see if they have people treating The Doctor differently in female form.

Realistically she'd lose respect in most cultures on earth, I wonder if the (fictional) universe is inherently sexist too?

As a dyspraxic woman, I am with TheSteakBakeOfAwesome.
As to the Doctor's clothing choices, well, 11 thought bow ties and fezzes were cool so it's not as though Gallifreyan s really share earthling tastes.

but bow ties are cool!!!! 😉

I noticed she was going to bring FairPlay to Earth as well and I wondered to myself about the writer....

@SteakBakeofAwesome so are we and proper dyspraxia to, right down to the way the thought processes go too. My eldest and I are dyspraxia and that was soooooo us.

I suspect that male socialisation would still set them aside

In Gallifreian biology, it is well-established that the personality does change with each regeneration although broad characteristics are maintained (the doctor is always a good person. The master/missy is always pretty much evil). However, assuming that Gallifreian society has achieved a non-sexist full equality between the men and women then the socialisation wouldn't be a problem. Of course personality has to change - if every cell in the body is changing then every neuron and synapse in the brain must therefore be also changing.

Let's hope that we can achieve a similarly non-sexist culture which socialises girls and boys exactly the same by the time the technology to create sex change on a cellular level. If the change can be made quick, easy and painless enough it might be a good idea for everyone to randomly switch between the two every few years. One of the best ways to achieve equality is when the negotiators know they themselves will suffer if there is any inequality - like the genius at the end of 'The Day of the Doctor' episode. Which man would make a decision to disadvantage women knowing that he could himself be a woman for the next few years?

I have to say I thought sending someone with dyspraxia to climb a crane was not the most logical choice.

I have to say I thought sending someone with dyspraxia to climb a crane was not the most logical choice.

You ain't seen DD2 shimmy up a climbing wall! No spatial awareness at all, but because of that - no bloody fear(I do the fear part)! (We go to the local Clip and Climb a lot as it's really good for her core strength)

Thesteak

Wow, I had not considered that.

Having actually watched it now (was listening to it last night while working on the PC) I really really like her as the Doctor. They could have really really fucked it up and gone on and on overplaying the female thing but it was just "yep, female, ok on with the alien arsekicking now".

Those too short wide legged trousers though - however much my social media feed from the clothes shops I tend to go to keep trying to convince me they're a good idea... if they even look fucking ridiculous on a timelord there's no hope for anyone else.

Loved how they did the dyspraxia storyline though - made me cry a little bit (but it's that sensitive "post-diagnosis" period anyway so most stuff does). They actually got the mental impact of it over subtly but nicely.

Bow ties and a fez are cool.
ignores trans ref as the Dr is a fricking alien with different biology and not human

F off and leave Dr Who out of it its a sci-fi fantasy not a bloody trans issue.

Those too short wide legged trousers though - however much my social media feed from the clothes shops I tend to go to keep trying to convince me they're a good idea... if they even look fucking ridiculous on a timelord there's no hope for anyone else.

There's a reason some clothes end up in charity shops, isn't there.

I liked the comment on (I think) the Guardian review which said something like 'Presumably, charity shops in Sheffield offer a bespoke ear piercing service.'

Bow ties and fezzes are cool. I think my point was that the Doctor wears whatever she likes.

Steak, I wasn't diagnosed until I was 27 and the relief was immense. I liked in the episode that, even after being inspired by his gran and being more persistent, Ryan still couldn't ride a bike. That dyspraxia doesn't just go away.

At least that outfit doesn't constrict movement. It's good she's obviously going to be physical - going for that jump - as well as able to build her own Sheffield steel sonic screwdriver.

However, assuming that Gallifreian society has achieved a non-sexist full equality between the men and women then the socialisation wouldn't be a problem.

I remember a fan theory to this effect back in the Nineties. The problem is that Time Lord society isn’t supposed to be egalitarian, it’s a stuffy, backward-looking, ritual obsessed hell-hole modelled on Gormenghast and the House of Lords that the Doctor couldn’t wait to get away from.

The Doctor isn't human. She's not comparable to a human, whether trans or otherwise. A TV show with cybermen, Daleks, shape-shifting aliens, wheelie bins that eat people, a spaceship that can go anywhere in time and space and is bigger inside than out, and we're expected to complain about the title character regenerating into a different sex? Pull the other one, it has bells on. I think most Mumnetters understand the concept of "suspension of disbelief"