in saecula saeculorum

thejohntohersherlock:

a-romantic-aromantic:

timelordsandkittens:

inner-tardis:

#things that interest me: what is the doctor’s stance on gender identities? #do they even have gendered pronouns in gallifreyan or does the tardis just translate the pronouns that apply to you?

^ These tags. Let me love them.

I wrote an essay once on how Gallifreyan society is/was, by necessity, queer. I was mostly applying it to sexualities but I think it applies to gender identity, too. Basically if Time Lords can change race, gender, and according to Nine, everything, when they regenerate, then our concept of gender identity and sexuality simply won’t apply to them. Which doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t have gendered pronouns, but in my view, they are much more lax about changing sexes and same-sex marriage and the like than we are. Because it doesn’t occur to them to be otherwise.

I really like thinking about this. Because, so far all eleven regenerations of the Doctor have been what our society considers to be male; but we have proof that at least some Time Lords changed gender (at least by human standards) when they regenerated (ie the Corsair).  But how far does the change go? Is it a physical and a mental change? Is it possible for Time Lords to experience gender dysphoria? How did Time Lord society deal with that? 

I personally would like to think Time Lord society didn’t really have a concept of gender (or sexuality) the way we understand it. So, there are different types of bodies. So, there are different types of personalities and ways of relating to one’s body. So, some people are attracted to bodies and personalities that are different from theirs, ones that are similar to theirs, lots of different types, or none at all. I can’t see that mattering much when it can all be completely different the next time around.

Also, didn’t Time Lords reproduce artificially? So gender would matter a lot less as far as reproduction goes; I’d imagine they would even be able to produce an offspring from two Time Lords with the same type of sex chromosomes - and that’s assuming Time Lord sex chromosomes even work the same way human ones do.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the Gallifreyan equivalent of “Time Lord” was a gender neutral term, too; we did hear Romana refer to herself as a Time Lord, didn’t we?

^^^^

(Source: ohvegeta, via theladyofothlorien-deactivated2)