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Regeneration and trans possibility in Doctor Who

2023; Organization for Transformative Works; Volume: 39; Linguagem: Inglês

10.3983/twc.2023.2281

1941-2258

Damien Hagen,

Gender, Feminism, and Media

In the long-running BBC series Doctor Who (2005–), the iconic character of the Doctor is able to avoid death through a process of regeneration. Long before the ability of the Doctor to change gender during regeneration was made canonical by the casting of Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor, transgender fans had interpreted the Doctor's regenerations through a trans imaginary. Trans fans of Doctor Who have been drawn to the series by its heavy thematic utilization of movement, change, liminality, and transformation. Trans fans of Doctor Who have utilized the series as a tool for imagining trans possibility, self-exploration, and viewing gender affirmation and euphoria as possible. The series offers trans fans a way of being in which transformation can be not only possible but lifesaving.