It is as tenuous as that of a trans man, because a medical examination could "out" him.
I am uncomfortable with this comparison, because the Doctor doesn't identify as a human. It's useful for him to pass as human, but a medical examination will reveal him for what he is, and what he's happy to be, rather than -- as for a trans man -- revealing him to be what he's not.
I am all in favour of treating straightciswhiteablemen as blank slates onto which we, the active participants of our culture, can project what we need and want to project. (Problematic as it is to treat these qualities as neutral.) But, hmm, just because a certain character stands in for one of lower privilege, it doesn't mean they have low privilege themselves? As anotherusedpage put it, Simon and River Tam are still white.
So while I like the idea of making sense of the Doctor's narrative as a trans narrative, I think it's important to remember that while he may be the closest we get to a trans man on a family show, he's still some way off. Thus yes, like a trans man his privilege is tenuous, but no, his privilege isn't as tenuous as a trans man's.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2009-10-20 11:34 pm (UTC)I am uncomfortable with this comparison, because the Doctor doesn't identify as a human. It's useful for him to pass as human, but a medical examination will reveal him for what he is, and what he's happy to be, rather than -- as for a trans man -- revealing him to be what he's not.
I am all in favour of treating straightciswhiteablemen as blank slates onto which we, the active participants of our culture, can project what we need and want to project. (Problematic as it is to treat these qualities as neutral.) But, hmm, just because a certain character stands in for one of lower privilege, it doesn't mean they have low privilege themselves? As
So while I like the idea of making sense of the Doctor's narrative as a trans narrative, I think it's important to remember that while he may be the closest we get to a trans man on a family show, he's still some way off. Thus yes, like a trans man his privilege is tenuous, but no, his privilege isn't as tenuous as a trans man's.