#rant #DrWho13
Not the rant you are thinking of.

Being a fan is not a rational thing, it's an emotional one. And while we'd like to think that fans are all smart folk that stick together, it's not really true.

I've seen stars gently explain to grown fans that they are not the characters they play. I've seen flame wars over things much, much smaller than the gender of the title character of one of the most iconic SF TV shows there is.

Fandom is emotional, not rational.

« So:

1) You don't get to call someone "not a real fan" if they don't like a change in a show. Even if you think they are an idiot, and the change is a good one. They may be an idiot. Still a fan.

2) There are going to be perfectly nice fans, not bigots or idiots, who are upset by #drwho13 being female. They may not be able to articulate why to your satisfaction. Tough. They have that right.

#endrant

Ok sure, so it's emotional - but does that mean it's automatically ok?

There's nothing intrinsically male in the character, the creator wanted a woman doctor decades ago.

It's a constantly changing actor. I would argue that folks who are upset but can't articulate it are simply not owning their misogyny.

thought experiment: if the new doctor was a black man, do you grant that there would be similar outrage? ...would that be somehow ok?

@shadowfirebird

@mykola
It's emotional, and therefore neither "wrong" or "right" - you can't control how you feel.
You can certainly control *what you do about* how you feel, and many people appear to be acting like arseholes, which is definitely something they should take responsibility for. (And I would personally include in this category those complaining that Ms Whittaker is white, but maybe that's just me.)
All of this, of course, is just my opinion.