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fangrrl_squeesI bet that title got your attention, didn't it? We geeks have filthy minds, you should know that by now. You think all that slash and torridly-shippy fic writes itself? On to the matter at hand...
Way Back When, Omega had a snit fit and cursed the Time Lords with sterility. I forget what he was having a fit about, but Omega didn't do anything by half measures, 'cos he's a vengeful bastard.
(or was it Rassilon who did the cursing? Bloody hell, I can't remember. Well, I'm saying Omega for now and will gleefully accept corrections later)
At the very end of the classic TV continuity, and here and there in the books - about which I know the is it canon or not arguments will never fade, alas - there was much mention of the "Genetic Looms" and a few raised eyebrows because a certain Time Lord of renown has (gasp!) a bellybutton, which apparently isn't the done thing in Time Lord circles1.
I have a problem with the bellybutton thing, actually. Even if Gallifreyans are grown in vats, surely some sort of placental arrangement is necessary in order to nourish the fetus, in which case, they resulting beings would have bellybuttons, regardless of what sort of "uterus" they grew in, right? So I'm going to ignore that whole "The Doctor has a bellybutton" fuss.
Gotta love fanon - ignore the bits that get in the way. That doesn't mean I don't think about them, however.
Furthermore, it's a bit unclear to me if Omega cursed the entire planet full of Gallifreyans, or only the Time Lords, when it came to smacking them with the Big Stick of Sterility. If one were to make a decision based on pre-Seven continuity, one could make a case for it just being the Time Lords suffering the curse. Don't try to tell me that Leela was going to settle down with some fella who wouldn't provide her with some healthy babies, y'know?
Contraiwise, there's the matter that the entire society seems a bit, er, prudish - and various hints and implications in the post-classic continuity suggests that all Gallifreyans rely on the genetic looms for reproduction. So, it's not terribly clear. Again, my gut instinct suggests that Omega cursed every-bloody-one, not just the Time Lord sect/class of society.
However, despite the temptation to perhaps make everyone into sexless beings whilst at the Loom - because hormones cause half the world's problems, donchaknow? - the naughty bits are still needed, unless one fancies the idea of being pre-adolescent for the entirety of one's existence. Ugh. So, never mind how prudish some Time Lords seem to be, those bits are still vital to physical development and are going to be standard issue for everyone.
IMHO, when you've got a culture that can't reproduce sexually and, by all appearances, has excellent health care on hand, you've got every chance that they could develop a very open and positive attitude towards recreational sex - without the risk of pregnancy and STD's either non-existent or quite treatable, sex could be considered just another a hobby. Furthermore, I think it's plausible that in such a situation, the notion that sex = emotional commitment could go right out the window. True, the social more might remain in place for quite some time, or with a certain part of society, but not the majority, methinks. A whole lotta embarrassment and emotional muckiness could go right out of the window.
Or the sex-is-no-longer-essential-to-survival society could find the activity extremely distasteful and not see the point in it. At which point, sex is not exactly taboo, but very much a shunned topic of discussion and one not brought up in public and/or with polite company. Squeamish, but not puritanical, I think. It's not a sinful activity, per se, just pointless, deviant and leading to unpleasant complications - particularly if emotional involvement is still considered an intrinsic part of the deal and/or STDs are as unpleasant at this end of the 'verse.
Thanks to the time and place of DW's creation, it seems that the show leans towards the latter. I think that's a shame, really, but the Beeb's got censors and viewers in whatever the British equivalent of Peoria is to worry about.
Personally, I'm much happier with the notion that they stayed away from romance (and attendant smooching because the majority of folks around here haven't separated sex from emotional commitment) because romance will always screw a story up, sooner or later, but I think the Beeb was just being cautious - and a bit prudish - back in the day. Moments in seasons 28 and 29 (as us stubbornly old school fans will call them) certainly hint at getting past the prudishness (the lines "...and end up kissing complete strangers. Or is that just me?", "Buy me a drink, first"2 and "Some parts barely used!" spring to mind) but it's clearly an off-stage sort of thing.
As I said before, it's a shame, as I bet it would really help the Time Lords' fuddy-duddy image if they were known for being frightfully progressive in the matter of recreational nookie and suchlike. Furthermore, when you're practically immortal, you're going to a) have time to learn lots and b) quite possibly get bored of the usual, er, routines.
Ow, hang on. I just got a godawful vision of a BDSMy Gallifreyan High Council chamber in my head. That is not what I meant! I'm just sayin' that if I had a relentlessly healthy immune system (ever heard of a Time Lord getting a cold? 'Nuff said) and a few thousand years on my hands, I'd probably do more than catch up on my reading... Like I said, I'm a perv. I think the implication in the re-launched TV continuity is the Doctor might be a bit pervy by Gallifreyan standards too.
Anyways, my point is that I think a person could make a plausible argument for Gallifreyan society being very liberal minded about sex and all that's associated with it. They're just being, y'know, discreet about it. But I'm sure I'm wrong/will be flamed to a crisp for saying so.
Let's not even get started on speculating about what's going on in The Master's head. Some shots are just too easy to take.
Footnotes
1 - Go read Lungbarrow if you want to know more about the bellybutton thing. The BBC's got it online for free along with a few of the other more popular but out of print novels..
2 - Oh, the restless night that provoked! Mmm, Nine/Jack slash...
Way Back When, Omega had a snit fit and cursed the Time Lords with sterility. I forget what he was having a fit about, but Omega didn't do anything by half measures, 'cos he's a vengeful bastard.
(or was it Rassilon who did the cursing? Bloody hell, I can't remember. Well, I'm saying Omega for now and will gleefully accept corrections later)
At the very end of the classic TV continuity, and here and there in the books - about which I know the is it canon or not arguments will never fade, alas - there was much mention of the "Genetic Looms" and a few raised eyebrows because a certain Time Lord of renown has (gasp!) a bellybutton, which apparently isn't the done thing in Time Lord circles1.
I have a problem with the bellybutton thing, actually. Even if Gallifreyans are grown in vats, surely some sort of placental arrangement is necessary in order to nourish the fetus, in which case, they resulting beings would have bellybuttons, regardless of what sort of "uterus" they grew in, right? So I'm going to ignore that whole "The Doctor has a bellybutton" fuss.
Gotta love fanon - ignore the bits that get in the way. That doesn't mean I don't think about them, however.
Furthermore, it's a bit unclear to me if Omega cursed the entire planet full of Gallifreyans, or only the Time Lords, when it came to smacking them with the Big Stick of Sterility. If one were to make a decision based on pre-Seven continuity, one could make a case for it just being the Time Lords suffering the curse. Don't try to tell me that Leela was going to settle down with some fella who wouldn't provide her with some healthy babies, y'know?
Contraiwise, there's the matter that the entire society seems a bit, er, prudish - and various hints and implications in the post-classic continuity suggests that all Gallifreyans rely on the genetic looms for reproduction. So, it's not terribly clear. Again, my gut instinct suggests that Omega cursed every-bloody-one, not just the Time Lord sect/class of society.
However, despite the temptation to perhaps make everyone into sexless beings whilst at the Loom - because hormones cause half the world's problems, donchaknow? - the naughty bits are still needed, unless one fancies the idea of being pre-adolescent for the entirety of one's existence. Ugh. So, never mind how prudish some Time Lords seem to be, those bits are still vital to physical development and are going to be standard issue for everyone.
IMHO, when you've got a culture that can't reproduce sexually and, by all appearances, has excellent health care on hand, you've got every chance that they could develop a very open and positive attitude towards recreational sex - without the risk of pregnancy and STD's either non-existent or quite treatable, sex could be considered just another a hobby. Furthermore, I think it's plausible that in such a situation, the notion that sex = emotional commitment could go right out the window. True, the social more might remain in place for quite some time, or with a certain part of society, but not the majority, methinks. A whole lotta embarrassment and emotional muckiness could go right out of the window.
Or the sex-is-no-longer-essential-to-survival society could find the activity extremely distasteful and not see the point in it. At which point, sex is not exactly taboo, but very much a shunned topic of discussion and one not brought up in public and/or with polite company. Squeamish, but not puritanical, I think. It's not a sinful activity, per se, just pointless, deviant and leading to unpleasant complications - particularly if emotional involvement is still considered an intrinsic part of the deal and/or STDs are as unpleasant at this end of the 'verse.
Thanks to the time and place of DW's creation, it seems that the show leans towards the latter. I think that's a shame, really, but the Beeb's got censors and viewers in whatever the British equivalent of Peoria is to worry about.
Personally, I'm much happier with the notion that they stayed away from romance (and attendant smooching because the majority of folks around here haven't separated sex from emotional commitment) because romance will always screw a story up, sooner or later, but I think the Beeb was just being cautious - and a bit prudish - back in the day. Moments in seasons 28 and 29 (as us stubbornly old school fans will call them) certainly hint at getting past the prudishness (the lines "...and end up kissing complete strangers. Or is that just me?", "Buy me a drink, first"2 and "Some parts barely used!" spring to mind) but it's clearly an off-stage sort of thing.
As I said before, it's a shame, as I bet it would really help the Time Lords' fuddy-duddy image if they were known for being frightfully progressive in the matter of recreational nookie and suchlike. Furthermore, when you're practically immortal, you're going to a) have time to learn lots and b) quite possibly get bored of the usual, er, routines.
Ow, hang on. I just got a godawful vision of a BDSMy Gallifreyan High Council chamber in my head. That is not what I meant! I'm just sayin' that if I had a relentlessly healthy immune system (ever heard of a Time Lord getting a cold? 'Nuff said) and a few thousand years on my hands, I'd probably do more than catch up on my reading... Like I said, I'm a perv. I think the implication in the re-launched TV continuity is the Doctor might be a bit pervy by Gallifreyan standards too.
Anyways, my point is that I think a person could make a plausible argument for Gallifreyan society being very liberal minded about sex and all that's associated with it. They're just being, y'know, discreet about it. But I'm sure I'm wrong/will be flamed to a crisp for saying so.
Let's not even get started on speculating about what's going on in The Master's head. Some shots are just too easy to take.
Footnotes
1 - Go read Lungbarrow if you want to know more about the bellybutton thing. The BBC's got it online for free along with a few of the other more popular but out of print novels..
2 - Oh, the restless night that provoked! Mmm, Nine/Jack slash...
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Date: 2007-11-26 03:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-05 07:25 pm (UTC)