#datawho

So here is my very first analyse of gendered representations in the very first episode of Doctor Who (2005). All of these observations are going to be translated into figures so as to make numerical comparisons from episode to episode, from screenwriter to screenwriter and from showrunner to showrunner...

Bechdel test: passed thanks to the repeated exchanges between Rose and Jackie.

Reverse Bechdel test: just barely! A few lines between Nine and fake Mickey.

Speaking characters: 5 males (Nine, Mickey, fake Mickey, Clive, his son) and 3 females (Rose, Jackie and Clive's wife).

Baddies: non gendered blobby "Nestene Consciousness". Fake Mickey. Apart from those coming out of the bridal store and a little girl one, the dummies are overwhelmingly male.

Solving the plot: Rose guesses that the transmitter is the London eye.

Characters saving someone / being saved: > Rose is saved from dummies by the Doctor in the basement; > Again with the plastic arm in her apartment; > Mickey is held hostage by the Nestene Consciousness; > Everyone in the mall (but particular focus on Jackie) is threatened by the dummy invasion; > Rose saves the Doctor (and Mickey) in the final battle.

Characters dying: > "Wilson" -that we never met- is said to be dead from the get go; > Clive is shot by a dummy and doesn't do anything to defend himself; > The non-gendered Nestene Consciousness is killed by Rose when she pours the antiplastic on it.

Characters mentioning possible sacrifice: > The Doctor, in the beginning, saying that he might die while keeping the dummies at bay; > The Doctor in the end battle, telling Rose again to run for her life.

Character subjected to violence: > The Doctor and Rose are attacked by the plastic arm; > Rose pokes the Doctor with the plastic arm; > Mickey is physically restrained ("eaten") by the wheelie bin; > The Doctor is restrained by the dummies; > Everyone in the mall is threatened by the dummies which are shooting everywhere.

Characters using violence: > The Doctor removes the dummy's plastic arm; > The Doctor blows up the shop; > The Doctor hits fake Mickey with a champagne cork; > The Doctor puts out fake Mickey's head; > Rose and the Doctor fight during the end battle.

Characters making themselves useful, in a peaceful way: > Rose researches the Doctor online and goes to talk to Clive; > Rose makes the customers go out of the restaurant.

Characters being deceived: > Rose can't tell that Mickey has been replaced by fake Mickey; > The Doctor didn't tell Rose that Mickey might still be alive.

Characters arguing / bossing each other around: > Rose and Jackie bickering about getting compensation, about the cat flap, about her getting home before the dummy invasion; > Rose gets the Doctor inside of her home; > Rose demanding information from the Doctor; > Rose and the Doctor arguing about him forgetting about Mickey; > Rose calling Mickey "this stupid lump".

Characters showing weakness: > Rose is scared in the basement, but still advancing to see what's up; > Rose crying in the Tardis, asking if Mickey's dead; > In the mall, Clive's son and wife are terrified, and so is Jackie; > Mickey is terrified during the battle against the Nestene Consciousness, telling Rose to "leave him!" when she goes to help the Doctor; > Afterwards, Mickey is still afraid of the Doctor: "He's an alien, he's a thing!"; > All along, Jackie is showed as quite shallow.

Characters displaying strength: > Rose demanding explanations from the Doctor and bickering with him; > The Doctor addressing forcefully the Nestene Consciousness; > Rose saving them all during the battle.

Romance / sexual advances: > Display of Rose and Mickey's loving relationship (having lunch together, gently bickering, being worried for each other...); > Jackie coming on the Doctor ("Anything could happen..." "No.").

Body-type: > All seem to enter the current norm, no obvious "Hollywood" type (apart from the Doctor maybe? Or is it just me?)(and the dummies?).

So, concerning my gender bias in Doctor Who project (watching all of the 2005 series to gather data on sexism in Doctor Who to settle the "Davies vs. Moffat, who's the more sexist?" debate) (I'm tagging it #DataWho for housekeeping purposes), I've added all of your suggestions and skimmed tvtropes (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DoubleStandard) to get some more ideas... So now my list of things to look out for is huge!

I'm still taking suggestions so please tell me if you think of something to add!

I'm going to make myself a grid to fill in when watching the episodes. Then I will post what I found for each episode, so that you can argue with me on what I counted for each item. I'll do recaps per season (can't wait to find out how many times Rose get rescued in season 1...). Finally, I will make a huge spreadsheet gathering all the data, so that we can see if there are any tendencies showing throughout the series and if there are real differences between showrunners or writers...

I think it's going to take me the whole summer! :)

Click on the "Read more" to see my list of items.

So, as of today, I'm planning to re-watch all of the episodes while completing an analysis grid to really try and see this problem objectively.

Here are some of my ideas for things to take into account:

* character "in distress" (companion / Doctor / female character / male character)

* character saving someone else (companion / Doctor / female character / male character)

* character solving the plot (companion / Doctor / female character / male character)

* character dying (male / female)

* character sacrificing her/himself (male / female)

* character tortured (male / female)

* bad guy / bad girl (or male / female alien baddies!)

* character left out of the action on purpose (male / female)

* character making her/himself useful (male / female)

Any other idea of things to look for?