Gender

Gender was a construct, (AUDIO: The Boundless Sea) and a sense of identity, relating to whether one was male, female, masculine, feminine, or anywhere along a diverse spectrum of gender identities. (PROSE: Island of Death) Gender was a fluid concept, varying from person to person, culture to culture, and species to species. (COMIC: Ophiuchus)

As the Fifth Doctor explained: "Gender is a very fluid concept, Nyssa. For some people, more than others. A Time Lord even more so."

- Fifth Doctor, explaining gender

Amy Pond had met species which had only one gender, or three, or, in one case, seventy-two. (PROSE: Borrowed Time) There was no such thing as gender among some species, like the Makemono, (PROSE: Chicken Fried Banana Republic) and many aliens were of indeterminate gender to Bernice Summerfield. (PROSE: Happy Endings)

Torcaldians, who did not "specialise in one or the other", in terms of producing offspring, paid little mind to gender or its assignment. For instance, Freltese was mother of Ecsilo, and father of Jeyi. Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright tried desperately to determine the genders of their kind, according to beards and signs of pregnancy, but found no luck, and the First Doctor urged them to "cast aside these preconceptions". (PROSE: The Ruins of Time)

Gender roles could be restrictive, (PROSE: Erasing Sherlock) and, along with sexual preference, might dictate one's fashion choices. (PROSE: This Town Will Never Let Us Go) According to the Fifth Doctor, times when gender could dictate what one could or could not do were always "unsophisticated times". (PROSE: The Immortals)

Illixtrians had more than one gender, and segregated their genders in the workforce. (PROSE: The Great Escapes)

Among humans, gender was not always a fixed trait. For instance, Cassandra O'Brien.Δ17 said she was once a "little boy" on Earth. (TV: The End of the World) While gender was commonly assigned at birth, (TV: Day of the Moon, Father's Day) trans people, such as Mickey Smith's friend Sally, (PROSE: Rose) later wound up identifying as a different gender. (TV: Greeks Bearing Gifts)

Charles "Chick" Peters was born with both an X and a Y chromosome like most men, but his body did not respond to the hormones like it should have. He was brought up as a girl by his parents, and only found out his true identity at the age of fifteen. Chick did not have a womb. He dated women, and "never had any complaints" about his "female" body. Chick identified as a man, and did not consider himself a lesbian. (PROSE: Blue Box)

Followers of the Unknown Ancestor revered individuals with ambivalent or multiple gender. As a result, Keth Marrane was accepted as completely androgynous, "male or female as the circumstances may warrant", and given complete access to their segregated society. (PROSE: A Hundred Words from a Civil War)

Time Lords and gender
The Tenth Doctor told Rose Tyler that the Time Lords considered concepts like gender to be archaic. (AUDIO: The Sword of the Chevalier)

Nevertheless, Time Lords could be considered men, women, and "those of indeterminate gender". (PROSE: Happy Endings)

Prior to Rassilon, Gallifrey was ruled by matriarchal Gallifreyan leaders, the Pythia. (PROSE: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible) With regeneration in play, gender could change from one incarnation to another. (TV: The Doctor's Wife, Dark Water, Hell Bent, Twice Upon a Time) As a result, the Fifth Doctor explained, gender was quite fluid in their society. (COMIC: Ophiuchus)

The Twelfth Doctor explained to Bill Potts that the "most civilised civilisation in the universe" was billions of years beyond petty human obsession with gender and its associated stereotypes. However, she pointed out that they still called themselves Time Lords. (TV: World Enough and Time) Although "Time Lady" was also used, considered the term "old-fashioned". (TV: Dark Water)

Later, while pretending to be the Doctor, Missy referred to Nardole and Bill as "Exposition and Comic Relief". When Nardole retorted that they weren't functions, she responded "Darling, those were genders." (TV: World Enough and Time)

Gender among the Ulk-Ra
Because female Ulk-Ra were expected to be rationalists, as well as decision-makers and battle strategists, poetry was restricted to males who made it to old age.

As a coming-of-age ritual, young Ulk-Ra boys would be sent into the forest to kill a beast and return wearing its pelt. Those who succeeded were allowed to remain male, and grow into warriors, whereas those who failed had their genitals removed, and were forced to eat Issu-mul berries until they developed female characteristics, to become thinkers in their tribe. Youngsters of their species could also be induced to become males, out of necessity.

Males who survived this tradition were expected to be strong, territorial, and ambivalent toward pain. They were suited for war, and had their own gods. An Ulk-Ra tribe without males was vulnerable to other tribes. Ossu-male ate Issu-mul berries in order to "think hard", to find his tribe. Before becoming Ossu-female, hir was Ossu-hir, "not male or female, not suited for war or thought, or for land or sea". This is the state in which Ossu died, burning at sea. (PROSE: War Crimes)

History
Gender roles varied greatly across cultures and time periods.

Gender roles on Earth
In the Tribe of Gum, on Earth circa 100,000 BC, "strong leaders" were exclusively men, who held the power to make decisions, "not old men and women". Women were not to be listened to. Hur was seen as a prized possession, owed to the leader of the tribe, and as his mate, she was willing to give herself to him. (TV: An Unearthly Child)

By contrast, Nefertiti, an Egyptian queen from 1334 BC, refused to be seen as a possession by Solomon, a 24th century pirate. (TV: Dinosaurs on a Spaceship)

Middle Ages
In the 13th century, English culture dictated that women ought to be subservient to men. According to Irongron their purpose was "to do the lowly work". Sarah Jane Smith, travelling from the 20th century, questioned the notion that men "owned the world", and told Meg they were being worked like slaves, always cooking and carrying for the men. (TV: The Time Warrior) Meg believed this was simply their place in the world, stating:

Around 1599 in England, women doctors were unheard of. Indeed, to William Shakespeare, even women actors and writers were the stuff of fantasy. Men played women's roles on stage. (TV: The Shakespeare Code)

20th century
At the time of the Mexican Civil War, Arturo Villar declared, "Women should never think." Of Zoe Heriot, he said, "For such a little woman your mouth is too big." Zoe, who hailed from the late 21st century, considered his ideas about women "knowing their place" quite primitive. (TV: The War Games)

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson became the first woman doctor in England, by gaining entrance to the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries. In so doing, she paved the way for an Act of Parliament allowing all women to pursue this profession. (COMIC: Nurse Who?)

In 1924, many men thought women should not participate in academia; those women who did were thought to be "such bluestockings".

In the field of archaeology, it was considered inappropriate for a woman to enter a newly discovered historical site before any men. This was "no job for a girl". When Colonel Lifford had no choice but to ask Daphne Garsington to enter a Surene tomb first, to set up lighting, he made sure to clarify, "Of course, it's just the outer chamber. Leave the inner rooms to the chaps, huh? Don’t want you getting lost down there." Nevertheless, she was delighted at the opportunity, and declared that she was doing it "for women". (AUDIO: The Boundless Sea)

1926 saw no women in the police force, either, according to the Tenth Doctor. (TV: The Unicorn and the Wasp)

In 1950s England, housework was considered exclusively a women's job, at least by Eddie Connolly. (TV: The Idiot's Lantern) By contrast, the use of weaponry was seen as only men's domain. (TV: Dinosaurs on a Spaceship)

In 1960s England, men were expected to do the heavy lifting, rather than "let the women do the job for [them]". (TV: "The Forest of Fear")

Women were often kept out of the action, in relative safety. Victoria Waterfield wanted to join the men, but the Second Doctor convinced her that she was far more valuable away from the danger. (TV: The Tomb of the Cybermen)

By the 1970s, (TV: The Invasion) women's lib began taking traction on Earth. As Sarah Jane put it, this was the position, among women, that men had no right to push them around. (TV: The Monster of Peladon)

Dr Ruth Ingram believed that both 's dictatorial manner and his courtesy came from "a bland assumption of male superiority". (TV: The Time Monster)

Around 1979, Isobel Watkins objected to Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart's assertion that photographing Cybermen was "no job for a [woman]". Jamie McCrimmon agreed with the idea that men were inherently superior. Zoe Heriot and Isobel were outraged by their "bigoted, anti-feminist remarks". (TV: The Invasion)

Gender roles on other planets
On Peladon, at the time Sarah Jane Smith visited, the ruler was always a man. Thalira was crowned Queen only because her father had no son, and even so it was mostly in title. Chancellor Ortron held the "real power". With encouragement from Sarah Jane, Thalira began to assert herself as ruler. (TV: The Monster of Peladon)

Adric, from a parallel 32nd century Alzarius, differentiated between girls and women, and thought women were all "mindless, impatient and bossy". Nyssa called him a chauvinist for holding this position. (TV: Four to Doomsday)

On Necros, women’s legs were to be covered at all times. Peri Brown, from 1980s Baltimore, thought this was "positively feudal". (TV: Revelation of the Daleks)

On Terra Alpha, a pair of male roof-top snipers complained that women always got the better jobs, and the better guns. (TV: The Happiness Patrol)