Contributor: /* Sexism and Cybermen */ Added Cryons from Attack of the Cybermen

2007-03-03T00:11:58Z

Sexism and Cybermen: Added Cryons from Attack of the Cybermen

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:11, 2 March 2007
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	The Cybermen are more sexually neuter than male, since they are virtually immortal and reproduce by assimilating human beings, but through [[sexist]] language conventions, the name "Cybermen" is the default for both male and female people once they have been cyber-converted, and the physical appearance of fully-converted Cybermen is the same for both men and women. However, nearly all Cybermen roles in the original series were played by men.		The Cybermen are more sexually neuter than male, since they are virtually immortal and reproduce by assimilating human beings, but through [[sexist]] language conventions, the name "Cybermen" is the default for both male and female people once they have been cyber-converted, and the physical appearance of fully-converted Cybermen is the same for both men and women. However, nearly all Cybermen roles in the original series were played by men.

			In an interesting contrast the sentient Cryon species, natives of the planet Telos, are all played by women in the serial Attack of the Cybermen. In this story the Cybermen had colonised the Cryons' planet Telos and attempted to wipe out the natives through genocide but some Cryons survived and formed an effective resistance movement.

	The ''[[Doctor Who]]'' spin-off ''[[Torchwood (TV series)\|Torchwood]]'' had an episode entitled "[[Cyberwoman (Torchwood episode)\|Cyberwoman]]", that featured a woman partially converted into a Cyberman. The character's physical appearance was extremely [[marked]] to emphasise her gender, and the costume design extremely sexually exploitative.		The ''[[Doctor Who]]'' spin-off ''[[Torchwood (TV series)\|Torchwood]]'' had an episode entitled "[[Cyberwoman (Torchwood episode)\|Cyberwoman]]", that featured a woman partially converted into a Cyberman. The character's physical appearance was extremely [[marked]] to emphasise her gender, and the costume design extremely sexually exploitative.



	== External Links ==		== External Links ==

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2007-03-02T10:09:58Z

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''[[Doctor Who]]'' monsters, which first appeared in the 1966 serial "The Tenth Planet".

They were originally a humanoid race from [[Earth]]'s fictional twin planet, Mondas, who started to replace their body parts with [[cybernetic]] equipment until they became more machine than flesh. They tended to fall into the role of [[villains]] out of their attempts at survival, appearing as hybernating monsters that humans must not awaken, or armies looking to conquer or destroy other planets to ensure the safety of their own.

The [[Borg]] from ''[[Star Trek]]'' were very similar to, and obviously inspired by, ''[[Doctor Who]]'''s Cybermen, down to their catchphrases: "Resistance is futile", "Resistance is useless". However, the Cybermen do not possess a collective hive-mind, but do retain a certain amount of individuality, albeit stripped from all emotion, and a social (or military) hierarchy.

In the [[2006]] season of the new series, the Cybermen were reborn as human beings from a parallel universe Earth, transposed by a [[mad scientist]] into bodies composed mainly of metal, and given new catchphrases influenced by contemporary computer jargon. The chanting of the word "delete!" as a preliminary to murder is an obvious parallel to the [[Daleks]]' way of screaming "exterminate!" at their enemies, and no doubt contrived to try to rub off some of the Daleks' popularity onto this new batch of Cybermen.

Body-horror is a theme frequently associated to the Cybermen. The "cyberconversion" process depicted in several ''Doctor Who'' serials is often shown as gruesome and dehumanising.

== Sexism and Cybermen ==

The Cybermen are more sexually neuter than male, since they are virtually immortal and reproduce by assimilating human beings, but through [[sexist]] language conventions, the name "Cybermen" is the default for both male and female people once they have been cyber-converted, and the physical appearance of fully-converted Cybermen is the same for both men and women. However, nearly all Cybermen roles in the original series were played by men.

The ''[[Doctor Who]]'' spin-off ''[[Torchwood (TV series)|Torchwood]]'' had an episode entitled "[[Cyberwoman (Torchwood episode)|Cyberwoman]]", that featured a woman partially converted into a Cyberman. The character's physical appearance was extremely [[marked]] to emphasise her gender, and the costume design extremely sexually exploitative.

== External Links ==
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cybermen Wikipedia entry for Cybermen]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/gallery/cybermen/index.shtml Cybermen gallery on the BBC website for the original Doctor Who series]

[[Category:Body themes]][[Category:Characterization]][[Category:Doctor Who]]

Cybermen - Revision history

Contributor: /* Sexism and Cybermen */ Added Cryons from Attack of the Cybermen

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