# The new Doctor Who sonic screwdriver **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 23, 2018, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-doctor-who-sonic-screwdriver/818411 "2018-07-23T03:51:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-doctor-who-sonic-screwdriver/818411/1 "2018-07-23T03:51:46Z")
For those who don’t watch Doctor Who, the sonic screwdriver is an acessory carried by The Doctor. It is periodicly redesigned but has always been a linear tube with various embellishments (think about the geegaws added to lightsaber designs.) When I first saw [the newest design](https://io9.gizmodo.com/an-up-close-look-at-doctor-whos-brand-new-sonic-screwdr-1827730915), which is slender and curved, I immediately associated it with the design of razors and other objects marketed towards women by giving them curvy shapes, and thought that it was condescending on the part of the BBC to assume that the first female version of The Doctor needed a “for her” girly redesign of the sonic screwdriver of the “[shrink it and pink it](https://www.google.com/search?q=shrink+it+and+pink+it&oq=shrink+it+and+pink+it&gs_l=mobile-heirloom-serp.12...0.0.1.1016.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0....0...1..34.mobile-heirloom-serp..10.8.2421.yLLXJ2AslSc)” philosophy. It looks like something that has been photoshopped up on 4chan or The Return of Kings to mock the concept of a female Doctor. I started a thread about it in CS but it was quickly closed because I was a bit intemporate about a complaint about my title condescending the design, calling it the Lady Sonic based on the Lady Schick, but I had hoped to see more input on what others thought about the design change. I’m now deciding that my unaplogeticly negative view of the design choice is a better fit for the Pit and welcome discussion. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-doctor-who-sonic-screwdriver/818411/2 "2018-07-23T04:09:11Z")
I’m not really seeing what is girly about that design, but… sure. Ok. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-doctor-who-sonic-screwdriver/818411/3 "2018-07-23T04:21:59Z")
Yeah, I’ll repeat and embellish what I said in your ATMB thread, I don’t see that as “girly” at all (it’s certainly not pink, and the size may or may not be smaller, I can’t tell). It’s shape is more organic than mechanical, sort of like the difference between (say) Alien vs. Star Wars. I think you’re making way too much out of this. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-doctor-who-sonic-screwdriver/818411/4 "2018-07-23T04:22:15Z")
Doesn’t look girly to me. Maybe it’s smaller, I don’t know, but Jodie Whittaker will have smaller hands than most or all of her predecessors so, proportionally, it would make more sense. That’s not a matter of targeting, that’s just how that works. Women are smaller (on average). No, really. You can look it up. Mostly, it looks to me like someone melted a plastic toy a bit and it got deformed. The production value on that thing is horrible. If it was just a prop for the show, fine, but as something to sell to people that’s pretty crap. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-doctor-who-sonic-screwdriver/818411/5 "2018-07-23T05:05:19Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Yeah, I’ll repeat and embellish what I said in your ATMB thread, I don’t see that as “girly” at all (it’s certainly not pink, and the size may or may not be smaller, I can’t tell). **It’s shape is more organic than mechanical, sort of like the difference between (say) Alien vs. Star Wars**. > [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Doesn’t look girly to me. Maybe it’s smaller, I don’t know, but Jodie Whittaker will have smaller hands than most or all of her predecessors so, proportionally, it would make more sense. That’s not a matter of targeting, that’s just how that works. Women are smaller (on average). No, really. You can look it up. > > **Mostly, it looks to me like someone melted a plastic toy a bit and it got deformed**. The production value on that thing is horrible. If it was just a prop for the show, fine, but as something to sell to people that’s pretty crap. I agree that it looks more organic than mechanical. I thought the whole backstory is gonna be that she had to make a new sonic screwdriver out of scavenged flotsam after there’s a rather large explosion? ETA: Seriously? The Pit? Let’s go to the quarry and throw stuff down there!! What a lame Pitting! Obsess much? ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-doctor-who-sonic-screwdriver/818411/6 "2018-07-23T05:33:14Z")
It looks like a claw. I’m not seeing “shrink it and pink it”. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-doctor-who-sonic-screwdriver/818411/7 "2018-07-23T07:46:55Z")
Yeah, I’m not seeing it. And I’m a rabid feminist, quick to jump on any threat of ‘shrink it and pink it’. ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-doctor-who-sonic-screwdriver/818411/8 "2018-07-23T10:59:55Z")
Seriously? It buzzes, rotates, and is curved at the end… I’m calling vibrator. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-doctor-who-sonic-screwdriver/818411/9 "2018-07-23T11:03:15Z")
The sonic screwdriver came up in our pub trivia picture round tonight! It baffled us and was the newer one you’re talking about. We went with White witch’s wand from Narnia chronicles. No one else guessed that one either. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-doctor-who-sonic-screwdriver/818411/10 "2018-07-23T11:37:53Z")
> [@bobkitty](#): > > Seriously? It buzzes, rotates, and is curved at the end… I’m calling vibrator. 1. It rotates? 2. It is curved at the _beginning_, like an [antique flintlock.](https://sep.yimg.com/ay/yhst-130817123929166/antique-flintlock-pirate-gun-7.jpg#jmui=f%3A1355%3A305419896%3A0T.uZtZxowrTfUJrDxl4Hx8L&jmui=f%3A1355%3A305419896%3A0T.uZtZxowrTfUJrDxl4Hx8L) 3. The first word to come to mind when I saw it was “Giger” ---
**Author:** ![Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_Arachnid_Laser_1)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-doctor-who-sonic-screwdriver/818411/11 "2018-07-23T11:41:54Z")
> [@bobkitty](#): > > Seriously? It buzzes, rotates, and is curved at the end… I’m calling vibrator. You could say the same of the old sonic screwdriver, couldn’t you? ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-doctor-who-sonic-screwdriver/818411/12 "2018-07-23T11:47:58Z")
> [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser](#): > > You could say the same of the old sonic screwdriver, couldn’t you? I’ve never watched Dr Who in my life. But based on these threads, I looked up sonic screwdrivers. Had the previous Dr Whos been female, nearly every sonic screwdriver would be called vibrators by guys who think it’s funny to make sexist jokes. ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-doctor-who-sonic-screwdriver/818411/13 "2018-07-23T12:30:08Z")
> [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser](#): > > You could say the same of the old sonic screwdriver, couldn’t you? Definitely not Matt Smith’s- his popped open at the end. O.O ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-doctor-who-sonic-screwdriver/818411/14 "2018-07-23T12:36:13Z")
> [@bobkitty](#): > > Definitely not Matt Smith’s- his popped open at the end. O.O NSFW if you scroll down. Smith was popular with all [the lady echidnas](https://curiouscox.wordpress.com/2012/02/07/echidna-penis-i-echid-you-not/). ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-doctor-who-sonic-screwdriver/818411/15 "2018-07-23T12:38:06Z")
There was, basically, a dick-measuring contest expressed by sonic screwdrivers in _Day of the Doctor_ between Ten and Eleven, but oddly enough no one caught the vapors over that one. Now, though, folks are getting into a kerfluffle over this one. I’m not entirely thrilled with the new design, but I’ll wait to pass judgement when I see how it’s handled in-story. It’s probably _less_ stupid than “sonic sunglasses”. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-doctor-who-sonic-screwdriver/818411/16 "2018-07-23T12:47:23Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > I’m not entirely thrilled with the new design, but I’ll wait to pass judgement when I see how it’s handled in-story. It’s probably _less_ stupid than “sonic sunglasses”. There’s a low bar. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-doctor-who-sonic-screwdriver/818411/17 "2018-07-23T13:04:49Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > I’ve never watched Dr Who in my life. But based on these threads, I looked up sonic screwdrivers. Had the previous Dr Whos been female, nearly every sonic screwdriver would be called vibrators by guys who think it’s funny to make sexist jokes. FWIW the picture I posted in ATMB, comparing the sonic screwdriver to the mini rabbit, was composited by a woman. Until I saw her post I thought it was just people being idiots. Now I think it’s mostly people being idiots and a few folks going, “huh.” ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-doctor-who-sonic-screwdriver/818411/18 "2018-07-23T13:09:22Z")
It doesn’t look “ladylike”. It kinda looks primitive, like a Neolithic Sonic Screwdriver, made with rough sides and a crude crystal stuck on the end. I could understand if this model was necessarily put together under rough circumstances, or “grown” somehow, but otherwise, I prefer the older. more high-tech looking SS’s ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-doctor-who-sonic-screwdriver/818411/19 "2018-07-23T13:42:10Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > FWIW the picture I posted in ATMB, comparing the sonic screwdriver to the mini rabbit, was composited by a woman. Until I saw her post I thought it was just people being idiots. > > Now I think it’s mostly people being idiots and a few folks going, “huh.” I should add that to my untrained eye, all sonic screwdrivers look like robot dicks. But nobody starts threads about that. ---
**Author:** ![Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_Arachnid_Laser_1)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-doctor-who-sonic-screwdriver/818411/20 "2018-07-23T14:17:20Z")
> [@bobkitty](#): > > Definitely not Matt Smith’s- his popped open at the end. O.O Hey, I don’t judge. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-doctor-who-sonic-screwdriver/818411.md?page=2)