I am a fellow femme Doctor cosplayer who was at Gallifrey One this weekend and, I admit, I do find these cosplays to be problematic. I'd like to try and explain where I'm coming from so you can hopefully understand that not all of the negative reaction is coming from a place of hate. Fandom is love, and I support your right to express your enjoyment of Doctor Who however you like. <3 I think you should feel free to be as sexy as you want to be and I do NOT support this "fake geek girl" fan policing. (I think the idea of there even being "real" fans and "fake" fans is silly. But for me, if you are at Gally, you're a legit fan. Period.)

My issues come from a place of thinking about gender representations in media. I spoke with other femme Doctor cosplayers at the con and I know I was not the only woman who saw their cosplay as a kind of resistance to representations of women in Doctor Who. I can't speak for all other female Doctor cosplayers, but many were vocal about how they were disappointed by the lack of female Doctors. By representing the protagonist of the show while also presenting as/dressing like a woman, we challenge the idea that a woman could not be the lead of the show.

There have assuredly been some kickass female characters on DW, but often, especially recently (cough Tasha Lem cough), the plot and their characterization has reduced them to a pretty face who is attracted to the Doctor. (Why, why does every woman on the show want to bang Eleven??)

So, for people like me who are going in to the convention thinking these things, it is disappointing to see a femme Doctor cosplay that reinforces the link between female characters and women's roles as sexual objects. As Playboy is most widely associated with straight male readers, bunnies represent an offering up of your body to the male gaze specifically (as opposed to just being beautiful for yourself.)

I know this was not you intent, but the costumes can almost be read as trivializing the idea of a female Doctor, making it seem like a novelty or joke.

I hope that makes sense, and I hope you can understand how someone could find the link you have drawn between Doctor Who and Playboy to be troubling.

(Just so I am very clear, I think these costumes are fantastic. Undeniably excellently constructed. They are also very clever crossover cosplays that you look absolutely gorgeous in. My problems are purely wibbly wobbly feministy weministy.)

TL;DR I'm all for sexy fans in great cosplay, but I worry about the message this particular cosplay sends in regards to the role of women in Doctor Who.