I spent last weekend nerding it up, lady style, at Geek Girl Con in Seattle.
It was an extremely fun event — I saw some great panels and excellent cosplay, and even got to meet a fellow P-Magger in person. I was live-tweeting all weekend, but if you missed that, you can catch up on the highlights here.
On Saturday, day 1, I started off by exploring. I poked around artists’ alley and main event floor. Then I headed into my first panel of the day, “Sexy vs. Sexism.” That was a great discussion that talked about the ways women are portrayed in media, mostly focusing on video games, and where the line is between sexist objectification and empowering sexiness. That’s a blurry, gray line, but the common theme throughout was the concept of agency. There were a lot of excellent points raised.
If something is only there for the male gaze, it's sexist – @TifaRobles #GGC15
— Persephone Magazine (@persephone_mag) October 10, 2015
We want sexuality in games to be more realistic and show real relationships and consequences – @TifaRobles #GGC15
— Persephone Magazine (@persephone_mag) October 10, 2015
Everyone should be able to play a character that's like themselves – or completely different if they want #GGC15
— Persephone Magazine (@persephone_mag) October 10, 2015
"Target demographic" excuse doesn't work since at least 50% women @TifaRobles #GGC15
— Persephone Magazine (@persephone_mag) October 10, 2015
We have to get away from white male as default – @KristinaHorner #GGC15
— Persephone Magazine (@persephone_mag) October 10, 2015
After this panel, I had an hour to kill, so I explored again, this time spending entirely too much money. Once my wallet was empty, I went to another panel, this time about geek cosmetics businesses. That one was pretty fascinating, and emphasized the narrowing gap between geeky and girly.
Being a small business makes it easier to make exactly what you want to make #ggc15
— Persephone Magazine (@persephone_mag) October 10, 2015
My takeaway so far is that glitter and passion are very important. #GGC15
— Persephone Magazine (@persephone_mag) October 10, 2015
When you don't do officially licensed items, it can be tricky to make sure you aren't infringing on trademarks. #GGC15
— Persephone Magazine (@persephone_mag) October 10, 2015
People can be very harsh when they know they're anonymous – @Lucky13Lacquer #GGC15
— Persephone Magazine (@persephone_mag) October 10, 2015
"If you just wanna throw glitter on your face and you think you look fabulous, then who the hell cares" – @TheGlitterJedi #GGC15
— Persephone Magazine (@persephone_mag) October 10, 2015
In the evening, I attended the GGC costume contest, which was divided into three categories: child, group, and individual.
On day 2, I started by attending the panel by our very own Alyson, about trans representation in media. This was especially interesting because it’s not an experience that I am personally living, so I got to listen to people who are, and learn from them.
Trans representation in media is growing and changing #GGC15
— Persephone Magazine (@persephone_mag) October 11, 2015
Twin Peaks did better with a trans character in the early 90s than a lot of media does now however #GGC15
— Persephone Magazine (@persephone_mag) October 11, 2015
Huge difference between how media treats trans women than trans men #GGC15
— Persephone Magazine (@persephone_mag) October 11, 2015
Notion that trans women's femininity is fake and cis women's femininity is real #GGC15
— Persephone Magazine (@persephone_mag) October 11, 2015
Where you get a laugh tells you a lot about the audience #GGC15
— Persephone Magazine (@persephone_mag) October 11, 2015
For many, they may actually face discrimination and violence, it's not just a joke or movie #GGC15
— Persephone Magazine (@persephone_mag) October 11, 2015
Treating trans characters as mentally ill is a double whammy because we treat mental illness so terribly #GGC15
— Persephone Magazine (@persephone_mag) October 11, 2015
Apologizing is awesome, we all screw up #GGC15
— Persephone Magazine (@persephone_mag) October 11, 2015
"If we talked about Buffalo Bill we have to talk about Caitlyn Jenner" *audience groan* #GGC15
— Persephone Magazine (@persephone_mag) October 11, 2015
After this, I stood in a slightly longer line for what was probably the biggest panel of the weekend: a discussion with Anita Sarkeesian and Zoe Quinn about online harassment. Security was amped up for this one — our bags were searched on the way in and we were told not to record audio or video. I completely understand why they added these measures, and it makes me rage-filled and sad to think about.
Anita: things you have to think about to be taken seriously as a woman takes up an enormous amount of time #GGC15
— Persephone Magazine (@persephone_mag) October 11, 2015
Anita: there's been a rise in the severity of online harassment, but there's also a more public conversation about it #GGC15
— Persephone Magazine (@persephone_mag) October 11, 2015
Anita: need to rebuild systems so harassment doesn't happen. Now we try to fix after the fact #GGC15
— Persephone Magazine (@persephone_mag) October 11, 2015
Anita: boycotts can mean people with the most money get to decide what exists #GGC15
— Persephone Magazine (@persephone_mag) October 11, 2015
Anita: we want flawed characters; perfect characters are boring #GGC15
— Persephone Magazine (@persephone_mag) October 11, 2015
Anita: when you only have one woman they have to carry and own all out hopes for female characters #GGC15
— Persephone Magazine (@persephone_mag) October 11, 2015
Be emotionally prepared in case harassment happens after releasing work #GGC15
— Persephone Magazine (@persephone_mag) October 11, 2015
Try to force yourself not to read hateful comments, it can be addictive #GGC15
— Persephone Magazine (@persephone_mag) October 11, 2015
People act like online harassment isn't real, but it can be extremely traumatic #GGC15
— Persephone Magazine (@persephone_mag) October 11, 2015
After this panel, I went to the one I had been waiting for all weekend: “Fatness and Fandom.” It covered all different areas of fatness in relation to different geeky media, from online harassment to the (lack of) availability of cute nerdy clothes in plus sizes.
Majority of fat characters in media have been portrayed negatively #fatggc15 #GGC15
— Persephone Magazine (@persephone_mag) October 11, 2015
Fat tropes encourage fat fans to internalizing hateful messages and discourage them #fatggc15 #ggc15
— Persephone Magazine (@persephone_mag) October 11, 2015
If ppl who are always represented suddenly weren't, they'd have something to say, so why be surprised when we say something #ggc15 #fatggc15
— Persephone Magazine (@persephone_mag) October 11, 2015
The more people that say they want these sizes, the more likely they are to make them #GGC15 #FATGGC15
— Persephone Magazine (@persephone_mag) October 11, 2015
Great handout at the panel #GGC15 #FATGGC15 pic.twitter.com/KuVVzLAbYk
— Persephone Magazine (@persephone_mag) October 11, 2015
Block tools are your friend (on all social media) #FATGGC15 #GGC15
— Persephone Magazine (@persephone_mag) October 11, 2015
Support people who are doing it right #FATGGC15 #GGC15
— Persephone Magazine (@persephone_mag) October 11, 2015
*fangirls* #GGC15 pic.twitter.com/DVk8Hj9jAC
— Persephone Magazine (@persephone_mag) October 11, 2015
On that note, I’ll leave you with a gallery of some of the amazing cosplays I saw.
