Comic-Con's dark side: Harassment amid the fantasy

[yuiyoshida]

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Amid the costumes and fantasy of this weekend's Comic-Con convention, a group of young women drew widespread attention to a very real issue -- allegations of sexual harassment at the annual pop-culture festival.

Geeks for CONsent, founded by three women from Philadelphia, gathered nearly 2,600 signatures on an online petition supporting a formal anti-harassment policy at Comic-Con.

Conventioneers told Geeks for CONsent they had been groped, followed and unwillingly photographed during the four-day confab.

Meanwhile, what Geeks for CONsent and others regarded as blatant objectification continued on the convention floor. Scantily clad women were still used as decoration for some presentations, and costumed women were described as "vaguely slutty" by panel moderator Craig Ferguson. When Dwayne Johnson made a surprise appearance to promote "Hercules," 10 women in belly-baring outfits stood silently in front of the stage for no apparent reason.

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/features/news/20140728p2g00m0et016000c.html

[Scootaloo]

1. One morereason I can't bring myself to attend conventions

Not because I'd be subject to this (well, aside from possible ewok fetishists... Yub Nub!) but because I'd be surrounded by it. And with that comes the inevitable question, what do? One can only enlighten the neckbeards so often before becoming exhausted, after all. Thumbs up to the folks of CONsent for doing what they can.

Totally unrelated, perfect and appropriate Deadpool placement, there.

[mwrguy]

2. goddamned neckbeards

[yuiyoshida]

3. had to look it up...

neckbeard
1. (n) Facial hair that does not exist on the face, but instead on the neck. Almost never well groomed.

2. (n) Derogatory term for slovenly nerdy people who have no sense of hygene or grooming. Often related to hobbies such as card gaming, video gaming, anime, et. al.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=neckbeard

[TIMETOCHANGE]

4. Awesome Hon Solo Deadpool and Joker Skywalker.

But seriously, I've gone to a few of these and it gets ridiculous what happens. Sex is sold and fantasy is sold, typically in the same cup. It's an oversexed environment at times for some folks. I've seen women in less clothing than some strippers at the beginning of their act.

Unwanted gropping is always wrong. Unwanted fondling is always wrong. Pictures are going to happen when you put it out there for all to see. Word of advice, stay the hell away from these conventions if you are a woman and these things bother you. Better yet, start your own conventions with clear guidelines for conduct and reporting of offensive conduct. I would never tell my daughter to go to one of these things.

[LanternWaste]

5. Or better yet, if you're inclined to grope others and take obviously unwelcome photographs...

" stay the hell away from these conventions if you are a woman and these things bother you..."

Or better yet, if you're inclined to grope others and take obviously unwelcome and surreptitious photographs, then you stay the hell away and allow the convention do what it is intended to do...

[Tuesday Afternoon]

6. Thank you for turning it around. Seems a lot of times that is the best way to make the point.

[JTFrog]

7. Don't you love it when they come back and and make a beeline for this group.

At least it puts them back on the radar.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

8. yes.

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

9. Exactly right.

One of our local (and our largest) sci-fi/fantasy conventions started this campaign several years ago and it's fantastic.





You'll notice that the posters put the onus on the harasser, not the cosplayers.

[TIMETOCHANGE]

10. Those types won't stay away.

Thinking folks who are going to violate someone will stay away out of the goodness of their heart is one view/hope to have. But I don't ever see that happening. You can put the onus on the offenders, but I don't see what that will do to deter their repugnant behavour. Perhaps having more security onsite could help in dissuading these creeps, but I don't see the creeps completely staying away.