So I have a million things to talk about ...

[quietprofanity]

Buuut, I read Ragnell's entry on both the "Touching random hot chicks boobs makes me feminist" and "It's okay to be a plagiarizing racist if I'm a feminist" debates and so I can't say much more.

Although, I will say that if anyone is totally turned off by cons because of the first issue, please don't be. I've been to a few comic and anime conventions. I've been to Wizard World East (twice), Wizard World Texas, the Small Press Expo, Anime Expo and Otakon. I'm not going to make out like they were all like utopian societies (Well, the Small Press Expo came pretty close, but I know that's not everyone's thing). Wizard World's booth babes don't exactly make my stomach feel good, but I have to say I haven't really had anything bad happen to me anywhere. I've met a lot of nice people, eaten a lot of nice food and gotten some good stuff at every convention. The only outright bad experience I've ever had was my second time at Wizard World East, and that was because I went alone, not even meeting anyone there, and the overall experience just felt like a letdown. But anyway, I've never been groped or insulted or anything. I have gotten a couple of compliments (from creators!) but both of them weren't skeevy or crude or anything. Just nice things.

So, if you are comfortable, go to cons and bring a friend/lover/sibling. It doesn't matter which one. I've done all three and it has worked great. And you get the triple package of strength in numbers, starting the Open Source Women Back Each Other Up Project at home, and somebody to elbow in the ribs when a teenager does something stupid. Which, if you go to an anime convention, will be all the time.

As for the second, it would be easy for me, as a single white feminist, to beg the WoCs to come back but ... I couldn't make a convincing argument. The truth is *I* don't always like the feminist community very much. But I will try, and I think we white feminists should ALL try, to be better about this.

I don't quite know how to do that yet. Complaining about the imagery in the It's a Jungle Out There book is a good start. (And leads me into something I want to mention about camp, which I find pertinent since my boyfriend and I were just the other day watching some cartoons which we enjoyed but had racial caricatures. I think we white people can enjoy a work with racist/sexist/etc elements if it has other good qualities. I don't feel comfortable censoring the past. But let's not, y'know ... make NEW stuff that just takes the racist/sexist/etc. elements en masse and then be like, "BUT IT'S CAMP!" No, it's not. And it's not cool. (Unless you're like, doing it to be ironic or making some greater statement. But in this case it really, really wasn't.)) (Um, nevermind. I read she used an excuse like that somewhere. My idiot self just wants to give some leeway to the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and the Venture Bros. Ignore me.) But we need to do more. I don't know how. I'm bad at this leader thing. Maybe by shutting up and listening. That might be cool.

----

Something I'd like to share with you. Remember those cartoons I talked about? Well, I found one I had been looking for for a long time. No racism in this one, BTW. Just a white boy who changes into a chicken.

Comments

[47nite.livejournal.com]

Odd role huh? I'm just glad that at least once in a while we could accept a fictional married couple- live action or animated- that wasn't Hot, Doting Wife + Fat, Obnoxious Husband. :(

I'm still amused that a century and a half ago Americans were considering the turkey as their national bird. (and I'm not even being condescending about it; if anything it's just like how various cultures in history have honored the very animals they slaughtered to sustain themselves)

...but nope. We went with the bald eagle because we wanted to look badass and threatening. ;P

[quietprofanity.livejournal.com]

I kind of like how she treats the whole situation. Her husband is really upset about the whole thing, but the mom seems like "Well, go be a chicken, but I'm going to make you act like a human being." I almost wonder if Christopher would eventually just give up if Mr. Crumpet wasn't so upset about it all the time, because I don't think he would get through to his Mom. And I wonder if the Mom knows that, because she's like, "He's your [Mr. Crumpet's] chicken, and it's his bedtime."

I analyze these things too much.

(and I'm not even being condescending about it; if anything it's just like how various cultures in history have honored the very animals they slaughtered to sustain themselves)

Kind of reminds me of The Addams Family. "I am a turkey! Kill me!"