Before I start, I need to apologize in advance as I’m going to be suspending, this once, my policy concerning cursing on my site (though it seems like kids these days often know more swears than I do at 42).
That said… what the fuck was up with the latest Critical Miss? While I can understand poking fun at the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic male fan-base (Bronies), I can’t help but feel the latest update was a smack in the face for a very real problem at conventions: the sexual harassment of female cosplayers (including some who are barely teenagers). Hell, the last few anime and comic book conventions I’ve attended have included specific messages warning against sexual harassment of people at the cons, and admitted that previous complaints from women were brushed off and ignored. While it could be claimed that what Cory Rydell and Grey Carter did was satire, this is a subject that should not be satirized.
Seriously, what the fuck were Rydell and Carter thinking in pulling this shit? And to go on and claim that Bronies are subject to harassment by women in your written bit below? That was insult to injury. And lest people claim I’m just white-knighting here, I’ve been on both sides of the coin, and was accused once of sexual harassment for staring at a female coworker in a previous job… and been harassed by a 17-year-old student while a substitute teacher (and no, it’s not “fun” when that 17-year-old has the power to claim you were the instigator and then get you banned from teaching forever if she so desires). In short, this was a sophomoric and shitty attempt at humor, and Rydell and Carter should apologize. There are some lines that should not be crossed at this point in time.
Addendum note: I did do a web-search and did not encounter any blogs or the like citing men being sexually harassed by women just because they like MLP:FIM, just in case anyone is going to try and claim this comic was legit.
Have you seen those pictures which attempt to depict male super heroes in the same manner that female super heroes are depicted? No one is attempting to claim that that’s how male characters are depicted, and that difference is part of point.
Now imagine that you were trying to explain to someone what it’s like to have to worry about sexual harassment at cons, and what the excuses for that harassment sound actually sound like to victims.
Yes, I’ve seen those pictures. I roll my eyes and move on, because I don’t follow comic books any longer, due to a multitude of factors (including the fact you can get far better quality on the internet for essentially free, though in fact it’s a form of advertising that helps to sell print compilations).
But if you wanted to explain to someone what it’s like to worry about sexual harassment, there are far better ways to do it than what was depicted here. I felt it belittled the entire situation and what female cosplayers will go through, especially with the comments below insisting that “poor” Bronies not be harassed. Thus my comments.
I don’t know whether it was a good idea or not. But it’s still pretty much the direct answer to “What the *** was up with the latest Critical Miss?”
Some idiot made a blog post about female cosplayers that boiled down to “If they didn’t want the attention, they shouldn’t dress up like that” disguised in other terms. And the comic was basically “We’re going to show you just how stupid that sounds, by showing you how it would sound applied to men attending a Brony con”. Of course, there’s a bit of an implied “If you’re a man, we’re going to try to explain to you, the man, just how dumb and counter productive this blog post was by giving you the opportunity to be on the receiving end.” It’s the whole empathy and understanding through shared suffering business.
I’m just skeptical of the attempt out of pure pessimism–bigots don’t care about witty, biting satire of their bigotry. That, and some of the gender double standards are simply too great to explain to some people by means other than putting them in the situation and making them suffer through it.
But if you take someone who tries to communicate through a media for a living, then of course they’re going to try to explain the situation through that media.
I think it’s also important to keep the comic in context of the other reactions to the blog post that triggered it.
Coverage of the other reactions:
http://geekout.blogs.cnn.com/2012/07/25/overheard-on-cnn-com-readers-take-issue-with-booth-babes-she-geek-stereotypes/?hpt=hp_c3
“That person is attractive and dressed up, so they must be here for the attention and I will hate them for taking advantage of me if they aren’t a real geek” is the insidious conclusion that the comic is in response to.
If they’d started with that post, then it would have appeared otherwise. However, I don’t read the blog. The only thing I follow is the comic. So I got to see a comic that appears to razz both Bronies and make fun of sexual harassment, without actually pointing out at any point how stupid the argument is. So I took it at face value.
If I’m wrong? I apologize. My point stands, however: this is a subject that should not be satirized.
Rob, the whole thing including the commentary was what many called a “parody”(The word juxtaposition springs to mind too). If you had followed the link in the commentary you would have seen it referenced a Male authority figure belittling women.
The only reason Bronies would have been referenced is they are probably the most well known male minority fan group of a largely female focused property. The comic isn’t about Bronies, it is about mens attitude towards women in fandom. Seeing it as anything else is just way(way, way) off base.
Tangent – “this is a subject that should not be satirized.”
Statements like this are like fingernails on a chalkboard to me.
I understand your personal experiences have made this a hot button issue for you. Heck there are subjects where I have bitten people’s heads off over (not literally, my mouth is not that big ;-).
However humor is how people deal with and try to make sense of various things. So while there are subjects I would prefer people not make jokes of, I can understand why they might.
As for the cartoon it’s really just a gender-flipped example of what women go through. I don’t think they are razzing bronies or making fun of sexual harassment, I think they are trying to show men what it’s like.
Unfortunately the crude guys who would make those kinds of comments would miss the point & probably like it if women treated them that way.
You’re right, on several levels. However, I stand by my belief that right now is not the time to satirize the sexual harassment problem at conventions, seeing that it’s just now coming out. There is a lot of disbelief among certain con-goers that there is a problem at all. And as you said, the crude guys who make these sorts of comments miss the point (though you’d be surprised at how few of them would enjoy having the shoe on the other foot, especially if the girl making the comment doesn’t fit their bill of the type of girl they’re interested in).
In another couple of years, satire would likely be an effective means of hammering through to those people who just don’t see it as a problem. But right now, satire just belittles the problem. Personally? I enjoy seeing young women dressed up in various costumes (even if some are in my eyes inappropriate for a 14-year-old to wear). Belittling the real problem with harassment (and worse) that happens at cons could end up driving more and more women out of these cons, either through not wanting to deal with shit, or because parents don’t want to let their daughters be at risk (and I met one dad at ConnectiCon who was chaperoning a small gaggle of girls including his daughter).
So did I overreact? Probably. Could the satire have been handled better, perhaps by explaining the link to the forum discussion for those of us who only read the comic, or by drawing three non-cute “Pegasisters” going after the Brony? Undoubtedly.