Girls are silly. They can't LIKE comics

Ragnell, at Written World is annoyed.







The problem:

But really, Comic Book Conventions should be a great place to meet guys. We're talking about a virtually untapped market. In theory: for a smart, (somewhat) attractive girl, getting a date should be like shooting fish in a barrel, no? Thousands of men are gathered in one place (granted, some of them are taken; some are gay; some, undoubtedly, live in their mothers' basements) with a very small proportion of available women around. The statistics alone would lead us to believe there have got to be a few good men in this crowd.

First, as a guy…Ow! Tiny few of us are not married or utterly pathetic wastes of space. Okay, true. But, still…Ow!

Now, in our sad,live in our mothers' basements, minds it might be nice to imagine the girls around you at a game, comic, or SciFi Con are on the prowl. Sure. It's just nice to be theoretically wanted. Ah, to be stalked amongst the long boxes.

But what about the girls and women there to game, to talk comics, or to enjoy the fantasy of the classic geek we...some of us are?

That is what is troubling Ragnell:

Gee, thanks for perpetuating the stereotype that women only pretend to like "guy things" in order to meet guys. I can tell you that I and my fellow real comic book fans so enjoy being hit on by guys when we're just trying to find our comics, because they think an unescorted woman can't possibly be there to actually buy the Green Lantern statue. We also adore being ignored in comics shops because they assume the guy who walked in after us is the comic-reading boyfriend, not to mention having such a hard time finding female-friendly superhero comics because our presence is minimized by such assumptions. Its a real fucking blast!

Sarcasm aside, the last con I went to, WizardWorld Chicago 2006 and I noticed a lot of women at the panels I attended. My sister counted at one of the Writer's Workshops and concluded at least 25%. I could swear the DC panels were half and half. So, surely someone will set her straight on her misconceptions about Geekdom, right?

...

This is something to consider. Often in the comic/gaming/scifi worlds there is a presumption of masculinity. The focus goes there, the products are geared to a certain type, and others looking to get in are "barred".

This leads to women being left out, or pandered to in the most pathetic ways (barely covered girls with swords or Lois Lane, Superman’s Girlfriend), or even looked at...like a girl at the Super Bowl…Granted, the sports world has been coming around, more and more, to appreciating women. It would be nice if the fan bases more fully embraced the whole of it's possible membership.

Then, maybe, the industry would truly acknowledge and appreciate these fans. And not trot out a weak genre bit, or try to sell ice to Inuits...whatever I mean by that. Cause, you know, too many times writers and publishers say and claim one thing, then write and draw a diametrically different book. We should do more than just shake out heads.


So, reaching out and taking in and facilitating the other half would be a blessing.

Even a little girl and women needs heroes...superheroes...superheroines.


Not to dismiss all the great non-super genre books.