By: Heather Saunders,
on 8/23/2016
Record-breaking mobile app Pokémon Go has been downloaded over 75 million times worldwide, a number set only to increase as the game is released in more territories. What five common crimes have police officers had to attend to as a result of this craze taking off?
The post Five crimes being committed by Pokémon Go players appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 1/4/2016
Twitter has had a harassment problem for a long time. Like, a loooooooong time. Something about the impersonal format gives free reign to any and all disgusting behavior. I myself—along with several other women in comics—was the target of a troll who made all kinds of creepy threats (including rape) for years. It took many […]
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 10/1/2015
At the recently concluded Small Press Expo in Bethesda a very cool thing happened. A bunch of awards were presented to several talented, unique cartoonists who are turning out though provoking, beautifully crafted work, influential work. The winners were all popular and well deserved. And they all happened to be women. It was a thing, for sure, and much talked about. What struck me, first off, was just how strong the work was–Sophie Goldstein's multi leveled future history of a world where having a baby became a rebellious act, Emily Carroll's mastery of horror and structure, Eleanor Davis's powerful examination of self-sabotaging quests for self-esteem in many settings. The other thing that struck me was the contrast with the other conversations I was having at the show. Talking with people I used to work with in the "mainstream" comics industry about the long lists of men who would never have given Goldstein, Carroll or Davis a shot at telling their stories. Because they are women, and those people didn't think women could make good comics.
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 6/3/2014
The issue of harassment at cons isn’t going to go away, and seems to get highlighted more each day as women, men, organizers, cosplayers and interne bystanders deal with the growing injection of actual hormonal humans into abstract fan scenarios. When I went to shows as a youngster, I thought of cons as a “safe space” believe it or not. Compared to the rock scene I was involved with, the relatively few women in comics were in a mostly hands off zone, mostly because most congoers were afraid of them, and should anything amiss happen there was a huge crew of friends to back you up. Notice that I just said “COMPARED TO THE ROCK SCENE”; it was far from a paradise of equality, but I felt safer at a comic con than I did at most places.
All that has changed. I don’t think that cons rate as horrible dangerous places like [jeez any place I name here will get me in trouble so lets just say Westeros] but incidents of harassment and inappropriate behavior that would be actionable anywhere are sadly growing. Clearly stated and defined harassment policies are one step in creating boundaries and reinforcing the idea that dressing up as your favorite character, no matter how scantily clad, does not make you a whore or mean you want to be touched or groped. And of course it isn’t just a cosplay issue but extends to women in all kinds of situations.
There’s been increasing scrutiny of which cons do and con’t have clearly stated harassment policies, and one of the shows that hasn’t been found to have what is considered an up to date harassment policy—as in clearly stated on the website and posted at the show—is the San Diego Comic-Con. In an effort to change this, a Change.org petition from Geeks for CONsent went up asking them to expand their stated policies to be more specific. The campaign is called “Stop sexual harassment at San Diego Comic Con, create a formal anti-harassment policy”:
We’re asking Comic Con San Diego to include the following in a formal anti-harassment policy:
–A harassment reporting mechanism and visible, easy to find on-site support for people who report harassment;
–Signs throughout the convention publicizing the harassment policy and zero-tolerance enforcement mechanisms;
–Information for attendees on how to report harassment; and
–A one hour training for volunteers on how to respond to harassment reports.
Code of Conduct
Attendees must respect common sense rules for public behavior, personal interaction, common courtesy, and respect for private property. Harassing or offensive behavior will not be tolerated. Comic-Con reserves the right to revoke, without refund, the membership and badge of any attendee not in compliance with this policy. Persons finding themselves in a situation where they feel their safety is at risk or who become aware of an attendee not in compliance with this policy should immediately locate a member of security, or a staff member, so that the matter can be handled in an expeditious manner.
Of course there are still random jerks, random weirdoes, pen-stabbers, upskirters and so on. In a population of 130,000 there will be deviants and criminals and Corey Feldman. And bad behavior needs to be labeled bad behavior and not tolerated by the community. But it does seem, at least in my cursory investigation, that people are concerned because SDCC doesn’t have a clearly stated harassment policy, not because there is a horrible culture of harassment at the show. I see many people have referred to “rampant” sexual harassment at SDCC. While any incident is one too many, you can definitely find some examples of bad situations, including this volunteer who was hit on by a creep and his buddies. David Brothers has a still unresolved issue with security. I don’t doubt that some guys go to Comic-Con to look at hot chicks and make them feel uncomfortable, but it’s so hard to get in there would seem to be easier places to go to do that. I don’t want to sound like an apologist for harassment, but I’m not sure that it is part of the DNA of the show, the way it is with some other events *cough PAX cough*. But, you know, I’m old and my goal at Con is to find a hot meal and some talk about George Carlson, not to be thrust into the maelstrom of excitement.
Anyway, back to the kerfuffle. In an interview with CBR about the petition and more, con marketing vp David Glanzer said this:
I will tell you, though, that because we’re really an international show, and have 3,000 members of the media, I think the story would be harassment is such an issue at Comic-Con that they needed to post these signs around there. Now, people within the industry, and fans, know that isn’t the case, but the general public out there, and I think the news media, might look at this as, “Why would you, if this wasn’t such a bad issue, why do you feel the need to single out this one issue and put signs up about it?” I think that’s a concern. I was reading somewhere about anti-harassment policy, and they say, the most important thing is to have an anti-harassment policy, and expectations of behavior. We certainly have that.
There are other security and safety issues that people need to abide by — costume weapon policies, things of that nature. By highlighting one, does that diminish the others? I just don’t know. I would be afraid to have several different signs for different things that are equally as important.
While I applaud this as part of the social awareness campaign that has to happen, according to cosplayer Nicole Jacobs it didn’t work. A smirking idiot touched her against her will and then:
He smiled and laughed and despite being confronted by the convention staff, thought his actions hilarious. This is notok. This is not how we are to treat our daughters and sisters and mothers and wives. This is not how we are to treat ANYONE. While the man’s badge was removed and he was escorted from the building, never once was I given the option to press charges against him. I don’t know his name, and now I can’t do anything to potentially prevent this from ever happening again to some other girl who doesn’t realize she has the right to fight for herself. Suddenly the convention’s anti-harassment posters meant nothing. If security is unresponsive and entirely fails to do their job, who are they really securing? While I don’t fault the con for the actions of others, I do fault our society and how we handle these matters, and I think so much more could be and could have been done.
Harassment policies are a major tool for good in the ongoing battle to make bad behavior at cons and elsewhere in life less acceptable. SDCC adding its voice to the list of cons with specific harassment policies would be a powerful symbol, for sure. But we all need a massive, ongoing education campaign—backed up by everyone in the community, male and female—as to what is appropriate behavior. And if my twitter feed is any indication, there’s a lot of confusion about all that outside the con floor that’s being dragged inside the convention hall.
This isn’t my first post about all these issues, and it won’t be the last. Its only the one I put up this Tuesday.
Finally, there are several organizations that are working to stop harassment at conventions and create more awareness of the problems. There’s the aforementioned Geeks for CONsent that has various tools and information about combating inappropriate behavior. I also recommend Hollaback, an organization trying to end street harassment with various forms of outreach, including a comic book. These organizations and other like them have a lot of valuable information and tools for change, and more of us should avail themselves of them.
By: Beth,
on 9/4/2012
Even if you don’t work in a school media center, I’m guessing your life still tends to run on an academic schedule when you work with teens. So welcome to the new school year! Here’s what I think might be interesting, useful, or intriguing to you and your patrons this month.
What are your plans for this upcoming academic year? As always, your questions, comments and suggestions are welcomed and encouraged!
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By: Matthew Cheney,
on 8/6/2012
The Great Readercon Harassment Debacle of 2012 has resolved with a statement from the Convention Committee that is an excellent example of how to apologize for mistakes and, more importantly, how to make amends.
When I read the statement, I'd just gotten the new album by Franz Nicolay, Do the Struggle, and a line from the chorus of the magnificent first song seemed oddly appropriate: "The hearts of Boston have a hurricane to answer for."
The hurricane's dying down. The rubble is getting cleaned up. The hearts are strong.
There are lots of things in the statement to pay attention to — ideas that will, I hope, serve as a model for other events in the future, not just Readercon. I was especially pleased to see this among the actions the committee has committed to: "Working with the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center to train concom members and volunteers in swift, appropriate reactions to observed or reported harassment."
Such actions move Readercon from having passive policies that may (or may not) help in the event of harassment to having systems in place that actively work against the culture of rape and violence. Knowledge and awareness matter: they change how you interact with the world. By taking such a thorough and public stand and becoming a site for education and prevention, Readercon helps chip away at the forces that support and enable intimidation, harassment, and violence.
A few folks have asked if I would reconsider my resignation from the Program Committee, and I've said that while I completely support the new statement and policies, have great respect for the work that went into it all, and look forward to attending Readercon 24, I need, for various reasons, to take at least a year off from participation in the committee. This is as much for emotional reasons as rational ones, and I don't have adequate words to explain why.
For some of what went into creating the statement and new policies, see this post by Rose Fox. Lots of people worked really hard, through difficult conversations and difficult emotions, to make all this happen. We should be grateful to them for doing that work, for putting their words and hearts and minds on the line.
Here's Genevieve's lovely response to the statement.
See you at Readercon next year.
Posted on 5/20/2010
Thanks to early screenings and leaked footage, the much-anticipated movie Kick-Ass gained massive buzz among fanboys, bloggers (and pretty much everyone else under the age of 30) months before it hit movie theaters, poising itself to possibly be the best superhero move ever made. But when the feature finally released last month–replete with glorified violence and a young girl with the dirtiest mouth since Bob Saget–it was met with formidable resistance from parents and critics alike. Although Roger Ebert called the film “morally reprehensible”, publications such as New York Magazine and the Los Angeles Times recognized Kick-Ass as a guilty pleasure. Yes, it’s shockingly violent and raises the question of child abuse—but gosh it’s fun, and that 11-year-old really kills with some gumption, don’t she?
The strong reactions this film elicited recalled for me a recent book by media psychologist Karen Dill, titled How Fantasy Becomes Reality. Dill is well known for her research on the effects of media violence, which actually earned her a “character” in Grand Theft Auto IV, the car “Karin Dilettante.” Dill was at a conference the majority of last week, but enthusiastically agreed to take a break in between panels for a quick phone interview on the film.
Michelle Rafferty: You’re renowned for your work on how media—like video games, film, and television—affects us. I’m wondering if you give us your take on why people have been so vehemently offended by the character Hit-Girl in the film Kick-Ass.
Karen Dill: Well, the first time I heard of the film, it was a mother at a university talking to me about her nine year old daughter, and saying she just found it very offensive, I think, from a parenting perspective. When you see a child using really crass language, vulgar language, like the “c word,” or the “f word,” and doing some really brutal violence, that parents especially probably find that offensive. And I think that’s part of the appeal of the character Hit-Girl too, that she breaks the boundaries. People like edgy media, things that we haven’t seen a lot of before, and it’s that whole juxtaposition of the sweet, beautiful, innocent little girl and this coarse language and violence. It’s a twisted story, so I think it gets a lot of attention for that reason.
Rafferty: A lot of your work encompasses how media normalizes violence and misogynistic behavior towards women. Do you see the film Kick-Ass as doing this? Or do you think the character Hit-Girl could be seen as empowering figure for young girls and women? Is she subversive in a good way?
Dill: Well I think that she could be seen as subversive in a good way. The thin
“These changes are long overdue, and while Gfrorer’s tweet was nothing to be proud of, she was clearly on the receiving end of the kind of abuse that the new guidelines are meant to stop. So it’s kind of like the kid who gets bullied all the time, finally fits back and is the one collared for starting the fight.”
So, Twitter should put an end to abusive and threatening tweets but not when they person is returning abuse? It’s OK then? I understand there can be a lot going on around each tweet but the basic story is she sent a tweet threatening to rape someone, joke or no joke, and under the new guidelines she was suspended for making that tweet. Your reaction/takeaway of “But she didn’t started it – they should just ban the one who first makes abusive remarks” is just ludicrous.
Now, I don’t say this should be a permanent suspension, I’m not saying that, but I look at this situation and I 100% agree with Twitter that she was in the wrong.
Agree with Twitter that I should have been suspended for the comment, but you don’t agree with Twitter that I should be suspended for the comment? Okay, thanks for weighing in.
TCW, you agree with Twitter that I should have been suspended for the comment, but you don’t agree with Twitter that I should be suspended for the comment? Okay, thanks for weighing in.
“So, Twitter should put an end to abusive and threatening tweets but not when they person is returning abuse? It’s OK then?”
Yes, TCW, it IS okay then. An intelligent person who’s interested in actually working toward the just treatment of all people, instead of a dullard scoring points against strangers from oppressed groups behind an internet pseudonym, is capable of making that distinction.
This article fails to demonstrate that anyone but the cartoonist, who tweeted a threat of rape herself, deserved to be blocked.
I don’t doubt the situation but this article fails to actually make the point. If I’m judging only from what I read in this blog here, the right person was banned.
If the other guys made threats like this and didn’t just “inserted himself into that conversation to suggest that violent feminist rhetoric like ours is the real cause of rape” then those examples should have been included – but as it is presented here, this guy was just annoying and was threatened with rape for his troubles.
I don’t think that’s cool.
“His troubles” is a nice way to gloss over a torrent of MRA-speak mansplaining invective thrown at women constantly, and the mock offense when someone lashes out is basically just “WHEN’S WHITE HISTORY MONTH?” dressed up in a fedora.
What’s not cool is tone policing the article to take the focus away from harassment of women online, which is pretty much what happens any time an article like this comes out.
fuck this, she couldnt handle a crap comment in a decent, mature way. Instead she threatened violent bodily harm to another person. she threatened to RAPE someone. That make HER the scumbag, whatever was said before is irrelevant. She deserves to be banned like anyone else who would do the same.
she should have some respect for victims of rape and not throw it around like its nothing. She could have taken higher ground, but instead she revealed what a low piece of shit she is.
There’s pretty much nothing that any authority – from twitter people, to small claims courts, to Obama, to the Illuminati – can do to make the words “I’m going to rape you” mean anything other than what they mean. At the very best it was a rape JOKE, which is equally reprehensible, possibly even more so given her gender and her subscription to feminism. So all appeals claiming Julia was in the right are pointless.
I’m getting weird Autistic vibes from this too. Maybe an analogy will help.
J.S. Bach composed his fugal music with many clever and noble things in mind, however none of them can do much to change the fact that it sounds like a borderline-amusical hodgepodge that makes Vaporwave sound human. Incidentally, this is probably the reason Bach was ignored during his lifetime. Regardless of intent or context, a cacophonous mass of notes is a cacophonous mass of notes – a rape threat is a rape threat. Nothing more to it.
I don’t know if you guys realize, but this is the worse possible approach if you want her account restored. Yes, it is the best approach if you want to do it “feministically” or make a case for the broader spectrum of online abuse or whatever. But not if you want to get your account back. It’s more than a little ironic, no? Continue spamming twitter with the same attitude, turning yourself from a footnote into a full-blown undesirable person and basically making sure you stay banned for good BUT contributing to the fight against…I don’t know, neckbeards and dudebros? OR eating some humble pie, apologizing to twitter, and possibly getting unbanned.
If there IS a possibility of getting her account restored, it would have to start with a full admission of guilt from Julia with no mention of context, intent, or what the other party said.
By the way, Sean, I think you’re dangerously close to being banned for spam.
Same as it ever was. Bullies get a free pass to make people’s lies hell, but if a target stands up to them, the system smacks them down, hard. Who knew adult life was exactly like junior high?
I can understand why Julia snapped back, given what women in comics have had to put up with for so long. In case you missed it, here’s a Comics Alliance article that spells it out. Hard to believe this crap is still going on. I blame the superhero fanboy culture that still treats women as some alien species.
And, “pete,” your childish, profane comment is utterly repulsive. How old are you, 13? That’s how you’re acting.
http://comicsalliance.com/comics-industry-harassment/?trackback=fbshare_flat_4