What I would like to discuss today is something that I've seen over and over again. It's a mixture of rebels being put off by success in conjunction with infighting and accusations of one of the varying forms of bigotry.
Unfortunately, this horrible concoction has found its way into the nerd and geek realms.
Before I begin, it should be noted that context is very important in fully understanding a situation. Emotions flew all over the place regarding a personal Facebook post on the part of Tony Harris, who has been a part of the comic book industry for over 20 years. Here it is:
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| Click the image for a larger version on The Daily What. |
Of course, there are other responses as well. The one thing that many of these responses had in common was the accusations of sexism and how one shouldn't deem a female to not be a real geek and/or nerd.
I couldn't agree more.
However, what happened was that emotions overwhelmed the part of the mind that is thoughtful and reasonable. It happens to each and every one of us when it comes to a subject that touches are hearts. After all, we're human and prone to this sort of thing.
What I am about to do is to ask you, the reader, to do something that could be potentially challenging (or even difficult) depending on your individual situation.
After reading the entire quote from the screen-cap posted at the beginning and watching the entire video, I would like for you to take a step back, take a few deep breaths, and set your emotions aside for a moment.
It's time to start thinking.
While it is most understandable that women throughout history have been discriminated against, manipulated, and abused, there are times when certain actions are misconstrued as being such when the intent of those actions are entirely different.
Let's begin by asking the question; What was the intent of Tony Harris, a veteran of the comic book industry when he ranted on his own personal Facebook? Was he hanging up a "no girls allowed" sign, or was he speaking out against something else entirely?
Let's go through what he wrote, shall we?
He opines that he's going to say something without caring what everyone else thinks. It's his opinion after all, and as individuals, we are all entitled to ours. He goes on to say that there are some women who cosplay at conventions who are actually into the comic books that the characters come from in the first place.
In other words, he doesn't have an issue with them. What he writes next is what gets him in some hot water. He goes on to say that there are too many women who dress up as some of the most popular characters without having ever read the comic books themselves, let alone know anything about them.
I can see where he would be called sexist on that. However, middle of his rant, he does note that it was based on what has happened around him at his booth at various conventions.
To be fair, there has been various shenanigans that have occurred at various conventions, whether it be of the pro-wrestling, science fiction, comic book, or anime type. There are going to be things that are irritating, no matter what.
I would know as I have experienced it once when I was dressed up as the Millenium Earl at Naka-Kon one year. I was essentially criticized for wearing a mostly pre-made costume instead of putting it together myself. Personally, I didn't care. Elitists are everywhere, and there's nothing that can be done about that.
The problem is that someone speaking out against something that annoys them is often confused with being elitist. In a manner similar to night shift workers at a retail outlet not feeling appreciated when members of management and people from the day are covered in a magazine while they're left out, Harris argues that without the comic book artists and writers, the books themselves would not exist in the first place, there would be no following, and no conventions to speak of.
So again, is he really sexist or is something else going on?
It is often said that a rebel is often put off by their own success. After all, becoming mainstream would mean that they are no longer a rebel, hence their cause is now obsolete. The only option left is to either find a new cause or become irrelevant.
So let's revisit the question. Was he being sexist? Does he hate women cosplayers? Does he hate cosplayers at all?
Well, no, as B. Clay Moore on Twitter points out. For further consideration, here are a couple of comments from the Comics Beat website:
The first comment has some offending parts, such as not being a nerd if one is now just enjoying something. To be honest, I have collected some comic books, but I don't do so anymore. I have a couple, but that's about it. For that reason, I don't refer to myself as a comic book nerd.
My interests are in computers and the software that's on their hard drives. I know full well that the Captain America movie did not follow the comic book series as much as some would have liked. That didn't stop me from enjoying it. The same thing with the Amazing Spiderman movie.
And therein lies the problem.
More and more people know about Captain America, Spiderman, and other comic book characters because of the movies that have been in theaters. I'm fairly confident in saying that a significant portion of the audience of said films more than likely did not read any of the comic books beforehand.
In a sense, Hollywood has made the characters from those books very popular, yet in a sense watered down to the point where most people will never hear of a Tony Harris, J. Michael Straczynski, or John Romita Jr, because they never read the comic books in the first place. That doesn't mean those who enjoyed the movies are bad for only watching the movies.
It simply means they aren't comic book geeks or nerds, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. It appears to me that what Harris was speaking out against was a form of mindless group think. If something looks cool, hip, and "in," there are those who will make themselves appear to be a part of that something, even if that isn't who they are.
It's known as being a pretender, and sadly, they exist no matter the genre. Those who pretend to be something they are not are often not comfortable with who they really are. To be fair, there is no way to tell what the thoughts of every single cosplayer out there happens to be. Only the cosplayer knows.
And to continue to add balance to this discussion, there are those who just think the costume of a character is really cool, so they dress up as that character. Nothing more, nothing less. There's nothing wrong with that. However, I can see how it can be irritating when cameras from corporate controlled media are surrounding that person instead of the writers and artists behind the comic book series in which the character came from.
In other words, the creation of fiction has been taken for granted, and much to the chagrin of some, it is important to recognize that those who created the characters, drew the characters, and wrote stories surrounding the characters are individuals with feelings too.
Notice how I didn't refer to male or female in the last few sentences. I said individual. Before I explain why I did so, here is what Joe The Peacock had to say on the matter at hand:
Seeing as how Tony is a friend of Joe's, it's a safe bet that he knows him well enough to be able to make such a statement at all. What did the individual in the video accuse Harris of doing? Objectifying women. Also consider the following:
"Tony has spent his nearly 25 years in comics innovating and creating some incredible properties, characters, art and culture. One major aspect of Tony's art: he's one of the very few male artists in mainstream (superhero) comics who has ever outright refused to draw idealized / fetishized / objectified women in his work."
"Have you ever vented in the spur of the moment, something you wish you'd taken some time to really think out? Have you ever used Facebook as a catharsis for a burst of emotion? Have you ever felt your logical side peek out and say "Hey now, you know that's not what you really feel..." only to have your emotional side say "YEAH BUT IT FELT REALLY GOOD TO SAY!"No matter what, words are going to get taken out of context. Emotions that aren't kept in check play a role in that. Trolls will appear in order to stir the pot. That's what trolls do. The cycle keeps going until the latest thing happens that either gets the masses enthusiastic, angry, or both.
Ever regretted it? Not that you felt it or how you think, but how you said it?
Maybe consider that when you realize that this is what happened here, but instead of a bunch of comments and unfriending, the guy was put on an international stage across tons of blogs and Tumblr pages and news feeds and Twitter and cannot possibly respond to the volume of feedback (which has, as it did with me, coalesced into a tide of "You're EVIL!") much less reflect, explain or, if he wanted to, apologize?"
To imply that those who say the things that Harris said are no better than the bullies slamming kids into lockers. As someone who has been bullied in school growing up, I find such a notion insulting. Harris has essentially been accused of committing a thought crime.
Did Harris generalize? Yes. Is he the only individual who has done so? No. There is a reason why in various forms of the New Testament, the phrase, "Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone." exists (male oriented, but it's a male oriented religious text we're talking about). It's the same reason that the theme of the pot calling the kettle black exists. In other words, to a degree, we are all hypocrites.
Perhaps before pointing fingers at somebody else, we should all, as individuals, look at ourselves in the mirror and ask, "How can I be better today than I was yesterday?" Nobody is perfect. We are all human.
Too much political correctness is often the death knell of any given community. Harris was not speaking about all women who dressed up in costumes, but about a few he has encountered. While he doesn't speak for an entire community, neither does the individual in the video nor any other blogger who has spoken and will continue to speak on the matter at hand.
In my opinion, it was not about "protecting something from others," but about pointing out how something has become watered down because less and less people are reading the comic books, reading up on the history of the characters and series, and appreciating who brought the product into existence in the first place.
To drive the point home, both males and females are responsible for the wonderful comics that have existed over the years.
To sum up, I share the same views as the kid in one of the Mighty Ducks movies who didn't care about politics between schools and simply wanted to play hockey. I just want to enjoy the occasional comic book (I do plan on getting some more of them at some point, even if it's only digital), watch the occasional movie, play some video games, play on the computer and the Internet.
I just want to have fun and enjoy my life. With that, my opinion has been shared. You the reader are free to do the same.
