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Oct
23rdGender Blender
I’ll begin by saying that I love the Rocky Horror Picture Show. And, to be fair, I am not a huge fan of remakes. All those facts aside, I have issues with the recent news that Laverne Cox has been tapped to play Frank N’ Furter. As a small tidbit of background, I used to go to Rocky Horror at midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. It was a staple of my teens and twenties, and the raucous energy of the 12th Street theatre in New York was intoxicating even on a slow night. I recently got to go to a Rocky Horror viewing party here in Nairobi, where my husband and I were among some of the only people who were actually dressed up. And, bless his heart, I got to fulfill a dream of making up someone as Frank. And it was beautiful. Of course none of the non-Americans in the room had any idea what was going on, and I was literally the only person doing the call backs, but the fact that it’s a film with staying power, that transcends oceans (the host of the party is a huge fan and he’s French), really says something about it. Who would have thought that the cast (mysteriously missing creator Richard O’Brien) would have been on the Today Show forty years later, talking about the anniversary of the film? It’s indicative of how far things have come in society and its embrace of what had previously been considered “fringe” culture. Much to my […]
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Oct
12thThe Silent Sadness
This post isn’t for you. But if I don’t buck up and talk about my feelings, they will literally consume me, and the only reason I haven’t talked about them is because no one does. It was a beautiful, happy week. I had friends visiting from Dubai and Doha. Every day, my house felt full, and vibrant, and excited. These three friends had never been to Kenya before, and were absolutely enchanted, having just come back from the Masai Mara and having seen the great migration firsthand. And, after months of trying, I had just discovered I was pregnant. Funnily, I had only taken the pregnancy test to exclude it from my self-diagnosis of exhaustion, nausea, and fatigue. But just the morning I’d taken the test, it was confirmed by doctors at the urgent clinic. My husband was over the moon, and I was…processing the experience. I hadn’t expected it; I was in shock. I have a challenging, intense job in a rigorous career track. I am writing a book. I am in graduate school. I have pleasantly complicated interpersonal relationships. We told his mother, and mine. Everyone was excited. We couldn’t help but tell our house guests. they were excited. Ever a knowledge hound, I took to googling what I should and shouldn’t eat, what I needed to stop, what was best for me, and for whatever this little thing inside me was going to be. The knowledge acquisition was the most exciting part, and slowly, I started accepting what […]
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Mar
28thGirls in Gaming: Finding a Role that Doesn’t Require a Costume
Cosplayers Left & Right, Geek girls have an awkward place in the nerd society. We’re the minority in a primarily male-driven pasttime, and, as our numbers have grown, there have been some conflicts brought to light that are not new, but are newly publicized. In my mind, the idea of the Fake Geek Girl and the Cosplay Consent issues go hand in hand. For years, gaming companies have used the idea of “HEY BOYS, BOOBS!” to lure gamers over to their booths or to buy their games. Girls, how many cons have you been to where companies hire models and put them in Slave Leia costumes and send them out into the aisles with the sole purpose of bringing <s>men</s> customers back to the stall? “Booth Babes” are a common tactic and it’s only recently that certain cons have forbidden their use. Are guys probably inappropriate with Booth Babes? Lewd and awkward? You bet. But those girls were paid, essentially, to be leered at, so, like women in other ogle-intending-industries, they probably just grin and bear it. It’s these girls that I think of when I think of “Fake Geek Girls” — they’re not at the con because they love Saga or love Bioshock or love Neil Gaiman (though they might anyway). They’re there because they’re being paid. For female gamers and nerds, having paid models in costume is frustrating because it feels like a gender-based double standard. Sure, male nerds found a niche where they are allegedly valued for […]
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Oct
31stOh My Satire! Harassment at Austin ComicCon
Oh my glob. At Austin Comic Con this past weekend, I went as Lumpy Space Princess. Lumpy Space Princess is fairly lumpy (compared to many other female cartoon characters) and I was MUCH lumpier than I am used to being! So I guess I wasn’t surprised when a bunch of strangers asked to pose with me and then did some doofy “WHOA LOOK AT THOSE LUMPS” poses. I just made a really ugly face when I saw that they were doing it. One guy with the social graces of a LEMUR was all “Oh my glob, I was totally going to wear that because my lumps are SO LARGE AND SUPPLE.” What the stuff? No. Stop talking, smooth poser. Most of these losers were just doofy and awkward, but then I had my first truly sleazy experience. But it was so totally empowering, too. Like that time I lived with the wolves. But like this guy who was really fat started interviewing me and I totally thought he was gonna interview me about Austin Comic Con. Him: I’m here with Me: Duuhh, LSP! Like whatever, I’m the lumpiest space princess ever. Him: And are you LUMPY or WHAT? Do you think you could bite me and make me lumpy too? Me: NO! If you want these lumps, you gotta put a ring on it. WHERE’S MY RING? Him: What size are your lumps? Crowd: They’re so big! So LUMPY! Me: GET THE LUMP OUTTA HERE! I know that I […]