Although we didn’t attend nearly as many panels as we did at previous year’s GeekGirlCon, we still covered a pretty broad swath of programming and thought we’d share some highlights with you.
Tanya’s recap:
Panelists The Shanghai Pearl and Chaka Cumberbatch, with moderator Andrea Letamendi, talk race in costuming and performance
Deconstructing the Mary Sue
Panelists: Amber Benson, Andrea Letamendi, Cecil Castellucci, and Sarah Kuhn; moderator: Javier Grillo-Marxuach
The aim of this session was to look at the “Mary Sue” character trope and discuss why using it may be doing harm to writing interesting female characters. While the definition of a “Mary Sue” is varied and open to some interpretation, overall it’s been used to describe a female character that is very idealized and seemingly capable of doing anything. Finding its roots in discussion of fan created works, it has also made its crossover to mainstream character criticism. Andrea Letamendi pointed out that fans often have a defensive sense of ownership of characters and their particular fandoms, and thus can be especially critical. But, as one audience member said during the closing Q&A, describing a character as a “Mary Sue”, a connotation which has become a pejorative, can be another form of gender policing. This is something the panelists agreed with, and that opinion is what motivated the discussion. This criticism of being Mary Sue-ish is lobbed at heroines, while male characters – James T. Kirk, anyone? – don’t seem to face the same level of scrutiny. “It’s almost that we’re uncomfortable letting women have these fantasy female characters,” said Sarah Kuhn. Part of the issue is that women in fictional works are frequently expected to be aspirational, “role model” type characters. This often doesn’t leave room for flaws, or being a little bit broken, rather than perfect and pulled together. As creators of characters, whether acting or writing fiction, the panelists admitted that sometimes there is a worry when creating a character that it might get picked apart. The specter of bad Goodreads reviews looms, as does the existence of quizzes like the Universal Mary Sue Litmus Test, but ultimately the best way to keep pushing forward with bringing more diverse characters to the table is to simply keep writing what feels interesting and relatable. Asked by Javier Grillo-Marxuach to pick one favorite recent “anti-Sue” character, the panelists picked Dr. Ryan Stone from Gravity, Mako Mori from Pacific Rim, Amy Dunne from the hit novel Gone Girl, and Boomer from the Battlestar Galactica reboot. Unfortunately, this panel was a case where time constraints really worked against the goal of the discussion, because it was almost nearing the end when the conversation really hit its stride.
Race in Costuming and Performance
Panelists: The Shanghai Pearl, Chaka Cumberbatch; moderator: Andrea Letamendi
The Shanghai Pearl approached the discussion as a seasoned burlesque performer and Chaka Cumberbatch as a dedicated cosplayer, and both women brought thoughtful first hand perspectives and insights to what would end up being my favorite panel from the weekend. Discussing the antagonism often experienced by cosplayers, and particularly geeks of color interpreting popular characters, Chaka Cumberbatch quipped (oh so correctly), “It’s a lot easier to talk shit about someone online than to make a costume.” Even within spaces that usually allow for escapism and celebration of individuality, when race and character interpretation intertwine there is bound to be some conflict. The Shanghai Pearl brought up the notorious “Opium Den” act performed by burlesque star Dita von Teese, a problematic mashup of elements from Chinese and Japanese culture. Watching the performance, The Shanghai Pearl felt a sense of sickening discomfort and hurt, something that prompted her to write a thoughtful letter to Dita von Teese. (For more on the “Opium Den” issue and other perspectives, check out this conversation from last year on Racialicious, also including The Shanghai Pearl as a commentator.) Responding both to audience questions and the topic at hand, Chaka Cumberbatch said that she believes anyone can cosplay any character, without resorting to such things as blackface or taping one’s eyes. If you do it well, you can embody the character with a hat, wig, gloves – accessories, basically – and really getting into the character’s personality. The Shanghai Pearl noted that when paying homage, it’s important to “ask yourself if you’re using tools of oppression.” Thoughtful creativity through performance and costuming is ultimately about expressing your love for a character and for feeling confident and comfortable with your body, but the discussion of boundaries needs to continue.
Is Star Trek a Feminist Utopia?
Panelists: Jarrah Hodge, Mary Czerwinski and me; moderator: Jamala Henderson
I suppose it’s a little bit of cheating for me to mention my own panel, but it was such a moving, enjoyable experience, I have to bring it up. I had the pleasure of sitting alongside my co-panelists in a discussion of feminism within the Star Trek universe. Jarrah was inspired for the panel name by Gene Roddenberry’s own desire to create a future “utopia” where people would be equals. Our goal was to see whether or not with the various series and recent films we’ve arrived at that place. First, we talked about some episodes as a way to set examples of positive and negative treatment of female characters. My personal pick was “Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night,” a Deep Space Nine episode that focused on Kira Nerys and presented an opportunity for her to explore moral ambiguity and confront some darker aspects of her character. I consider this to be one of my favorite episodes of the series because the prominent characters prominently featured were really neither terribly good or bad, but rather very conflicted and flawed. We also spoke about the fact that staffing behind the scenes on various Star Trek series has also been predominantly male, and discussed directions we’d like to see the series headed, noting particularly how it would be great to see another Star Trek series with several women of color in prominent roles. We could have talked and talked, but time constraints got the better of us. Some things we didn’t get to discuss in detail: Star Trek: Enterprise and Into Darkness, both productions that have seen a lot of heat and thus could have taken another hour. So, stay tuned, because we are hoping to have a reunion for a more focused Star Trek discussion (or two!) at next year’s GeekGirlCon.
Mace’s recaps:
This was my first con of any kind, and it was wonderful and overwhelming. I was astounded at the sheer abundance of interesting content. I tried to schedule my days to absorb as much as possible, and like all of the best plans, it all went out the window within hours. (It may have gone better had I remembered to schedule time to eat, and to sit and recoup.)
The day started off wonderfully with Deconstructing the Mary Sue Myth and Race in Costuming and Performance, which Tanya covered. From a STEM perspective, I was most looking forward to Best Of Both Worlds: Careers Where STEM Meets The Humanities. While the panels promised to discuss the “many interesting, challenging and rewarding careers that let you do both,” all four panelists were in science communication. While communication is very important, as often scientists have a difficult time explaining their work to the general public, I wished the discussion covered a broader selection of career options of jobs that bridge science and fine arts. Still, I was happy to see how many young girls attended, especially in the 8-14 set, an age group notorious for a decline in STEM interest.
Later in the afternoon, I caught Black, Latina, Girl and Geek: A Tale of Acceptance. Tiffany Janibagian, Aquala Lloyd and Emily Berrios discussed growing up geeky, and how the geek culture differs between the United States and their country of origin. I was especially interested in Berrios’s description of growing up geeky in Puerto Rico. There was very little bullying, but there was also a lack of community: “It was a bit of a lonely road, but it was an undisturbed road.” She talked excitedly about her teenage half-sisters, still living in Puerto Rico, enjoying a whole community to discuss all their pursuits. Aquala Lloyd, a video game buff practically from birth, left the younger attendees with great advice: “You have to not be afraid of who you are; when you graduate, all those people are gone, and you’re left with yourself.”
On Sunday, I headed over to Geek Girl Connections area to listen to a panel discussing Careers in Science. A dry title, but a great group of panelists, ranging from a post-doc astronomer to a former neuroscientist now working in management consulting. Since the Connections area is more focused on dialogues between panelists and their audience, the attendees really dictated the direction of the conversation. In this case, the crowd had a lot of questions about networking and graduate school. I’d love to see more of this kind of programming in the future, where there’s a wealth of information and opportunity for interacting.
The final panel I attended was Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: How Feminism Has Changed Pop Culture. This was an engaging discussion that both celebrated progress made and critically discussed work that still needed to be done. Featured panelists were Amy Peloff, Suzette Chan, Anita Sarkeesian and Luvvie Ajayi and moderator Andi Zeisler. There was much discussion of Twitter as an effective way to make change. Ajayi pointed out that Twitter is an easy way to direct your comments at you targets, and a surprising amount of corporate accounts pay attention. Peloff added that Twitter (and other social media) is a great way of letting creators know when they’ve done something right, which is just as important as criticism. (And if you’re curious what video game Anita Sarkeesian thinks is the most feminist, it’s Gone Home).
Overall, my big takeaway from the Con was the sense of community. It’s lovely to have places online to find people with shared interests (like Geekquality!), but the experience of siting in a room, nodding, and seeing 200+ other people nodding with you is next level. Now that I’ve gone once and have a better handle on what to expect, I’m eagerly counting down until GeekGirlCon 2014!
