Fandom can sometimes be ugly. There are those of us who are thrilled to have more people join party. And then there are those want to be gatekeepers, telling people they’re not “fan enough” to join.
A certain t-shirt appeared at last week’s Wondercon and has been causing a stir on the internet. The shirt attacks both fangirls and coffee, in one fell swoop. The vendor says there’s a version that disses fanboys too, for equal opportunity gatekeeping.
There’s been a lot of chatter, including one father’s take on the whole matter. The brightside is that there are a lot of folks who believe fandom doesn’t need to encourage this type of behavior. It’s time for a “Welcome to the geek party, we’re so glad you’re here!” rebuttal, highlighting some fun geeky tees that promote inclusion.
TeeFury’s the Fireflies tee shows girls, boys, POCs all smiling together and having fun.
Jordie Bellarie shared this concept tshirt on her Twitter.
Good news. If you want a shirt with a positive message Steven Finch and I came up with this for you. pic.twitter.com/PlGcedKTPb
— Jordie Bellaire (@whoajordie) April 21, 2014
ThinkGeek offers a little science to go with your peace, love and geek harmony.
Happy clever girls with dinosaurs? A big YES for this one from SnorgTees.
Do you like legos? Awesome? Do you like superheroes? Awesome. Do you like comics? Awesome. Because everything is awesome! Thanks Hot Topic.
And lastly, we’re all in it together, but Five Finger Tees reminds us it’s not always a sunny outcome.
Do you have any other favorite inclusive geek tees? Let us know!
Great post, with a positive spin. We sometimes forget to show that there’s a better world out there in response to these rage-inducing moments.