According to a Variety article (and the SDCC program), there’s more programming for female geeks than ever before through panels such as Female Heroes, Then And Now and spotlights on female creators like Mimi Pond (Over Easy) and Fiona Staples (Saga).
Of course, men still outnumber women at the Con, though not by as much as some might think — attendance is typically around 60% male to 40% female. The programming tends to reflect those numbers. But with female interest growing both in comic books and superhero films — Marvel recently announced a female Thor and it’s no secret that Disney has talked about giving Black Widow her own film after her expanded role in the most recent “Captain America” – Comic-Con too is changing.
The box office success of the “Twilight” and “Hunger Games” franchises as well as “Frozen” and “The Fault in Our Stars” emphasizes the importance of entertainment driven by girls and women.
You can check out the female friendly panels below. There are also other forms of diversity at Comic-Con like The Black Panel (Friday, 10AM), LGBT Comics for Young Readers (Friday, 2PM) and Diversity in Genre Lit (Saturday, 10AM). Hopefully, the con will expand on the other underrepresented populations that love geek culture but also diversify within the panels themselves.
THURSDAY
Female Heroes, Then And Now (1PM)
Beyond Cliches: Creating Awesome Female Characters For Film, TV, Comics, Video Games and Novels (2PM)
Outlander with Diana Gabaldon (3PM)
The Most Dangerous Women At Comic-Con: Positive Portrayals of Women in Pop Culture (3PM)
FRIDAY
Gender in Comics (10AM)
Evangeline Lilly Discusses Her First Book The Squickerwonkers (10:30 AM)
Spotlight on Sara Mayhew (12PM)
Spotlight on Rina Piccolo (1PM)
Spotlight on Veronica Roth (1PM)
Comics Arts Conference Session #7: Comics and Gender (1PM)
The Witty Women of Steampunk (2:30PM)
Spotlight on Fiona Staples (3PM)
Women Below the Line (3:30PM)
Wonder Women of the 21st Century: Female Protagonists (4PM)
SATURDAY
Fantastic Females: Heroines in Paranormal Fantasy (10:30AM)
Spark Your Creativity: A Call to Action! Ladies Unite to Create More Female-Driven Content! (1PM)
Spotlight on Lucy Knisley (2PM)
Strong Female Characters (3PM)
Entertainment Weekly: Women Who Kick Ass (4:10PM)
Spotlight on Mimi Pond (5PM)
SUNDAY
Marvel: Women of Marvel (11:15AM)
Superheroines! Power, Responsibility, and Representation (1:3oPM)
