This morning a man about my age put his hand on my shoulder, pulling me back from the door while telling me I should let “ladies go first.” He also called me “young man.” My friend and I continued on our way without much comment, and I got into my office otherwise undisturbed. Upon checking…
Don’t Take Off Your Headphones: A Playlist
Earlier this week, Twitter user @yophoebs unearthed an awful article titled “How to Talk to a Woman Who is Wearing Headphones,” written by a definitely awful person named Dan Bacon, and from an equally awful website called “The Modern Man.” While the article is a few years old, it described an eerily familiar experience of…
Geek Mystique: Lifestyle News for August
Hey! It is the second installment of Geek Mystique, the lifestyle section’s monthly lifestyle news column. These links are lovingly curated by I (um…me), your lifestyle editor, based on what is trending right now…and also just what I really like such as Lisa Frank leggings and mermaid crowns.
Feminism & Fat: Interview with Ragen Chastain
One of my biggest, long-time internet crushes on a person I have never, ever met goes to Ragen Chastain. I started reading her blog, Dances with Fat, several years ago as it not only affirmed some struggles and suspicions I had regarding the talk around bodies and health, but it also opened my eyes to the…
On Orlando and Supporting QTPOC Comics Creators
Early in the morning on Sunday, June 12th, 49 people were murdered and 53 injured at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida. It quickly became clear that these were QTPOC (queer, trans people of color). A quick scan of articles about the club revealed that Puerto Rican and other Latinx drag queens were scheduled to perform…
Manipulation of Manhood: Julia Gfrorer’s Comic Book Misandry
Content warning: penises, breasts, rape of men. EDIT, October 2016: this article is an analysis of Gfrorer’s work as a commentary on phallocentric patriarchy. Cis masculinity is consciously centred in the readings of these narratives. I never really managed to think of a penis as a vulnerable thing until I caught the first fifteen minutes…
Review: Threadbare: Clothes, Sex & Trafficking
Threadbare: Clothes, Sex & Trafficking Anne Elizabeth Moore (words), the Ladydrawers (art) Microcosm Publishing May 2016 When Microcosm sent the WWAC mailing list their latest releases, both Ginnis Tonik and Alenka Figa jumped on a comic about fashion, clothing, and the politics of production. Alenka had the chance to attend the launch party in Chicago and…
Get Your Game on Wednesday
Howdy, gaming lovelies! Origins is right around the corner, so I’ve been browsing BoardGameGeek’s Origin Game Fair preview and dreaming about all the board games I hope to play. Fandom is broken… when harassment sucks the fun out of it Another week, another set of stories about harassment in our fandom. This week’s gem? Death…
What Devin Faraci Gets Wrong About Audience, Ownership and Power
Earlier this week, Devin Faraci of Birth Movies Death, wrote that fandom was broken. Out of control and on the attack, wild elements of the audience had broken free from their assigned role of mild adoration and GIFpreciation to wage war against creators. Hashtag campaigns, calls to action, death threats — described in one long…
Brand New: An Analysis of DC Comics’ 2016 Logo
DC Entertainment released their new logo, along with a press release explaining its new branding and the motivations behind its decisions. See below for the full announcement. I have highlighted a few key phrases that point toward DC’s branding direction.
Comics Are For Everyone, Or So We Say: Goodbye, Comics and Cola
For the past five years, Comics and Cola has been a reliable source of information, connection and reflection upon… comics. Very little Cola content. But Zainab Akhtar has had enough of the Islamophobia that’s permeated comics so blazing since #jesuisCharlie, and before and after that, and all through everything. She doesn’t want to be a…
When Doris Met Douglas: My Very Own Character Assassination
Douglas S. Taylor is an independent author who runs DarcWorX Entertainment, a South Dakota-based publisher previously known as DarkWorks and DarcWorks. Taylor has published a number of books through his company, including the Tales From Under the Concrete horror anthologies and the fantasy series Chronicles of Caledon. He is also a serial plagiarist and a…