Comic Con

There’s this predictable moment at every convention: a woman shows up in a cosplay, and within ten minutes some guy thinks he’s got permission to say whatever he wants. I’ve seen it enough to know it’s not random awkwardness—it’s a pattern. A couple years back BuzzFeed had cosplayers write down the most offensive stuff men said to them at Comic Con, and the consistency was depressing. Same jokes, same entitlement, same assumption that if you’re wearing something revealing, you’re implicitly inviting comment.

What bothers me is that a lot of these women are legitimately skilled. They’re doing design work, 3D modeling, sewing, building things. They show up to be around people who care about the craft and the characters. Instead they get treated like they’re there to be watched and commented on. The point is supposed to be about passion and obsession. Instead it’s just another place where women can’t exist without being made into objects.

Geek spaces used to feel like refuges. Places where you could be weird and obsessive without apology. Now they’re just mainstream enough that all the assholes have moved in with their regular entitlement. Same problem at anime cons, gaming expos, Comic-Con—everywhere.

I don’t think anything changes at this point. The women cosplaying know what they’re in for and do it anyway. The guys never face any consequences. The organizers look away. So it stays broken, the good people get tired of it, and everything gets worse. I’m not sure what the fix is. But I know that the people actually making these spaces interesting are the ones leaving.