A Quick Rant about Hate Speech and FanGirls

97.99% of a convention is awesome.

The concrete floors are not awesome.

The immense crowds are frequently not awesome.

The hate speech is definitely not awesome.

You know, I can deal with the religious zealots outside of conventions who declare us sinners- though, honestly, I’m pretty sure Jesus would be hanging out inside… Anyways, they are easy to block out.

I can handle the overzealous gropers- that’s why I have a scary big brother, am good at slapping, and have no problem reporting a pig for behavior (big yay to those cons that take action against those individuals, by the way).

But what I truly can’t stand is when the hate speech is for sale or presented within the con, as though it is awesome. They are frequently more religious zealots inside the conventions, presenting their materials. Most often they can be ignored and passed by without issue. So they don’t really bother me. But… at WonderCon 2014, I passed by booths in the small press and Artist Alley areas that advertised names like “Sweet Tit” or comics about sexy nerd girls (because nerd girls have to be sexy or they aren’t worth your time, apparently). I passed by booths with art that had women in clothes no one would ever wear and poses that were physically impossible.

I can pass by most of these without batting an eye.

But this year there was a shirt that caught my eye, forced me to walk back to the booth after passing by quickly, and take a picture. And while I took the photo, the woman inside came out, smiling, to tell me that, “everyone loves that shirt!”

I tried really hard not to throw up on her.

I just… pardon the language but I think the only appropriate response to this is- WHAT THE FUCK?

As my friend Travis put it, this is ‘hate speech, pure and simple”. YES. This is essentially saying that half of the people in attendance at the event this item is being sold at, are less than; that the creator hates them. So why was the woman so excited? If I had ventured further into the booth, would she have tried to sell me things? Why would any female make a purchase from this booth? How could one?

For the record, I took this picture on Friday fairly early in the afternoon. The shirt was in the same place for the entire weekend. Proudly displayed at the front of the booth.

Made me sick. Truly.

I’m glad to see so many men speak up against this shirt (and the idea of fangirl hate).

I am a proud fangirl. I was born and raised to be one. I support other fangirls. I encourage young girls to enjoy the things they want- whatever it is! To fangirl how they see fit! And I am proud to be in a circle of amazing nerds who support that and were also sickened by the shirt. And everyone else who threw shade at nerd girls and women in general.

Not cool.