There are guy pros who say this horseshit behind closed doors all the time. It’s vital to remember that nothing you do matters unless people like this approve of it. Your sense of fun, fandom, belonging, appearance and artistry only matter if their tiny worldview allows it. I can’t believe the amount of shit cosplayers take for daring to express themselves in the manner that makes them happy.Wow, I’m never buying anything Tony Harris does again. Disgusting.
(Ex Machina, Starman artist: his wikipedia page. Click the image to be taken to the Facebook thread where he posted this.)
Wow, this is pretty much validation of what I have gleaned of rampant mysogyny somehow inherent in some of the male consumers and PRODUCERS of Comic Books. What aggravates me the most is the vitriolic language he uses to demean this construct of female ineptitude in his head. First of all, he’s talking to a GIRL, not a woman. This obviously gives him some kind of leverage to scold or talk to them as though they were children. And although they read comics they have somehow not earned the right to be card carrying members of the club of REAL nerd (or the “pathetic” MALES). Now, here is what gets me: the meat of this rant is a physical assessment of these girls. And you wonder why women might scoff at REAL nerds? That is because you have rendered them in your head as well as on in ink on paper as walking tits begging for attention from men. I would –love- to meet the woman who stands in front of Tony Effing Harris’s booth lamenting that not enough guys have fantasized about her at this con. The climax of his rant is an invocation of the brotherhood of nerds, speaking on their behalf to ultimately insult the knowledge base of a bunch of semi-hot girls.
But it is all revealed in the end. Tony Effing Harris has fallen victim to another stereotype: The unmarried, middle-aged male nerd. I used to repeat these very words little validation until now. That’s right, none of these girls would give them the time of the day. That is what it comes down to, isn’t it? Its not just about cosplay girls, its about all women – or maybe that one woman who didn’t give them the chance. And that is why women aren’t comics. They aren’t the Comic Book Artists and the Comic Book Writers.
To be honest, I believe men like Tony Effing Harris are pissing their pants right now at the amount of women attending conventions, consuming their comics, and, god forbid, making their own works. They are threatened by the thought that this bastion of archaic sexist thought, no different than some kind of man lodge complete with extensive self-perpetuating texts, might somehow be radically altered by the presence of a woman.
I would like to end by saying I actually know cosplay girls. I know cosplay women, men, and boys as well. I’ve taken the time to talk to many of them and I’ve even cosplayed myself. They are NOTHING like what was described in this ridiculous diatribe. Sure, some of them are elitists, taking great pride in their craft. Others spend 24 hours the day before the con making their costume with duct tape and glue. They are all fans and Tony Effing Harris does not have the right to pick and choose who is part of the fandom. I could spend a few more paragraphs talking about con culture and compare Comic and Anime cons but I will save that for another day.
Tony Effing Harris, go home. You are drunk. And an asshole.
