By Charlotte Stasio

Nerd culture has become mainstream culture. What was once pejoratively thought of as the domain of a few basement-dwelling social outcasts has risen over the past several decades to become a major influence over our society and a huge economic driver. Many of top grossing movies in the past five years have been based on superhero comics, video games are now a $100 billion industry worldwide, and the sales of fantasy literature such as Harry Potter made a billionaire out of author JK Rowling. The public’s insatiable appetite for all things nerdy drives this incredible financial growth; as a result of this demand, scores of fan conventions, expos, meetups and other gatherings have sprung up to celebrate every facet of geekdom. However, the darker elements of nerd culture hamper the inclusive potential of these events - ultimately turning away fans and leaving money on the table for artists and organizers.

These sort of conventions serve as massive gathering places for die-hard fans and feature celebrity guest speakers, merchandise booths, and elaborate home made costumes (known as cosplay). These events are huge opportunities for authors, artists, game designers, publishers, and film studios to present their work to a receptive audience. Conventions are also profitable for event organizers and local economies, as thousands of merchandise-seeking fans descend upon cities the world over for a chance to attend. Online event organizer Eventbrite estimated that fan conventions earn about $650 million in ticket sales alone every year. And how much do fans buy when at these conventions? Over 50% of attendees spend $100-$500 and about ⅓ spend over their planned budgets, according to an Eventbrite survey of over 2,500 fan convention ticket purchasers.

You could spend the better part of a lifetime attending all the fan conventions out there, but some of the biggest events include:

• Comic-Con International
  
• Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3)
  
• WonderCon
  
• The Official Star Trek Convention
  
• DragonCon
  

So where is the dark side of nerd culture when it comes to fan conventions? Despite the egalitarian leanings of such fantasy worlds as Star Trek, these conventions can be hostile to certain populations. Many women who enjoy cosplay have experienced extreme harassment at conventions in the form of unwanted touching and / or intrusive photographs (such as upskirting) from other attendees. Geeks for CONsent, an organization dedicated to “creating a more inclusive convention culture,” recently reported a particularly egregious example of such an incident where a female convention attendee was intentionally punched simply for telling a male attendee not to grope her. In another disconcerting example at the Eurogamer Expo 2013 event, a transgender video game journalist was mocked and humiliated on stage by a presenter representing Microsoft.

The following video from anti-street harassment organization HOLLABACKPhilly, shows just how widespread the problem of harassment is at fan conventions:

The incidents listed above and described in the video are anecdotal and do not represent the behavior of the majority of people at fan conventions, but events like these create an atmosphere of hostility for would-be attendees. If someone thinks they will be harassed or attacked at one of these events just for who they are or what they choose to wear, they won’t go. Organizers, working in cooperation with artists, filmmakers, publishers or other content creators, need to ensure that these conventions are safe spaces for all attendees. Geeks for CONsent suggests several methods for creating a welcoming atmosphere, including anti-harassment policies, sensitivity training for convention staff, and stepping in as a bystander if you spot harassment (as long as it is safe to do so). Organizers also need to promptly investigate any report of inappropriate behavior.

Nerd culture is too big to ignore. If we want to welcome everyone to this burgeoning world and increase opportunities for artists and organizers, we need to create an inclusive, safe and accepting atmosphere at conventions!
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This piece originally appeared on LinkedIn.

intro image by PopCultureGeek.com, modified by author

By Charlotte Stasio
The popularity of video games is a relatively recent phenomenon, but the medium has managed to offer countless problematic representations of women in its short history. As an ever expanding component of the media landscape, video games are increasingly contributing to the epidemic of rape culture. Images and player-controlled instances of violence are a common occurrence in video games. Oftentimes, this violence in perpetrated in the name of rescuing or otherwise acquiring a female character as a reward. In this way, many video games reduce their female characters to mere objects or achievements - entities without agency for the (mostly male) player character to claim. This objectification in games reflects how our society condones the treatment of women as objects in the “real world.”

Since nearly their inception in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, games have been portraying women as one-dimensional characters to be rescued or obtained. Super Mario Brothers and the Legend of Zelda are two games that have found their way into the pop culture lexicon. Both feature a silent male lead questing after a “damsel in distress.” Both Princess Peach and Princess Zelda exist in a state of constant confinement, unable to do anything about their fate. While these two well known titles demonstrate the problem of powerless women in games, there are other early examples that have players blatantly committing acts of violence and sexual assault against women. Two of the most infamous games from the Atari era are Custer’s Revenge and Beat’ Em and Eat’ Em. In the former, players assume the role of General George Custer and are tasked with raping a Native American woman bound to a stake while dodging a barrage of arrows. In the latter example, players take control of a naked woman situated below a platform in which men ejaculate - the aim is to catch the semen in the character’s mouth. Both of these particularly awful examples belie the sophomoric, misogynistic mindset of the early game industry.

So are games today any different? Yes and no. One of the most prominent voices in the examination of women in games is Anita Sarkeesian, creator of the wildly successful web video series Tropes vs. Women. Sarkeesian lays out a damning inventory of games over the past several decades that have contributed to sexist attitudes towards women. She laments that many games today fall back on the tired “save the girl” routine. The major game studios frequently churn out such stories, with popular games such as Resident Evil, Gears of War, and Castlevania keeping this unfortunate tradition alive. Even some independently produced games, typically a bastion of otherwise innovative storytelling and gameplay mechanics, have perpetuated this trope. Prominent examples include Castle Crashers, Super Meat Boy, and Hotline Miami. Though the “damsel in distress” framework may seem harmless at first blush, it is yet another contributing factor in our society’s rape culture - this tired storytelling device frames female characters as objects only to be lusted after and rescued (or obtained) from other men. That Sarkeesian has herself been the target of viciously misogynistic attacks from members of the mostly male-dominated video game community only underscores the rampant sexism in this subculture.

One could not be blamed for drawing the conclusion that the world of video games is an irredeemable failure when it comes to portraying women. While the majority of games do continue to perpetuate this harmful point of view (and by extension, rape culture), there are some recent stand out examples of developers stepping up and creating female characters on equal footing. However, each of these bright points are marred by the actions of a portion of the male-dominated video game subculture.

• Gone Home - This unique throwback to the adventure-style games of the late 1980’s and 1990’s explores themes of family, dark pasts, assassinations and a ton more. Here is how one reviewer described it: "this is a game that some will hold up as forward-thinking evidence in the ongoing debate of games-as-art", adding that the game was made to "plumb the depths of experience outside of gaming’s typically targeted white, male, youthful core." Frustratingly, the developers at the Fullbright Company pulled the exhibition of Gone Home from the major gaming expo known as PAX after video game webcomic Penny Arcade mocked it’s queer themes.
  
  
• Depression Quest - Created by independent game developer Zoe Quinn, this game strives to put players into the shoes of a person suffering from deep depression. Quinn hoped to create awareness about depression in an attempt to remove its stigma. In another example of the misogyny found in video game culture, Quinn was subjected to gender-based harassment on gaming forums. In the words of her anonymous attackers, “women cannot relate to anyone with depression,” and "have no right to be depressed." Depression Quest is free to play so give it a shot - but the subject matter could be triggering for folks who have suffered from depression. 
  

• Mass Effect - A departure from the indie games mentioned above, Mass Effect is a game series released by big-name publisher Electronic Arts. From the outset of this space epic, players have the choice of picking a female or male main character, either way named "Commander Shepard." However, there is zero difference between the dialogue, story choices, or character options for each. The female Shepard (annoyingly distinguished from the male version with the moniker “FemShep” by some members of the audience) ends up being a strong leader - something you don't see much of when it comes to women in games. However, only 18% of players chose to play as the female version of Shepard, even though many critics and reviewers considered voice actor Jennifer Hale’s performance to be superior to Mark Meer’s, her male counterpart. Regardless, check out this video of Commander Shepard in action: http://youtu.be/oOVB14kUqCo
  
  

Let’s end on a delightfully subversive note: recently, a father named Mike Mika was heartbroken when his daughter found out that she had to play as Mario instead of Pauline in the retro hit Donkey Kong. Mika, a competent software engineer, manipulated the code of the game to swap Mario for Pauline - turning the agency-less “damsel” into the heroine. Thankfully, several organizations are advocating for the advancement of women in games and the increased visibility of female programmers. Check out organizations like Women In Games International, WomenGamers.com, and IGDA Women in Games to find ways you can help this worthy cause.  Let’s hope that more gamers and developers take notice of the inequality and marginalization of women in games and create stories featuring fully-realized female characters.