GeekGirlCon ’15 Programming Highlight: We’ve Got Intersectionality!
Here at GeekGirlCon, we pride ourselves on promoting the interests of all types of geeky women, be it in the sciences, or in gaming, comics or popular culture. However, our mission is considerably broader than that: we value diversity in all types, and celebrate in particular the space where these differences overlap.
Some of our panels also touch on the intersectionality between gender and another issue, such as race, ability, gender identity and orientation, or size. And now with our schedule available online for GeekGirlCon ‘15, here are some freshly-picked panels at the intersection of geeky lady-ness and everything else:
To learn about diversity in a range of different professions, check out “More than an NPC: It’s a (Straight White Cisgendered) Man’s World” to hear about first-hand experiences of working in a range of industries where the typical worker is a straight, white, cisgender male. For more information about specific fields, we also have “Diversity in STEM: The Untold Story + an Open Discussion”, which includes a panel of top scientists who will regale you with tales of overlooked women and minorities in the history of science. We also have a panel on “Women, Diversity and Comics: A Non-Compliant Discussion about the Comic Book Industry” featuring G. Willow Wilson of Ms. Marvel fame.
“QUILTBAGS of Nerddom” will discuss what it’s like to be part of the queer community and a nerd. It’ll also cover the issue of representation in the media, and a history of fandoms. On Sunday morning, “From Doom Patrol to Sense8: Trans Narratives in Popular Culture” will focus on the development of Trans narratives in print, digital and video media, and the portrayal of Trans people.
“Fatness and Fandom: Reloaded” will continue the conversation from last year’s “Fatness and Fandom” panel at GeekGirlCon, with more exploration of fat representation, cosplaying while fat, and how to be a fat ally. On Saturday, Elsa S. Henry will examine issues of ability, disability erasure, and what it’s like to have low vision in “The Disability Politics of Daredevil”. Later that day, you can also watch her play video games at “Blind Lady Versus” and see how different it really is to play games with low vision!
Finally, we have several panels at the intersection of race and gender. “Looking Forward, Looking Back: Changes in the Representation of Asians in the Media” will address the evolution of representation of Asians in TV and film, with a focus on the upcoming primetime season, while “Octavia’s Legacy” discusses the works of Black feminist science fiction writer, Octavia Butler. “Stealing White People’s Superheroes” will examine diversity and representation in superhero movies and comics, as well as what it would mean for communities of color to create their own heroes, and “We’re the Avatar: Deal with it!” will be a lively discussion of the roles of people of color in The Legend of Korra. Finally, if all that isn’t enough discussion about race and gender for you, there’s “Interracial and Multiracial Romances in Fantasy” on Sunday morning, which aims to break assumptions that readers may have of the lead characters in fantasy being white.
That’s just a taste of the amazing panels that we’ll be bringing to you with GeekGirlCon ’15! And if you still haven’t bought your passes yet, we currently still have them on sale online, but we have sold out in past years, so hurry and pick up yours today!
