x

Get Ready for Amazing Workshops at #GGC18!

Image Description: A gif of YouTuber and activist Francesca Ramsey. The caption says "#5 Ally is a verb." Source: Giphy

I don’t know about you, but one of my favorite things about GeekGirlCon is how interactive it is. Whether you’re speaking to artists, makers, and entrepreneurs in the Exhibitor Hall, asking questions at an incredible panel, or just meeting fellow geeks, the Con is a space to learn, play, listen, and have fun. Probably nowhere is this more apparent, though, than in the workshops we offer every year.

Spanning a huge swath of topics, from fandom to gaming to cosplay to consent (and beyond!) our workshops are the perfect place to learn how to bring all the joy, passion, excitement, and general goodness from GeekGirlCon out into your day-to-day life.

This year’s workshops promise to be some of the most exciting and intriguing yet! Here’s a look at just a few we have coming up during #GGC18 weekend.

 

Creating a Culture of Consent: From Cosplay to Classrooms

Sunday, 10/28 at 4:00 // Furiosa

Learn about what consent means, sounds, and feels like. We will discuss how and when questions of consent appear in our relationships, in our communities, and in geek culture in this workshop by Planned Parenthood’s Teen Council members. Ages 13+

Image Description: An illustrated gif of Amber Rose wearing dark sunglasses and speaking. Words written on either side of her head read: “When I say no, it means no.” Source: Giphy

Mystery Box Game Design Challenge

Saturday, 10/27 at 5:30pm // America

Teams will work together with table top industry experts to create a game using only a box of mystery items. At the end, games will be judged on a set of predetermined criteria and a winner selected!

Image Description: A gif of a commercial for the Sweet Valley board game. The commercial depicts a group of friends walking into a house and playing the board game together. Source: Giphy

Hanna Hupp
“Rock On!”

Panel Recap: Sex Ed Super Friends!

It’s time for me to make a confession. I have to admit, dear readers, that even though I look forward to all the amazing panels we at GeekGirlCon offer each year (seriously – so many different topics! So many incredible panelists!) there is one category that I await with an almost feverish anticipation, and that is the sex panels! There is maybe nothing I love more than smart, cool, thoughtful people getting nerdy about one of life’s most confusing, awesome, weird, and wonderful topics: sex.

This past year, GGC17 was graced by the incredible Sex Ed Super Friends! panel. Presented by Planned Parenthood, this panel amassed a slew of the raddest sex nerds around to delve into the complicated, emotional, embarrassing, and oftentimes difficult to talk about world of sex. Whether it was offering compassionate insight, providing recommendations, clearing up misinformation, or much more, the panelists took on attendee question – both anonymous and not – with thoughtfulness, wit, and utter aplomb.

Image Description: A person dressed in a superhero costume dances through a shopping mall. Source: Giphy.

Before delving into questions, the panelists began by introducing themselves. Comprising a veritable murderers’ row of sex education, the panelists represent a variety of experiences and identities. Moderator Liz Andrade is a sex-positive graphic designer who works for Planned Parenthood and has co-founded All Cycles, a grassroots Outreach Project for community members to bring menstrual supplies to folks in need and is a member of the Women of Color Sexual Health Network. Andie Lyons is a Health Educator for the Seattle & King County Public Health department, where she provides direct sexual health education, support and training for teachers providing sex ed, as well as a variety of resources to promote sexual health and wellbeing in the community at large. Forever Moon is a Community Outreach Educator and Teen Council Facilitator at Planned Parenthood in Olympia, Washington, and a self-professed nerd who has been educating about topics of sexuality since she was 17. Dawn Serra is the creator and host of the weekly podcast, Sex Gets Real, and of the annual sexuality summit, Explore More. She also lectures at colleges and universities on sex and relationships and works one-on-one with clients who need to get unstuck around their pleasure and desire. Tobi Hill-Meyer is a multiracial trans woman with well over a decade experience working with feminist and LGBTQ organizations, and one of the few people in the world who can claim to being both an award-winning porn creator and a children’s book author. She currently serves on the board of Gender Justice League and works as Communications Director at Gay City: Seattle’s LGBTQ Center, along with operating her own media production company, Handbasket Productions, and releasing the recent anthology Nerve Endings: The New Trans Erotic. Cy Enseñat is a queer pleasure-based sex educator, full spectrum doula, and curandera who works with Babeland, a Seattle-based sex toy boutique which works to create an approachable space for people to explore their sexuality with high quality, body safe products and accessible classes on a myriad of pleasure based topics.

Image Description: Emma Watson as Hermione from “Harry Potter” raises her hand to ask a question. Source: Giphy.

After introducing themselves, the panelists answered attendee questions on a variety of topics. First up was a question about how to support a friend who is doing sex work? The panelists recommended education about sex work and sex workers, including the ways in which many anti-sex work policies are incredibly harmful to sex workers. Like other work, sex workers experience a range of working conditions, and preconceived stereotypes about sex work can fail to adequately represent real-life experiences. Ultimately, resources like the amazing Whorecast podcast – run by queer sex worker Siouxsie Q – can help educate, which, alongside involvement in sex worker advocacy, is a crucial way to support sex workers.

Another panel attendee asked about ways in which to delve deeper into body positivity and fat-positive media. In response, the panelists noted that the more we see representations of ourselves in media, the better we are able to feel about ourselves. In this way, finding community and representation online and in person can be crucial. Some examples of resources to look into included the Instagram hashtag #bodieslikeoceans, the store and community Fat Fancy in Portland, the queer No Lose conference, the porn performer April Flores, the Oh Joy Sex Toy webcomic, the More Fats More Femmes quarterly event in Seattle, and Curvy Girl Sex, an amazing book by sex educator Elle Chase.

Another question centered on the difficulty of accessing sex and having a sex life while facing homelessness, dealing with public and group housing, living in poverty, and other related issues. The panelists pointed out that sex can look many different ways for different people depending on their various situations. It doesn’t have to follow one particular model to provide pleasure. Ultimately, though, there are many barriers in place for marginalized people around their own bodily autonomy and access to fulfilling sexual lives. Because public sex is criminalized and private space is commodified, access to money so often means access to sex in our capitalistic culture. Additionally, sex and sexuality can be hugely important to mental health and general well-being, so devoting energy to these aspects of life are in no way a waste of time, resources, or energy for marginalized people facing such barriers, but rather a necessary form of care and wellness.

Image Description: Characters from the movie “Pitch Perfect” engage in an a capella sing-off, and the caption reads the lyrics “Lets talk about sex baby, lets talk about you and me.” Source: Giphy.

Another panel attendee asked about how to figure out if they are asexual or just having bad sex. In answer to this question, the panelists offered tips and resources to help explore asexuality., graysexuality, demisexuality, and many more identities. They also urged people struggling with whether they are asexual to engage in thoughtful individual contemplation of what sex mean to them and the place it has in their life, since sexuality is incredibly individual and cannot be dictated or defined by anyone but yourself. Perhaps the most important element to keep in mind when going through this kind of questioning is so allow space to change with time, to recognize that identity does not have to fixed, and that changing your mind is incredibly valid.

Image Description: Beyoncé takes off her glasses seductively. Source: Giphy.

Another question asker shared their experience of having come to terms long ago with being a lesbian, and feeling uncomfortable in queer spaces now that they are currently in a relationship with a man. They wondered how to participate in queer spaces while feeling like they no longer quite fit. Dawn Serra, one of the panelists, empathized with this question, sharing that she too had gone through a similar experience and grappled with the same questions of belonging, She – along with the other panelists – advocated for finding bi-specific spaces rather than monosexual queer spaces, recognizing that queerness isn’t defined by a current relationship, behavior, type of sex, or experience, and that many people find themselves in the position of feeling isolated in queer spaces for a variety of reasons.

Lastly, one question centered around how to explore sexuality while working through guilt from growing up in a deeply religious family. The panelists offered a variety of fascinating and thought-provoking responses to this question, including the possibility of finding erotic possibility in their own internalized guilt by exploring taboo, kink, and shame. They also spoke about the intrinsic elements of embodiment and sensuality in many religious traditions, and the potential power of exploring the latent queerness and erotic potential of even the strictest of traditions. One panelist also suggested the Our Whole Lives curriculum offered through the Unitarian Universalist church as a way to explore sexuality and sexual education as a religious person.

Thanks to Planned Parenthood and this amazing group of panelists, I left feeling comforted, inspired, and excited by the potential of nerdy, queer, fat-positive, inclusive, empathetic, and fun sex education to truly transform the ways that we engage with and experience sex and sexuality!

 

Image Description: Sex educator Lindsey Doe from the YouTube channel Sexplanations riases her fists in excitement. Source: Giphy.

Hanna Hupp
“Rock On!”

January 2016 Geek About Town!

Ring in the New Year with these awesomely geeky events!

Friday, January 1: The Princess Bride Quote-Along

SIFF Film Center, Seattle

5:00pm and 7:15pm

$15 | $10 SIFF Members | $14 Senior & Youth

Adapted for the screen by William Goldman from his equally hysterical and brilliant novel, director by Rob Reiner brought to the screen a modern day classic filled with memorable performances, sharp wit, derring-do, and heaping helpings of romance. Thoroughly tongue-in-cheek and forever quotable, The Princess Bride is filled with iconic characters and moments: the Dread Pirate Roberts, insanity-inducing cliffs, a wily Sicilian, a six-fingered count, a friendly giant, the Fire Swamp, and the ultimate story of “Wuv, True Wuv” as read to us by that most lovable of grandpas, Peter Falk.

Saturday, January 2: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory in Smell-O-Vision

SIFF Film Center, Seattle

12:00pm and 2:30pm

$15 | $10 SIFF Members | $14 Senior & Youth

SIFF’s annual extravaganza celebrating the 1971 musical family classic returns! Sign our giant contract on the way in the door, then enjoy fragrant and tasty treats from our legendary Wonkariffic goodie bags. Bring your nose, your taste buds, and your sense of adventure as you tour the most eccentric and wonderful candy factory of all, made even more outrageous by Gene Wilder’s wonderfully eccentric performance, utterly singable songs, and those lovable hardworking Oompa Loompas.

Seeing this film on the big screen (with candy!) makes for an experience that is “ninety-three percent perspiration, six percent electricity, four percent evaporation, and two percent butterscotch ripple.”

Saturday, January 9: Rat City Rollergirls presents: Star Wars Benefit Bout for Food Life Line

The Rat’s Nest, 19022 Aurora Ave N, Seattle

Doors open 4:30pm, first whistle 5:30pm

If you sense a disturbance in the Force, it’s probably because there’s a battle of Death Star-proportions brewing. Join us Saturday, January 9th for a Star Wars themed evening featuring lots of fast-paced derby action. First up, Rat City skaters split into two teams will take the track in Rebels vs. Empire. Will you choose to cheer for the light or dark side? Following that bout it’s an intergalactic clash as our Washington State Conference team takes on Overbeaters Anonymous.

Jedi robes and light sabers are encouraged (though you’ll have to leave your droids outside), and you’ll have the chance to meet Garrison Titan’s stormtroopers. And don’t forget your canned goods – as always, we’ll be accepting non-perishable food donations on behalf of Food Lifeline. So save the date and join us in Shoreline – as a wise master once said, ‘Do or do not, there is no try.’

Tickets are $20 or at the door.

Friday, January 15: Black Lives Matter in Hip-Hop (featuring local artists and community members)

Town Hall Seattle, Downstairs

Doors open at 6:30pm, event starts at 7:30pm

From Sir Mix-a-Lot to Macklemore, the face of Pacific Northwest hip-hop has changed. How does that affect the historical link between hip-hop and social activism? This panel discussion (featuring performances by local artists) will explore the gentrification of Seattle hip-hop and its effects. They’ll also discuss the local Black Lives Matter movement and ways to preserve the integrity of the music and its social effects. Featured panelists include moderator Wyking Garrett and Black Stax member Jace Ecaj, among others. This event is in conjunction with MOHAI’s exhibit, “The Legacy of Seattle Hip-Hop.”

Tickets are $5

Thursday, January 21: I’ll make a man out of you: Redefining Strong Female Characters

Meydenbauer Center, Bellevue

7:30pm

From the webpage: There has been a significant increase in the number of television shows and movies that showcase female action heroes, challenging and transforming the historical representations of women. But are these truly examples of “Strong Female Characters,” or do they simply replicate traditional masculine archetypes in a sexualized, female body?

In this lecture, Anita Sarkeesian deconstructs the “Strong Female Character,” and argues for a better approach to how women are portrayed in media, one that breaks out of oppressive interpretations of gender and supports feminist values to promote a more just society.

Tickets are $5.

Friday, January 22: It’s Our Right: 43 Years of Legal Abortion (presented by Planned Parenthood)

Town Hall Seattle, Great Hall

7:00pm

Recent attacks on Planned Parenthood locations, national talk of defunding the organization, and allegations of the sale of fetal tissue here in Washington, have thrust the group into the spotlight. This celebratory event will recognize a woman’s reproductive choice and the 43rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade (the Supreme Court case upholding a woman’s right to access abortion). The evening will bring together storytellers from across the state to commemorate this landmark decision, highlight the impact of Shout Your Abortion, and help destigmatize abortion and those who choose it. Learn about this constitutionally-protected (and controversial) right and show support for reproductive freedom.

$10 early bird tickets; $15 general admission; and $50 VIP entry. Tickets at the door are cash only.

Thursday, January 28: Campout Cinema: Blade Runner blade_runner_poster

Sky Church, EMP Museum

Doors open 6:30pm, screening starts 7:30pm

Experience Ridley Scott’s dystopic vision of the future, Blade Runner (The Director’s Cut) (1982), as part of EMP’s Campout Cinema.

In this timeless sci-fi classic, humans have developed the technology to create replicants, robotic human clones used to serve the colonies outside Earth. In Los Angeles, 2019, Deckard is a Blade Runner, a cop who specializes in terminating replicants. Originally in retirement, he’s forced to re-enter the force when four replicants escape from an off-world colony back to Earth.

This Director’s Cut version of the film, made with direction from Scott, was officially re-released in theaters in 1992.

Tickets include admission to Infinite Worlds of Science Fiction, where you can see several artifacts from the film, including costumes from Pris and Zhora, Deckard’s pistol, and more.

Tickets are $12 ($10 EMP members), 21+ only.

JC Lau
“Rock On!”

Join The Discussion #GeekGirlCon

Skip to content
x  Powerful Protection for WordPress, from Shield Security
This Site Is Protected By
Shield Security