A reaction to the now deleted Geek Camp Girls Post

I'm quite sad that this post has to be written but it appears it does.

Last night the Geek Camp Girls posted to their blog some guidelines for interacting with them in whilst in costume at geek camp.  I have to admit I felt sad that they felt the need to post it, but in the current climate with geeky girls being challenged a lot I completely understood their need to write and post something.

The tone of the piece (which has now been taken down or I would link to it) was written very much tongue-in-cheek and the thrust of the piece was just asking to be treated with respect.

This post was shared because it was funny because it was talking sense and then bad stuff started to happen.

By bad stuff I mean those who shared the post were getting abuse - getting accused of being sexist(!) and this being the internet things quickly escalated and lots of people involved felt very upset.

So why am I writing this? It upsets me when people I like are attacked and it saddens me that when a group of women are saying that they want to be treated with respect that they get slammed for it.  These are normal women, they are not booth babes, they want to celebrate their fandom, their way and should be able to do that without harassment.

This morning, one of the group has left because she feels she will not be welcome at geek camp anymore and that's the kick to the guts. Fandom is becoming a polarised place  - somewhere that should be accepting of everyone no longer is - at least not to women who dare to stick their head above the parapet.

For the record, this is making me ever more determined to kick ass with my dalek dress that I am putting together.

Amazed

Last night I posted Geek is a Feminist Issue because it was something I felt strongly about. I was sure that some people would appreciate my opinion but  I've been overwhelmed, amazed and bewildered by the response.

Thanks to @GeekCampGirls especially @dalekette and @_BabyDollNikki_ for helping to get the message out there.

If you took time to read the post and tweet me or comment or shared it with someone else thank you.

I have tweeted @therealgokwan a few times over the last forty-eight hours and I know that a number of other people have done the same or retweeted at him.  As yet he hasn't acknowledged which is a shame. It has been suggested that I write to him personally and I'm considering that option.

It's been a strange 24 hours.