Backup Ribbon Project Growing Pains

The Backup Ribbon Project has always existed as a labor of (mostly) love. We wanted to take one small bit of the overall Open-Source Backup Project and run with it. After all, that is the concept behind Open Source, right?

We’ve been amazed, astounded, and shocked at where this crazy little notion of ours has gone — and a few places we didn’t expect it to (*ahem* a certain Southeast con held over Labor Day Weekend). Y’all have taken ribbons, tweeted us, shared us, challenged us, and embraced the wacky notion that we all just need to look out for one another.

However, as can sometimes happen, we are rather at a crossroads for a couple of reasons.

The first is not so much of a surprise. We just sent out the very last of our ribbons, stickers, and cards and now need to reorder more. One of the basic tenants of the Backup Ribbon Project upon is not to charge for ribbons. We want this to be as accessible to as many people as possible.

Unfortunately, running the Backup Ribbon Project requires money for ribbons, cards, stickers, and postage. As it stands right now, we are on  a thread budget (slimmer than a shoestring), and cannot afford to order our next batch of supplies. Much as we hate rattling the tin cup, we once again have to remind everyone that we really do need your help in order to continue doing this.

The second problem is rather more complex and one that we have not yet determined how to tackle. We have always maintained that we are but a small division of the overall Open Source Women Back Each Other Up Project and Gentlemen’s Auxilliary. Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties beyond our control, the web site for the overall Backup Project has gone away. The owner of the site has not yet determined what to do about this.

This has left us as the first viable link to pop up when you type “Backup Project” into Google. We’ve been getting questions from people wanting to implement their own version of the Backup Project asking us for information.

And…we got nuttin’. While we love that people want to find their own creative way to get out this message, we are not really equipped to tell you how to do it, nor be a central hub for all the various Backup Project things that are going on. We are not designed for it and, to be honest, really don’t want to take on that task. All the things needed to be good at this — tact, diplomacy, patience, decorum, time and resources — we don’t have in great abundance.

Maybe somebody else has already done this. If so, hey, can you give us a shout so we can hook up with you. In the absence of that…we’re really not sure what to do. Maybe some of you have suggestions? Shoot ‘em our way.

For the meantime, we just need to wait and see what develops. We believe in this crazy little thing of ours. We hope y’all do as well. Maybe together, we can figure out the next step in this process.

 

Not Your Performing Monkeys

Most of what we focus on is geeks harassing other geeks. But there’s another side to this which tends to be ignored, or simply written off as something geeks are entitled to simply because they are geeks. To put this very bluntly, those actors/writers/musicians who bring you such geeky delight are not your personal performing monkeys, who only exist to give you said delight. In short, Talent does not have “Property of Fans” tattooed on its ass.

In a recent Slate article, Mad Men actor John Hamm is singled out for scorn for…wait for it…objecting to people objectifying his penis. The tone of the article seems to say that how DARE Hamm complain about something actresses have had to deal with for years.
In short: “Now you know what it feels like!”

There’s a problem here, but it’s not with Hamm. The problem is with dismissing his complaints. Hamm has just as much right as Anne Hathaway to speak out about being objectified. And both their complaints should be taken seriously.

The only people who get to have an opinion on Hamm’s penis are him, his partner, his doctor, and the costume designer for Mad Men (but only in terms of whether he dresses to the left or to the right).  By the same token, the only people who get to have an opinion on Hathaway’s breasts are her, her partner, her doctor, and any children she may have who have not yet been weaned.

We must admit that we know all about objectification. We’ve done it ourselves, to one degree or another. But at the end of the day, we have no right to either Hamm or Hathaway (much as we might wish otherwise).

In short: If you don’t like having your ass grabbed by a stranger at a con, the odds are pretty good Talent won’t like it either. So keep your hands to yourself!

 

 

[ADMINISTRAVA]: Donating to the Backup Ribbon Project

It appears that ChipIn is no more. But never fear! We still have a way for you to donate. All the details are on our donation page! Also, we are now out of stickers, so a new batch will be ordered soon.

Thanks!

Genderswap, Cosplay, and Harassment

One of the most fascinating, vibrant trends in cosplay has been genderswapping. In other words: Wonderman instead of Wonderwoman, and Jacqueline Harkness in place of Jack Harkness. Pretty much any fandom you can name has been genderswapped, as this selection of Google images shows.

In that spirit, a friend linked us to this article, written by “Slave Leo,” who has put together a marvelous genderwapped version of the iconic Slave Leia costume from the third Star Wars movie. Now, while this alone makes us happy in our geeky little hearts, what is more intriguing is what led him to that point.

It started just about a year and a half ago when he wrote this post about his objections to the Slave Leia costume. Yes, yes, the standard sort of objections one would expect to see from a typical nerd guy.  However, having gotten feedback on his post, he rethought matters and then posted this revised argument, which we agree with for the most part.**

But then he took it one step further and wanted to see what it would be like for him, as a man who did not think of himself as a sexual icon, to genderswap cosplay a character that IS one. What it would be like to be that exposed to scrutiny and possible harassment.

We admire Ryan for undertaking this in order to understand what it can be like for women who cosplay as Slave Leia (as well as for women who may select other, less revealing characters). We will be very interested to hear what kinds of reactions he got, in particular if he experienced any harassment based on his cosplay.

**In regard to his fourth argument, we maintain that it is not the cosplayer’s fault for whatever feelings they may have aroused in a potential harasser. That skirts very close to “they were asking for it,” a concept to which we are vehemently opposed.

Here, have a link!

Anita Sarkeesian presents a TEDS talk about the controversy that cropped up following her Kickstarter project to examine the role of women in video games. Proof that harassment is not just present at conventions.

 

 

And sometimes, the Internet gets it

Here’s a cool story of a cosplayer at New York Comic Con who got the ultimate final say to a group of fanboi’s “interviewing” her. Now generally, we warn people away from reading comments, as such places tend to be a wretched hive of scum and villany. But in this case, do take a gander. So far, she’s gotten more than 40,000 comments/reblogs in five days,  and they all seem to be positive.

And the Daily Dot has more info (including mention of the ReaderCon fiasco), a short interview with the woman, and some good resource links.

These are the stories we love to pass on! Keep ‘em coming!

More Backup ribbons have been ordered!

They’ll be here in about 10 days. Be the first kid on your block to have some, plus FREE cards and stickers as well!