Fans at Comic-Con take fantasies too far

Sexual harassment has made an ugly appearance at the San Diego Comic-Con, making cosplaying an unpleasant experience for some women.

Scantily-clad cosplayers, dressed as Wonder Woman, Princess Leia and dozens of other fantasy characters, are now a fixture at pop culture conventions.

But many women have said that some of the fans who attend Comic-Con are taking the fantasy too far. An informal survey found that a quarter of the women who attend such events have been sexually harassed.

Female fans complain they endure unwanted leering, groping and crude comments at the San Diego convention - which is the largest and most famous gathering of its kind in the world.

"I had a 12- or 13-year-old boy come up and ask if he could touch me," 19-year-old Marla Russell, who dressed as Batman villain Poison Ivy, told the San Diego Union-Tribune.

"I told him no!"

MAKING CONNECTIONS

Ms Mariah Huehner, the author of the True Blood and Emily and the Strangers comics recalls that her introduction to Comic-Con was a harsh one. She was then a young comic book editor looking to make connections in the industry.

But at a late-night party, she found out many of the men she met wanted a different kind of connection. "One of the guys suddenly had his hand on my butt," Ms Huehner told the Los Angeles Times.

A group of female fans has started a movement called Geeks for Consent to make Comic-Con address the issue of sexual harassment. They created a petition calling on Comic-Con to adopt a formal anti-harassment policy, post signs about harassment and train volunteers on how to deal with it.

So far more than 2,500 people have signed the petition.

Comic-Con has responded by including a note in the packet given to all 130,000 attendees this year: "Harassing or offensive behaviour will not be tolerated. Comic-Con reserves the right to revoke, without refund, the membership and badge of any attendee not in compliance with this policy."

This article was first published on July 28, 2014.
Get The New Paper for more stories.