Body Image / Israel Trip

[browngirl]

Two signal boosts:

My name is Alex Horwitz, a Junior at the University of Kansas. In my Holocaust Literature class, Eva shared her survival story and touched us all with her courage and perseverance in the face of horrific prejudice. He's spearheading a drive to send her to Israel.

Over at Dreamwidth, Damned Colonial posted a summary of results from a poll on body image and geek gatherings (various types of conventions, etc, I found it intriguing, and there are a lot of old-guard SF fans I'd love to show it to except for/because of how violently they'd react.

Comments

[mama-hogswatch.livejournal.com]

I'm not old guard anything, as I haven't been to a convention since 1993.

I've been to two conventions. Shatner was the GOH and it was right before the Star Trek movie with Nichelle Nichols did the fan dance came out.

The other one was in Baltimore and had Sophie Aldred and Sylvester McCoy as GOHs.

I did have to deal with a drunk author talking greendalek and my ears off. Apparently he was a Name in Doctor Who, but I'm damned if I remember who he was.

I suppose I always figured that since I'm not good looking enough to be considered a target, and I have a forbidding manner, it's unlikely that I'd be a target for worse than the occasional boorish behavior that neither frightens nor distresses me.

However, it seems that I have merely been lucky. I am distressed to learn that there are issues at cons. But I can't say as I am surprised. Forgive me for saying so, but science fiction is not a fandom known for its social graces. The Heinleins were notable for this because they were UNUSUAL. That's a real pity when you think about it.

[ninhursag.livejournal.com]

Hmm... that is interesting, re:body issues and gatherings. I don't think my experience at conventions is really that different from my experience with the general public in terms of harassment/body image (maybe better-- geek boys are more likely to be intimidated by me, maybe?), but then I gather people want to imagine that fandom is better than the 'real world' not just part and parcel.

[achinhibitor.livejournal.com]

a summary of results from a poll on body image and geek gatherings (various types of conventions, etc

Interesting, and argues for much deeper investigation. OTOH, it seems to be obsessively "in your own head", and provides little leverage to distinguish what people are feeling from the behaviors/situations that cause them to feel them. (The latter being the things that you can try to get other people to change.) It's infamous the degree to which people's own feelings can be out of sync with the reality of their situations (in ways both good and bad).