An overview of otaku and gamer fandoms, their interrelations, and engagement with pop culture. From GamerGate to syncretic mythology, to the underlying social justice issues, this telescopic lens will be aimed through the prism of intersectional feminism that pulls no punches and takes no prisoners. From Amazons to Zelda, we’re going to get gritty with…
What was GamerGate? How did personal attacks devolve into something criminal and how did women in geekdom react? We dig a bit under the surface, the facetious arguments and the woefully blown-out signal to noise ratio, to explore what can and did happen when “fun and games” turned ugly.
Fat-bodied individuals are woefully underrepresented in media, and seeing them positively showcased is even rarer. As lighting rods for vicious stereotypes, this has profoundly negative effects on how fat people, and fans as a whole, relate to media. Let’s dig a bit deeper, into insidious effects on self worth, and positive steps for the future.
The lack of options for female character design can not only frustrate players but can also lead to unrealistic expectations for young people. Sexualization of female characters, impractical armor, and lack of options for avatars can turn off a large section of the gaming population and there is no reason for designers to not do…
Many forms of media play into specific troupes. One such troupe is the killing off of LGBTQIA+ characters more quickly than others. When viewers see relatable characters fall to the axe much quicker than others, it seems that their lives are not as important and their stories are only used for emotional plot development. Queer…
Although LGBTQIA+ representation in comics continues to be lacking, there are some great examples of queer superheroes. What makes these examples so important, and what could better representation accomplish?
In the midst of the zombie apocalypse, race and gender continue to play a huge role in fan perceptions of characters on The Walking Dead.
In an industry where whitewashing is common, casting minority actors in movies based on comics often results in ferocious backlash. What causes this reaction and what does it reveal about fans?
