We've seen the worst of the Internet; let's show everyone what the best looks like

You know what? I look pretty damn cute in the pictures of me that got uploaded to the SASS thread. Indeed, I love what K. Tempest had to say:

I was scrolling through the thread and looking at the pictures and, instead of being ashamed that I associate myself with such people (horrors!), I couldn’t help but think of how beautiful all those images are. They are pictures of beautiful women of all sizes smiling, having fun, loving where they are and what they’re doing. These are the poeple I go to WisCon to be around. And nothing those half-brained monkeys on that forum say can make me feel any different. You wanna call me out as a fat loser? You go right ahead. But it’s plainly evident that I not only have more class than you, I also have a better life and better friends. All the evidence I need to support that statement is my lack of time spent on the internet trolling for pictures of people I don’t know in order to make fun of them for arbitrary reasons.

Get a life, you losers. And coming from a Star Trek fan, that’s fucking sad.

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Panel 191 Report: Last time, on Battlestar Galactica...

Reading, Viewing, & Critiquing Science Fiction and Fantasy ♦ Sunday, 11:30-12:45 A.M. ♦ Senate A

We saw the first part of Season Four, let's talk about it. Where is the series going? Let's speculate on the ramifications of the final five Cylons, Roslin's reoccurring cancer, and all the good stuff in the rest of Season Four.

M: Ben Burgis, Maddie Greene, JJ Pionke

This panel began at 11:30pm. Most of the panelists were drunk, as was most of the audience. This was hands-down the most hilarious panel I attended during the entire convention. I don't even remember what we talked about, and I didn't even drink. Cracktastic Cylon theories and references to Ikea planets were made. It was the just-perfect combination of people making insightful comments while also being drunkenly cheeky. I think my favorite moment (aside from Starbuck's white viper coming from Ikea) was heyiya's "I have a really complex and insightful theory, but I've had a few beers and I can't complete this thought process!" I had so much fun that I didn't take any notes.

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I didn't attend the "Is Racism Inherent in Fantasy?" panel, but I have heard a lot about it from friends (whose brains were broken). badgerbag has video responses from people who attended the panel. My friend brdgt is "Bridget" in three of these videos, and you have the opportunity to see how hilarious she is.

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coffeeandink has has posted about the "Can Internet Drama Change the World?" panel, posting a mostly-complete transcript of the panel. I attended this panel, and intend to post my own notes later, unless I decide that I don't have anything else to say. The consensus, though, was "Yes, Internet drama can change the world."

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( Here be sign-out stories, involving Tamora Pierce, Patrick Rothfuss, and Maureen F. McHugh )

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Yesterday was work and grocery shopping, but sasha_feather and I had time to eat dinner together, and I then showed her the first two episodes of Fullmetal Alchemist. She is pretty new to anime (I think she's only seen Cowboy Bebop?), so I cackle with the glee of corruption. She hopes to reciprocate by getting me to read slash fanfiction.

Panel Report: Shoujo Bodies

Panel Report: Sponteaneous Panel: Shoujo Bodies ♦ 7:30pm, Saturday

Most bodies in shoujo manga are thin and wispy, with an emphasis on androgyny. Many of the men tend to lack muscle definition (think Yuu Watase), while the women are much less curvy than their shounen manga counterparts. What does this mean to us? What other body types are there in shoujo manga? We will hopefully talk about gender-bending, cross-dressing, body image, and the fashion industry. Suggested series to discuss: After School Nightmare, Paradise Kiss, Walkin' Butterfly, Angel Sanctuary, Fruits Basket, W Juliet, Rose of Versailles, and Princess Knight.

This panel was organized by oyceter and coffeeandink, and it was pretty awesome. For some reason, I don't talk much at Wiscon panels, so even though this one was less than 10 people, I still didn't say much. In my defense, I was quite tired, but still very excited. What follows is basically a list of titles of manga series, with the small amount of commentary I wrote down. Again, I was tired.

takumashii also wrote up this panel with a better summary than I did, and also caught some series titles that I missed.

( List of discussed series; spoilers for Mars lie behind the cut )

Whee! I'd love to read After School Nightmare and Princess Knight, for sure. I intend to check out the other stuff, too.

The Positive Posts

I'm kind of astounded by how many hits both my blog and LJ have received in the last two days. People of the world, pay attention to this post, too. It is really important to look at how a feminist community responds to such a horrific event.

Pictures of me have now been posted, and excerpts of my blog entry describing the situation have been quoted by the asshats on the SASS forums. I think the most amusing part of reading that thread is their posts of "How long do you think it will take them to find this?" or "Do you think they've figured out we found their Flickr pool yet?" I mean, I know that Internet geek boys love to congratulate themselves for their ability to navigate the Internet, but don't they think that feminist sci-fi geeks might also spend their fair share of time on the Internet? WE ALSO NAVIGATE THE SERIES OF TUBES.

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The Angry Black Woman posts: What Rachel Moss Did. If you're confused about WTF is going on, I suggest you begin here. TABW lays it all out for you.

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Lesley at Fatshionista posts: A Modest Invitation

Take my picture.

Take it without asking. Take my picture while I’m doing something I love, something that makes me happy. In a place where I can forget that my life often feels like one long activist battle, where I can not feel constantly on my guard, not feel always vulnerable to attack, not feel as though my body is up for debate.

Take my picture, and post it online, in as many high-traffic spaces as you can muster. Identify me if you want. By name, by location, by employer. Surround that picture with vitriolic commentary about my body, my femininity or lack thereof, my perceived sexual habits, my self esteem. Laugh, and laugh, and laugh, that gut-rattling laughter of unmitigated cruelty, that laughter that comes from laughing at people who don’t know you’re laughing at them, who were going about their lives and made a target simply for not falling, unseen, unremarkably, into culturally acceptable slots - people who are targets simply for failing to be invisible.

Take my picture every fucking day for a year. Post it online, and tear me apart. Point out the innumerable imperfections in my shape, my body, my face, my fashion choices, my eating habits, my health. Keep doing it. Do it again, and again, and again. Do it as loud as you can. Do it as often as you can bear it. Be as mean and as ugly and as unabashed as your nature allows.

Do it. Take it. Take my picture and eviscerate me online. It’s just a public, out-loud, communal version of what people do to me inside their heads every single day. It’s happened to me before, online and off. It’ll happen again. It’ll happen every day I leave the house, for the rest of my life.

I am still fat, and I am still not sorry. And nothing you can say, nothing you can post, nothing you can do will change that. No matter how many times you try to humiliate me. No matter how much you want me to hate myself. Because it’s my fucking body. And I don’t owe you a damn thing.

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purplefrog26 was the subject of one of the pictures, and replies quite eloquently in her LJ.

This incident, unfortunately, is not unusual. Fat people hear negative comments, see the disgusted looks, and feel the drawing back of people around them. It’s not a safe world to live in if you are a fat person. We lose our right to privacy. Pictures are taken for amusement. Our shopping carts are examined with the intent to judge our eating habits. Our health status is questioned. We are not treated with respect and dignity by employers, service people, or health care workers. This happens every time we step out of our homes. Unfortunately, these messages can be internalized. So not only do you face the challenges of dealing with society but you tell yourself that you are ugly, worthless and disgusting. So it becomes a radical act when you choose to live your life and love yourself despite the negativity that we swim thorough every day.

I’m not sure what this person’s objective was in posting these pathetic attempts at humor. But I know that they did not change my commitment to living my life joyfully and abundantly. And I prefer pictures to include my face.