(Before we begin, a brief plug for Geekquality, a new podcast devoted to "Feminism, Race, Ability, Gender, and Sexuality in Geek Culture". Though I have not yet had a chance to check it out, I approve of it on general principles. Huzzah!)

Many electrons have died recently to bring us stories on Siri, Apple's automated-query-searching-wrapped-up-in-voice-recognition app for the iPhone 4. There are, of course, the people hacking Siri to purposes far beyond "schedule meeting" and "call Mom's cell": this discovery that Siri can potentially report on anything that can script, which seems to have led directly to this coding project. I salute you, Siri hackers!

And there is a darker side, like the revelations that Siri's programming has some blind spots that strongly suggest that its programmers kinda sorta overlooked some of its users, namely: women. Siri reportedly had an easier time finding Crisis Pregnancy Centers (decoy clinics run by evil fucks) than actual abortion clinics; in fact, it seems to fall down entirely when it comes to women's health, being baffled by such simple queries as "Where can I get contraception?" The blogosphere wondered--rightly--whether the programmers had any women among them, or had spoken to any women, or even met any.

As night follows day, so too does mansplaining follow women speaking up, however mildly: here, Amanda Marcotte recounts the many men who were kind enough to tell her that she was, no offense, stupid to believe that either Siri or its poor beleaguered programmers were sexist. 

The thing is, they also tested their own software to make sure that it was working properly, and while they made sure that it knew how to translate "blow job" into an escort service or "Viagra" into a drugstore, it didn't do the same for "birth control" to drug store. That's a huge oversight.

Amanda's exactly right.  We have written before about geek sexism; we have linked a lot to the wonderful Geek Feminism Blog; and here, right in front of us, is yet another example of the sort of thing we're always on about. Male is default; women are a specialty market.  When your app visibly puts a lot more effort into jokes about helping its users dispose of bodies they have murdered (which, let us recall, is illegal everywhere) than into helping its users find abortion care (which, let us recall, is not only legal but constitutionally-guaranteed), you have a problem. Women are half of humanity, not an afterthought.

Apple did not set out to be sexist.  They just didn't think of women. I am reminded of this one time I went to DefCon and fell to talking with some guys wearing t-shirts that indicated that they hacked for charity. I asked them what, exactly, they did for the charities, and they responded that they did free IT architecture and network security consulting.  "Oh, I see," I said, "like, say, for womens' shelters: an environment where the stakes are life-and-death and the attackers are extremely motivated."

The mens' eyes lit up.  "Yes," they said, "EXACTLY like that!"  Later in the weekend, one of them crossed me and said that they'd told the rest of the hackers, and everyone thought it was a magnificent idea.  An off-the-cuff idea from me, but they had never considered it.

It's not that men and women live in different worlds. It's that women are technology users, too,  and we deserve to be considered as more than an afterthought.

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All the Chicas are at the Fortress of Solitude waiting for the Doctor Who Christmas special to start, but here's a nerdy math song for your respective yuletides.

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SPOILER-FREE! 

Thanks to BMW, I was able to see a pre-screening of Mission: Impossible 4.  I will say that I didn't have very high expectations for the film.  I figured it had been beaten to death already and that Tom Cruise just wanted another excuse to go rock climbing and make money doing it.

I was quite wrong.

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I was able to get a peek at the Six minute Prologue to THE DARK KNIGHT RISES. the biggest fears coming into this was, could it top the THE DARK KNIGHT.. let me start by saying... FUCK YES! The spoilers are coming, so turn away if you don't want to know anything....

LAST CHANCE

ok... here's a a somewhat transcript of the prologue between BANE and the CIA Agent.

GORDON SPEAKING AT DENT"S FURNEAL

GORDON: I Knew Harvey Dent, I was his friend. And it will be a long time until anyone inspires us like he did. I believed in Harvey Dent.

- THE WE JUMP TO AN AIR FIELD, WHERE THE CIA DO A TRADE OFF FOR DOCTOR PAVEL-

CIA: DOCTOR PAVEL, I"m CIA agent ______ ( won't give away the name ;) )  Who are they?

 CIA AGENT POINTS TO THE HOODED MEN

CIA: You don't get to bring friends?

PAVEL: They are not my friends.

RUSSIAN GUARD: These are men, that worked with the mask man.

CIA: Bane? Let them on, I'll call it in.

( THEN TO ADVOID MORE SPOILERS)  we jump ahead.

 CIA agent starts blasting at the hooded men asking questions of who is Bane and why he wears the mask.

CIA: A lot of loyalty for hired guns!

Bane: Well perhaps he’s wondering why someone would shoot a man before throwing him out of a plane.

CIA AGENT: At least you can talk. Who are you?

Bane: It doesn’t matter who we are. What matters is our plan. Don’t tell you who I was until I put on the mask.

(Not quite sure about this bit. It’s oddly phrased. Then again, Bane is a psychopath, so perhaps he also uses eccentric diction)

CIA: If I pull that off will you die?

Bane: It would be extremely painful..

CIA: You’re a big guy

Bane: ...for you!

CIA: Was getting caught part of your plan?

Bane: Of course. Pavel refused our offer in favour of yours. We had to find out what he told you about us.

Pavel: Nothing, I said nothing!

CIA: Well congratulations, you got yourself caught, sir. Now what’s the next step in your masterplan?

Bane: Crashing this plane, with no survivors.

THE NEXT IS JUST MIND BLOWING, now the second trailer well no doubt give you chills, Nolan has out done himself once again. That's all for now, My geekachicas.

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Trailers from Pixar's Brave (plus a rather slight article) and Lionsgate's The Hunger Games.

 

 

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What's Halloween without a treat?

 

Written but not directed by Hayao Miyazaki, The Secret World of Arrietty is out Feb. 17 2012.  It's based on Mary Norton's book The Borrowers.

And there was much rejoicing. *Kermit flail*

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I always knew that nostalgia for the 80s would come around sooner or later. I wasn't expecting My Little Ponies to be relaunched, though, much less to become the basis of a an animated TV show that’s the darling of geeky young men. That part was a surprise.

 “First we can’t believe this show is so good, then we can’t believe we’ve become fans for life, then we can’t believe we’re walking down the pink aisle at Toys R Us or asking for the girl’s toy in our Happy Meal,” Allen said in an e-mail to Wired.com. “Then we can’t believe our friends haven’t seen it yet, then we can’t believe they’re becoming bronies too.”  (Article at wired.com)

I view it as a pure and bright arrow of feminism launched swift and true into the festering sore of sexism, particularly geek sexism.

“This might be a little short-sighted on my part, but I just assumed that any adult man who didn’t have a little girl wouldn’t even give it a try,” [show creator Lauren] Faust said in a phone interview. “The fact that they did and that they were open-minded and cool enough and secure in their masculinity enough to embrace it and love it and go online and talk about how much they love it — I’m kind of proud.”  (Ibid.)

Perhaps I overstate things a tad. But MLP:FIM is, at the very least, upending decades of Hollywood conventional wisdom about who is allowed to watch which television shows. It's remarkable that a show as female-coded as MLP:FIM is attracting an audience of adult guy geeks--an audience not particularly well-disposed to works for children or for women, let alone for young girls. It's even more remarkable that the bronies (what male fans of the show call themselves) are so on-board that they're evangelizing it: because when they do, they tend to run smack into the wall of assumptions that surround "TV for girls."  And then we see something beautiful: they defend it. 

 "We were going to make fun of it, but instead everybody got hooked." (Article at Jezebel.com)

If mainstream culture as a whole has a problem with androcentrism, geek culture has an especially bad case. Entire theses could be written on anxious masculinity in guy geeks, but the broad outlines are familiar to (I dare say) most girl geeks: you're allowed to like what the guys like, but stuff girls like is accorded a distinctly lower status, if it's allowed in the geek canon at all. (Case in point: Twilight.) 

"It's OK, lads. You're allowed to like the cute ponies." (Caption on the TVTropes.org MLP:FIM page)

Men defending a show for little girls as an acceptable target of geekery? Pardon me while I swoon. Lauren Faust, the show's creator, deserves some kind of award.

For further evidence of the blurring of lines between "boy" and "girl" interests, check out this Star Wars Disney Princess cake.

(I feel like I should mention that I watched an episode or two of MLP:FIM, and found it not to my personal taste. But I urge you all to check it out regardless, just because of its barrier-smashing appeal.)

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A few weeks ago, I sent my darling, lovely, and geeky eldest daughter off to college. Actually, I drove there with her belongings in my car, helped her move in, then held her and cried as we both realized that the basic cable package in her dorm does not get BBC America and she therefore would miss the debut of the second half of Doctor Who season six.

Among the many concerns I have about sending my child off to college a state away are those having to do with relationships. She is dating someone right now and we’ve talked a lot about what makes a relationship a good one. I’m a mom of girls, and I worry about these things. I want her with a good guy. But, that brings up the concern of what types of things need to be present to make a relationship a “good one.”

Some people tell you opposites attract. Others insist you need to share interests, so you have things in common that bind you together. And let’s face it, if we were planning to spend our life with someone, wouldn’t we want somebody that loves the same things we love? As geeks, could we imagine being married to someone that is not a geek, or doesn’t get completely giddy over the latest news from Comic Con?

Well, as it turns out, I can tell you that not only can I imagine it, I’ve done it. Got the t-shirt. I am not married to a geek. In fact, I am married to a man who (ready your hearts, this will hurt) detests Doctor Who and The Lord of the Rings. I know. Take a moment if you need it.

So what does make our relationship successful? How can you make it year in and year out when you don’t share interests? And, is it worth it to devote your life to a man who cannot appreciate the genius that is David Tennant’s Hamlet?

Believe it or not, I think the answers boil down to one simple concept: “Two become one” is a figure of speech. It’s not meant to be taken literally. Of course, two people who commit long term or marry are creating one thing – a marriage or relationship - and the whole of that is greater than the sum of its parts. But, a relationship like that still involves two separate people, with their own likes, dislikes, and favorite TARDIS companion (*ahem* Dr. Martha Jones). Becoming one does not mean that you forfeit your own uniqueness and become the same as someone else. Your interests don’t need to coincide just because you are now “one.”

 I read speculative fiction, have Lord of the Rings movie marathon parties, and use a picture of the TARDIS as my profile pic on FaceBook. My husband reads non-fiction when he takes the time to read at all, watches marathons of television shows that involve, you know, true stuff, and his profile pic is the fire rescue unit where he works. He loves to hike outdoors and even sleep outside, in a tent, with no bathroom or air conditioning. I love to curl up in my perfectly temperature-controlled home and see how many new urban fantasy books I can download to my e-reader.

 But it works, folks. In November, we will celebrate 20 years of marriage. It works because we respect each other’s differences, and recognize that who we are and what we love brings something strong and special to the relationship, even if we don’t understand the things the other one loves. He loses patience with me when I squeal uncontrollably about a Doctor Who premiere. He grumbles and complains about the fact that the show is stupid, and pointless, and ridiculous. But he never tells me I am stupid, or pointless, or ridiculous.

I don’t expect him to love what I love. But I do expect him to love me. And I expect, and he expects, that we will both put the relationship before ourselves. As part of that, if I ever had to choose between my marriage and my books, I would choose my marriage. As another part of that, my husband would never, ever ask me to give up my books because he loves and respects me too much and knows what they mean to me. The fact that he knows I would make the sacrifice if called upon is enough.

I’m not much for advice-giving. I think most people’s lives are so complex and individual that it’s the height of arrogance to assume that I have the answer to someone else’s issue. But if I had to offer advice to the other GeekaChicas out there, I would say this – find a partner who respects and loves you for who you are, including everything that makes you so geek-femme-tastic. When you decide this is the one for you, devote yourself to the relationship, putting it first but never forgetting that you and your beloved are individuals. As individuals, it’s okay to have divergent interests, so long as you both are focused on what is most important and willing to sacrifice for the benefit of the relationship. As a couple, you put the health of the relationship above your own interests, and respect the differences you have as individuals.

This November hubby and I will celebrate two decades together as a couple. We will probably spend a long weekend in the mountains, where he will be thrilled about the availability of challenging hiking trails, and I will be excited about new books I brought to read. We may even spend some time during the weekend apart, doing our own thing. And hey, that’s okay.

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Attention, writers of the world: Rep. Bachmann may be an odious waste of skin, but not even that is an excuse to be sexist. I speak of this otherwise excellent article on Republicans' war on the working class, which nevertheless refers to Bachmann as "shrill".  Writers, please don't call women "shrill".  Or "hysterical".  Or any other gendered pejorative.  Also, please refrain from such ableist language as "crazy"--don't the mentally ill suffer enough, without unwarranted comparisons to Michele Bachmann? Finally, it is customary to address people by their titles. Rep. Bachmann's is "Representative Bachmann", not "Mrs. Bachmann".

Got that, writers? BECAUSE HAVING TO DEFEND BACHMANN REALLY PISSES ME OFF.

 To take the foul taste out of everyone's mouth, here's a kickass book you all should be reading: Dr. Mireya Mayor's Pink Boots and a Machete, her memoir of everything from growing up a tomboy in a Miami Cuban household, to becoming a cheerleader for the Miami Dolphins, to college and grad school in primatology, to exploring the rain forests for National Geographic.  All this while keeping her own interests--including "girly" ones like fashion--and extending a middle finger to an establishment that, by and large, didn't think she looked like a scientist.

After class one day, I nervously approached my professor--who looked me up and down, stopping at what I'm sure she thought was an all-too-revealing top and too-short skirt, along with platform shoes--and began to ask her a question. But before the words came out of my mouth, she said, "I saw you on TV. You're a cheerleader." I thought I would die. She'd seen me wearing the little uniform and shaking my pom-poms. All this before handing me back the assignment I'd turned in late as a result of that Monday night game.

 

I gathered my courage and said, "Dr. Taylor, I think I would like to become a primatologist. How do I do that?" I immediately realized how silly I must have sounded, but without missing a beat, she replied, "You need to develop a research question, formulate a hypothesis, and apply for a grant. There's actually a university grant for women in the sciences, and the deadline is in a couple of weeks." Noticing that she had answered my question without so much as cracking a smile, I felt like a scholar for the first time. 

May we all ask questions like Mayor's, without worrying about sounding silly. May we all have teachers like Dr. Taylor.

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A few months ago Tor ran a poll asking about the top 10 Science Fiction/Fantasy novels of the last decade. Because they had the time limit on it (2000-2010), they ended up with a really interesting list. You can find the results right here. If you dig a little deeper over there, you can find some crazy data analysis with pretty graphs to tell you more about how that vote went down. It's pretty interesting.

So  now we're onto NPR. They polled about 5,000 people to get nominations of the top 100 Science Fiction/Fantasy books. But they're not just thinking about the last decade; they're thinking like Kanye West. They want to know the best "OF ALL TIME!"  This is a tall order and I'm glad they've only narrowed it down to 100 so far. The nice thing about that is, in some cases, that they've included entire series as one book instead of making us pick between Memory and Barrayar. That would just be mean.

The task for us now is to look at that list of 100 and vote for what we think are the 10 greatest books/series of all time.   You can see the entire list and vote right here.  Have fun. It's not as easy as you think.

 
In fact, it was really hard for me. By the time I got down to the Ss, I was getting the mean popup window that said "You can only vote for 10, you moron!" I didn't even think I was AT 10. I was also rather stunned at the sheer number of seemingly amazing books that I HAVEN'T READ YET!! Yeesh. I have a lot of work to do. It is nice to have them all there in a list.

That being said, I think there are a few missing and a few that maybe shouldn't be on there. As much as I love Patrick Rothfuss, I hesitate to include his entire (unfinished) Kingkiller Chronicle on there. I would have voted for The Name of the Wind by itself, but I would not have voted for the sequel. I'm also missing Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card. That book is unreal and in my top 5 most amazing books of all time. I'm sad to see it passed over. I was also kind of bummed to miss The Tawny Man trilogy by Robin Hobb. She got her other two trilogies on there, but I find that people seem unreasonably enamored with The Liveship Traders trilogy. That one kind of drove me nuts. But that's just me. 

There are others on there that I just didn't have enough votes to vote for. Sheri Tepper's Grass, and Sunshine by Robin McKinley.  Two excellent books by brilliant female writers. But you know I got the Vorkosigan Saga in there, so I felt a little better.

Anyway, go vote! Here's the link again. They'll publish the results on August 11th. 

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FOR ALL BAT FANS! This is just a dream come true, and  the geek in me is just busting! We get to see Bane and The Dark knight fight it out in a winter wonderland. According to rumors going around, this is a scene where Bane releases all the inmates of Arkahm -- following the storyline of Knightfall no less. But again, just rumors. We're not 100% sure what the story behind this scene is, but I love it :D <3

There are also pics going around that show Bane ripping the photo of Harvey Dent, meaning Nolan plans to leave no stone unturned. Meaning the question, "Where did the Joker go?" will be answered, too.

I can assume Nolan let the fans get a look at his final film to feed their hunger and keep us on the edge of our seats, since this film isn't out until July 18, 2012. Okay, my GC readers, let's weigh in like crazy, starting NOW :D  

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Here's a neat article from the pen of LA Weekly's Liz Ohanesian: a group of cosplayers who went to Comic-Con as the Justice League of America... gender-flipped. Batma'am and Superma'am (who's got a beautifully realized '40s look) are joined by Aqualass, Power Guy, and Wonder Man.

The interesting thing, to me, is that gender-flipping the JLA exposes the male gaze like a flashbulb.  Power Guy is wearing next to nothing. (Good thing he's built.)  Hunter's costume exposes his belly.

"We try to keep it pretty scantily clad for [the men] because that's how women are portrayed," says [the cosplayer playing Superma'am]. "We weren't scantily clad for ourselves because that's not the point. We're showing that girls can be clothed and be superheroes because, most of the time, they aren't."

YES. YES. A THOUSAND TIMES YES.

 (And, because I can't resist, check behind the cut for a picture of me as a female Fifth Doctor.)

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I recently read a blog entry about gender distribution in submissions and publications that Edmund Schubert, the editor of Orson Scott Card’s InterGalactic Medicine Show (IGMS), posted on Magical Words. He quoted three emails from two assistant editors relating submission rates and then provided publication rates. He then made the claim that they publish women at the same proportion that women submit, calling the ratio “close enough.” I hear not everyone was impressed by this rigorous approach and the subsequent detailed analysis and conclusion. Rather than pick a side, I decided to look at his submission and publication numbers and see if there was a statistically significant conclusion to draw. After all, the data provided is exactly the kind of data I need for a Chi-Squared test. Isn’t it exciting!

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It was a good weekend. I have officially seen Harry Potter 7.2 twice, and am doubly depressed now. (In all seriousness, I don’t know what they expect us to do with ourselves now that it’s over.) I also had the opportunity to watch more Star Trek: The Next Generation via Netflix streaming. Oh, yes, and we had the first The Dark Knight Rises trailer released with HP no less. I believe there are some pirated versions on YouTube.com. (Beware of the fan mades!)

In case it hasn’t been made apparent by now, I am a fan of many different ‘verses. Which is why this weekend was awesome for my general nerd, because of those things listed above, and *gasp!* Peter Jackson has finally thought it prudent to bestow upon us the first shot of Thorin (Dwarf of Awesome!) from The Hobbit.

The entire getup looks quite… Klingony wouldn’t you say? Very Martok-esque with the hair. Even the sword, which is beautiful by the way, looks like it would be mounted somewhere in Worf’s quarters.

I am not ashamed to say that I literally leaped up and down, clapping my hands, and squeed when I saw this photo yesterday. (Just ask Beatrice Blythe.) Why? Because that, my friends, is the fabulous Richard Armitage underneath all of that armor and makeup.

I am happy to say that I have been a fan of Richard’s since about spring of 2006, when I saw the BBC miniseries North & South. (Not Patrick Swayze in the U.S., mind you.) The man won me over right then. You can also see him as Guy of Gisbourne in the latest BBC television series Robin Hood. He also plays the love interest of the adorable Geraldine Granger in last The Vicar of Dibley Christmas special.

Now, however, Richard is going main stream. I’m so proud! I was thrilled beyond belief when I found out he was cast as such an important role in The Hobbit. What’s even more thrilling is that you can also catch him this coming weekend as Heinz Kruger (evil Nazi in the trailer) in Captain America.

I would like to pause for a moment in my fan girl support of Richard to examine the costume a little more closely, because it is amazing. One of the first things I noticed about this was his hands. Those are not his hands. (Thank the Powers that Be!) I am in love with Richard’s hands. The only things of Richard that is still left are his eyes and mouth. Here, have a picture of Normal Richard purely for referencing purposes:

As you can see, I like to "reference" images of him quite a bit.

I could not be happier with Richard’s success (I'm sure he shares in my happiness. :P), and that his fan girl base will do nothing but expand over here in the U.S. I’m so excited to see what other projects he’ll be involved in from here on out. And, like Tom Hardy in Star Trek: Nemesis, Hey, I saw him first!

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WB has release the official The Dark Knight Rises teaser trailer, let's check it out together!! :D

What can we take from this teaser? Easy, this is going to be a darker movie, with Bruce Wayne having a damaged psyche after the death of Rachel and Harvey. In a way, you can actually look at TDK as the Joker's triumph over Batman.

A lot of fan boys were pissed at this teaser because they wanted the whole film to be shown, but let's be real bitches, they just started shooting the film!!!!

It's really too early to say what's going to happen, but surely that won't stop the fans. Let's not forget comic-con is around the corner -- Will we see how Nolan's catwoman looks??? We shall see :D In the mean time, let the debate continue here at GC!

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Apparently they are to some people.

So in my infinite wisdom, I decided to head to eBay myself and see if this was still going on.  After all, the content behind that link was written June 30, which in Internet time means I might as well be looking at it from the other side of a plexiglass museum exhibit.

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Pop quiz!  Suppose that, at Google's inaugural Science Fair, the winners for each age category were female. Now, imagine that you're Gregory Ferenstein, writer for Fast Company. Do you

1. Describe the projects and marvel over the girls' brains and study ethic?

 

or

 

2.  Call the winners "adorably cheery" and marvel that they can use technical language and get through an interview without mentioning Justin Bieber?

Mr. Ferenstein, there's a phone call for you at the White Courtesy Phone of Fail.

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It was probably a terrible idea for me to see the midnight showing this morning. That left me having to deal with the finality of the whole thing on not enough sleep. And let me tell you this in confidence, internet: I've cried about the end of Harry Potter on more than one occasion today.

Maybe I'll be less upset once I'm well-rested, but I doubt it. Hanging up my Gryffindor scarf for the last time was harder than I thought it would be. I've been so excited about the film news that I managed to avoid thinking about this part. The sucky part. The 'it's all over and there's nothing left for me at ALL' part.  I wasn't prepared for the sad and I'm really surprised by it. *sniffle*

HOWEVER! The sad will not preclude me from telling you about my final Harry Potter fan experience in all its fabulousness. It really was wonderful! My sister (Darth Sweetums) and I decided like crazy people to not only go to the midnight showing of Deathly Hallows Part 2, but to also get a ticket with the crowd that would watch Deathly Hallows Part 1. DOUBLE FEATURE! And I'm here to say that it was the best idea we've ever had for two reasons:

Reason 1:  I haven't been able to watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 without desperately wishing that I could immediately follow it up with Part 2. I remember feeling like that last year when we first saw it. So what better way to see Part 2 for the first time than to watch Part 1 with it in the same theater in the same seats accompanied by the same group of crazies for both films? There IS no better way! I was wonderful to see them back to back. They were made to be watched that way.

Reason 2: THIS is the best reason. Our particular auditorium probably held 250-300 people. We were the chosen few who saw the fine print and realized that we could see the double feature instead of just waiting for the midnight showings. THANK GOODNESS. There were probably 15 midnight showings at the theater we went to and the lines for those were the most horrendous things I've ever seen.

There were two of these lines filled with people who camped out. People in costume. People who had been there for more than 30 hours. I am so SO glad that we weren't in these lines. Our double feature folks got to settle into the theater a good three hours earlier (as our movie was beginning sooner) and there were just not as many of us. Whew!

That being said, the whole experience was one I'll never forget. The sheer size of the crowd. The costumes. The discounted concessions! Everyone was so excited to be a part of it and even more excited to finally see this movie! 

 But after all that waiting, I think that all 5 gazillion of us at that theater will agree that the movie was worth it.

(Read more at your own risk! Spoilers ahead!!)

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After last year's tremendous success in presenting female geek content, what will 2011 bring?

Thursday!

• Panel: "Oh, you sexy geek!", 10:45-11:45 AM, Room 6A
• Panel: "No Damsels in Distress Here", 4-5 PM, Room 25ABC
• Panel: "Her Universe: What Women Want in Their Female Sci-Fi Heroes", 6-7 PM, Room 25ABC
• Meetup: Second annual Geek Girls Network (GGN) meetup, 7-10:30 PM at the Vin de Syrah Lounge.

Friday!

• Panel: "Girls Gone Genre", 6-7 PM, Room 25ABC
• Meetup: The Gamer Girls are hosting a party at the Ruby Room, 8 PM - 1:30 AM. $10 ($8 if in costume); 21+.

Saturday!

• Panel: Gender Poster Group at the Comic Arts Conference Poster Session, 2-3:30PM, Room 26AB

Sunday!

• Panel: "Women of Marvel", 11:15AM-12:15PM, Room 5AB 

BE THERE!

For those of you late to this party, Comic-Con is an enormous convention that is theoretically devoted to American comics, but that over the past ten-ish years has become North America's de facto Big Genre Convention.  Geek idol Joss Whedon is a confirmed devotee.  Cool stuff gets announced there.  Cool stuff gets premiered there.  And you can be around to watch!  It is more fun than several barrels of monkeys.

Now then. All this may be academic to those of you who haven't already bought tickets, because the entire con is now sold out. But, for those of you who've taken the plunge and are all abrim with nervous excitement... read on!

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