Panelists Anina Bennett, Paul Guinan (both: Heartbreakers), Jimmy Palmiotti (Painkiller Jane), Kiala Kazebee (Vaginal Fantasy), Allison Baker (Monkeybrain Comics), and Claire Hummel (Bioshock: Infinite) were all-around awesome and well-spoken on the topic, as you can see in our footage below.
I especially appreciated the portion of the panel where they each talked about times they’ve made mistakes in their own work with regard to racism and sexism. It’s rare to hear people be so transparent about their slip-ups and responses, and it was refreshing to hear their reactions and learning experiences.
I have to admit, though: I was disappointed. Look, the reason I’m in the room at all is because I believe there should be more great female characters and creators. What I don’t know enough about is the actual evolution of female characters through history, and how that gives context to where we are now. I also don’t know a ton of exemplary female heroes in current entertainment, and I’d love to see some examples so I can support those projects.
Basically, I wanted to be educated a bit further in the past, present, and future of female heroes, not just agree that we need more of them. Don’t get me wrong, I really appreciated the thoughts and time of all panelists, and am looking forward to investigating their work further (especially Claire Hummel, who I just want to be friends with, she seems so awesome). I just feel like we’ve had this same conversation over and over again, and the people who might need to hear it are not the ones in the room.
Educate me so that I can elevate the conversation. Give me a clear takeaway, a call to action, something I can DO right now to make this better, since I’m already on board. Otherwise, I feel like we’re just spinning our wheels. Which is actually pretty cute, sometimes:
So don’t get me wrong! Just hoping these panels in the future, everywhere, can have a bit more substance. Don’t let that stop you from watching, though! There were some great points, interesting anecdotes, and good recommendations for further reading. Which is probably what I should just suck up and do, since I’m interested.
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
Have you had a similar experience at such panels? Have you had a great experience? I’d love to hear about it and discuss how we can make these even better.
