tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24499704163743281132024-03-05T00:03:17.751-08:00Geeky FemmesAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13132126948909042913noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2449970416374328113.post-89787147736500401052014-07-18T12:38:00.000-07:002014-07-18T12:41:48.943-07:00Recommended reading: The Vagenda<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5mtGyO2JbVZBonM9LxOGuVmupYzz8it5lLJ0sZvYxU6gHyDXvT82UElUKg_zNOLW3qycMl2Ed7GZHPzM3gJq5Gv3Ar8f0opsZ_gjzjtfa6DYxyvwoBloblHRaxP95rNsXXVx3Pg_uAE4/s1600/DSC_0890.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5mtGyO2JbVZBonM9LxOGuVmupYzz8it5lLJ0sZvYxU6gHyDXvT82UElUKg_zNOLW3qycMl2Ed7GZHPzM3gJq5Gv3Ar8f0opsZ_gjzjtfa6DYxyvwoBloblHRaxP95rNsXXVx3Pg_uAE4/s1600/DSC_0890.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: large;">Recommended reading: The Vagenda </span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">First of all, I'm going
to come out and say that I do not buy mainstream 'women's lifestyle'
magazines. Read: magazines pertaining to an approximation of all of
women-kind's collective interests, which apparently does not stray
from the confines of fashion, beauty, dieting, and dating (men only).
I am very aware of the content and the problems with these kinds of
magazines, which is one of the many reasons I choose not to buy them.
Instead I find myself jostling for elbow room among many astonished
men at the other sections of magazines at the newsagent's, such as
computing and technology, music, leisure/interests, and sadly
sometimes men's interests, which have in my experience been home to
magazines catering to all the genres above. I'm
not sure how or why we've let ourselves be caged into such a teeny,
tiny, and very shallow little corner of the magazine world, but we
have, and I'm kinda tired of the double-takes...</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">I bought <i>The Vagenda</i>
gleefully anticipating that it may well be a longer, more
media-focused, yet still witty version of The
Noughtie Girl's Guide To Feminism by Ellie Levenson, which
I'd read a few years previous. I was in luck! <i>The Vagenda </i>examines
the content and issues with the media's current worrying vision of womanhood and
femininity, including advice on fashion, health, beauty and relationships. The book also gives credit where it's due, praising the more promising, sexually liberated publications
of the 60s and 70s, to the perplexing and frankly confusing attitude
to sex undertaken by popular magazines today, who seem to make a
profit from posing as a life-line for our problems, offering useless
solutions, and then introducing some new things to worry about before
the end of the issue – now you've taken the quiz to see if your
boyfriend is cheating on you, you better figure out how to win him
back: here are ten sex tips to please your man in the bedroom!' <i>The
Vagenda</i> examines the trite subjects that appear and reappear
in each issue of popular women's magazines, including body image woes, the ever-changing
and sometimes baffling world of fashion (Vajazzling? Really?),
relationship 'advice', diets, and the disturbing world of Lad
Culture, and reminds you that you're not the only one feeling
slightly weird about it all.. </span></span>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
great thing about this book is that it finds an easy balance between
being informative, being hilarious, and reminding the reader that she
really doesn't need to stand for this crap. <i>The
Vagenda</i> does a great job of making
the reader take a critical look at the way the media markets to and
treats women, and what these magazines suggest our priorities should
be. I know many people who, when asked about their opinion on the
shameless woman-bashing and body-shaming that is packed into every
tabloid or cheap gossip rag, would shrug passively and claim that it
is no big deal – but why do we turn a blind eye to it? And more
importantly, how is this shaping the generation of young girls who
will be bombarded with this kind of trashy media wherever they turn?
It's easy to claim that it's a form of cheap entertainment, but <i>The
Vagenda</i> insists that we all sit up
and take some responsibility for the media that we purchase as
consumers and as women. Just because no real brain power went into
the publishing of your magazine, doesn't mean that you shouldn't use
<i>your</i>
brain before you dig absentmindedly into the supposed latest sexual
exploits of whichever b-list celebrity is the current flavour of the
month. </span></span>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">When
we examine the media, we examine our culture and our society as a
whole. Because we are so surrounded by culture, we rarely step back
and review the messages that we're receiving on a daily basis, and
what it says about those who buy into it. It's easy to join a pack
mentality and buy what is laid out in front of us, under a nice, bold
sign that says 'women's lifestyle', and be satisfied that that is
what we're<i> meant </i>to
be consuming, but by never questioning our value of that media, we're
essentially reading the magazines with our eyes closed. An interesting study cited in the book states that a 2012 study
found that after just three minutes spent looking at a fashion
magazine, 70% of women reported that they felt 'guilty, depressed and
shameful'. When this is how our media makes us feel about ourselves,
isn't it time to do as <i>The Vagenda
</i>suggests we do and 'call bullshit?' </span></span>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">I wholeheartedly recommend <i>The Vagenda</i> to any woman and especially
anyone who feels baffled and angry about the questionable ethics and
ideals of media we are spoon-fed. This book gives some real incite into the toxicity of women's magazines and will get you chuckling as you read- if we didn't laugh, we'd probably just spontaneously combust. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
also have some intelligent, thought-provoking and self-image-positive
media to suggest to readers who like their mags without all the
vapid nonsense: </span></span>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.lionheart-mag.com/" target="_blank">Lionheartmagazine</a>
“Lionheart Magazine is a magazine for those looking for
something that reflects their personalities and preferences.
Editorial that’s smart, funny, friendly and a little irreverent,
together with beautiful design, illustrations and photography. You’ll
find craft, fashion, art, interviews and features that are
interesting, inspiring and hearty.” </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.cellardoormagazine.co.uk/">www.cellardoormagazine.co.uk/</a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">http://www.msmagazine.com/</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">http://www.rookiemag.com/</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">mookychick.co.uk
</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13132126948909042913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2449970416374328113.post-63396731756553945662014-07-07T15:27:00.000-07:002014-07-07T15:27:25.473-07:00Sailor Moon and Sailor Moon Crystal- Mahou Shoujo at Its Finest<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeSQYarBcC45Um9PNDT7l55kEUTTjV78_vbyYQEqD6LG4WEqK4aaiM8VK3ZXicxH76vnHxHzQ48k662Ec99I_a84JY8TXxJgo8FQtuf4OoYEUNvtn0T9uswaE7v3EuSpinzki8S4DrSU8/s1600/1461723_10151848255498366_2134114595_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeSQYarBcC45Um9PNDT7l55kEUTTjV78_vbyYQEqD6LG4WEqK4aaiM8VK3ZXicxH76vnHxHzQ48k662Ec99I_a84JY8TXxJgo8FQtuf4OoYEUNvtn0T9uswaE7v3EuSpinzki8S4DrSU8/s1600/1461723_10151848255498366_2134114595_n.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Even if you don’t follow anime all that much, it’s extremely
hard to avoid the <i>Sailor Moon</i> phenomenon. Even the guys I live with know about
it, and that’s not just because I haven’t stopped talking about it since I
watched <i>Sailor Moon Crystal</i> at the weekend, but I’ll come to that later. <i>Sailor
Moon</i> is one of the most popular mangas/animes in the world, and when you watch
or read it, it’s easy to see why. Girl power! Relatable characters! Talking
cats! Magic powers! Unnecessarily long outfit changes! The list goes on and on.
Regardless of whether you’re a fan of <i>Sailor Moon</i>, it’s hard to deny it lasting
influence and creation, if not affirmation of some anime tropes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Way back in the early 90s, a little show called <i>Sailor Moon</i>
started in Japan. It followed the story of Usagi Tsukino, a 14-year old
schoolgirl who discovers that she’s a member of the Sailor Senshi, and must
defend the Earth against the evil Queen Beryl and her minions in the Negaverse.
Luckily for Usagi, she has a (very patient) mentor in Luna, a talking cat, who
also helps her find other members of the Sailor Senshi. A few years later, it
got (poorly) dubbed into English, and aired in the UK, which is how I came
across it, scrolling for shows to watch after school. Now, I’ll admit. I wasn’t that big on <i>Sailor Moon</i> when it started,
and I preferred <i>Cardcaptors</i> (the dub of <i>Cardcaptor Sakura</i>) <i>Pokémon </i>and <i>Yu-Gi-Oh</i>.
However, one of my childhood friends totally loved it, so I watched it, and
then later we’d re-enact it on the playground at school. I never really thought
about it that much as I got older until I got on procrastination-tool <a href="http://ariellalphabet.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Tumblr</a>,
and a whole lot of the accounts I’d follow would reblog stills from the 90s
show, gorgeous fan-art, and the odd still from the disastrous live-action film.
I’ve found that as I’ve got older, I appreciate the show so much more. I’m rewatching
the show from the start and absolutely loving it, as well as all the nostalgia! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But why do I love it? As well as essentially perfecting the
formula for mahou-shoujo (that’s magical girl anime, in case you were
wondering) the content itself is really amazing. The characters aren’t just caricatures
and archetypes, they full, expanded personalities. They have completely human
traits, which make them extremely believable as characters. When Serena/Usagi
finds out she’s a sailor scout what’s her first reaction? She wants out! I
would most likely act in the same way, especially if my cat started talking to
me. Above all that is the underlying message of girl power running
throughout the show. Sure, Tuxedo Mask helps the girls out, but they’re never
dependent on him to save the day, and they kick ass in their own regards and in
their own way. Every single character fights, an no one slacks off. It's all about teamwork and co-operation, which is an excellent message to send. It (as well as <i>Cardcaptors</i>) had a pretty profound effect on me
as a kid, and was one of the things that made me realise that ladies could
totally kick ass and be super cute at the same time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Sailor Moon Crystal</i> is the reimagining/remake/adaptation of
the manga that has been highly anticipated by a lot of fans. I’ve lazily
followed its progression, rumours and news online, but when I sat down to watch
the first episode, I totally loved it. I’m not usually one to follow anime (I’m
VERY choosy when it comes to watching anime) but I’ll be following this! It
follows the story of the manga almost perfectly, with the first episode being
the first chapter, or act in the manga, following Usagi as she becomes a Sailor
Senshi. The animation is updated, favouring a more ethereal colour palette and
modernised style. The only niggle I have with the animation is that in Usagi’s<a href="http://ariellalphabet.tumblr.com/post/91077035534" target="_blank">epic transformation</a>, it looks almost TOO digitised and almost video-gamey for
my liking. This may well be me being a bit picky and too in love with the
original, but it just didn’t sit right with me. The new series seems to be
trying to be more serious than the old series, but I think it works quite well.
The girl-power drive is still strongly in the show (just check out the theme
tune for evidence of this!) and this warms my heart to see. The story is an
almost perfect adaptation of the manga, and while there are less of Usagi’s OTT
facial expressions and reactions, it’s still damn good, and I will continue to
watch it weekly, and regale my housemates with tales of talking cats and
magical girls. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlUZbGR9mOfE8l9L4yXQ14Lc2exTIyBveJGKGjm9p5i-UtnH-wNQCTJ5JDtjeMj7GhcNoWRIEAHir8cyDCAuVLJYI2lhnRz18D2vXMONb4qKpJoG6ppZHXmDaornukxBIWVwKqDQNz7po/s1600/sailor-moon-crystal-trailer-2014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlUZbGR9mOfE8l9L4yXQ14Lc2exTIyBveJGKGjm9p5i-UtnH-wNQCTJ5JDtjeMj7GhcNoWRIEAHir8cyDCAuVLJYI2lhnRz18D2vXMONb4qKpJoG6ppZHXmDaornukxBIWVwKqDQNz7po/s1600/sailor-moon-crystal-trailer-2014.jpg" height="199" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If you want to know more about <i>Sailor Moon</i>, <a href="http://www.themarysue.com/" target="_blank">The Mary Sue</a> are
putting together an exhaustive guide to the show <a href="http://www.themarysue.com/sailor-moon-history-part-1/" target="_blank">here</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You can watch <i>Sailor Moon Crystal</i> <a href="http://www.watchsailormoon.com/sailor-moon-crystal/sailor-moon-crystal-episode-1/" target="_blank">here</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Let me know what you think! </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13132126948909042913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2449970416374328113.post-38627190500057023012014-04-14T13:03:00.001-07:002014-04-14T13:03:59.037-07:00On the importance of...informative video content.
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2swQqkaEyYCSfoxjts8yow8V-hn6HIOqyjY1NY0Rj2TMOavUGV-DV7e3brobB92iQDgyX4wFojUu8mFlkqPEjKAhtL_OzO3iCK4ze3qeJJfOn09fK5Zdk_DoVZ4kQH-2ljMqxdf5nWHw/s1600/Snapshot_20140402_3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2swQqkaEyYCSfoxjts8yow8V-hn6HIOqyjY1NY0Rj2TMOavUGV-DV7e3brobB92iQDgyX4wFojUu8mFlkqPEjKAhtL_OzO3iCK4ze3qeJJfOn09fK5Zdk_DoVZ4kQH-2ljMqxdf5nWHw/s1600/Snapshot_20140402_3.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It is a broadly
recognised fact that the internet is awash with silly videos. Some
good silly, some dumb-silly, some
how-the-eff-did-we-ever-find-this-amusing-in-2009 silly. There's
nothing wrong with silly internet videos; indeed, anything that can
lighten the mood in an environment known for the snarky, offensive or
outright idiotic content of its comment sections is welcomed in my
book – and hey, Ari and I admit to having watched a fair few cat
videos in our time-, but it's always refreshing to stumble upon a
Youtube channel where the content is based around entertaiment and
information. Whenever I find myself in this awesome realm of the
internet, I click the subscribe button pretty much instantly, because
so much of our online content is not informative or
thought-provoking, doesn't challenge us intellectually, and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InlMjKJBrbE" target="_blank">may even be detrimental to our the way our memory functions </a></span></span>
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<a href="http://www.walkerart.org/openfield/wp-content/files_mf/13432281076a00e54f9153e088330176166693cc970c800wi.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.walkerart.org/openfield/wp-content/files_mf/13432281076a00e54f9153e088330176166693cc970c800wi.png" height="238" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Now, I'm not trying to
be a party pooper here, and I don't believe that all online video
should teach us something and be oh-so-serious, but I am interested in more people utilising the internet
to engage their own brains, instead of choosing to wile away every free moment
in<i> that</i> rather silly part of YouTube.
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/pbsideachannel/videos" target="_blank">The Ideas Channel</a>
creates exactly the kind of videos I'm talking about; it's
entertaining, funny, culturally relevant, fast-paced and informative.
Each video presents a completely different idea from the last and is then
proposed to the viewer, and at the end of each video, interesting
comments are read from those who commented previously, giving viewers
a reason to share their opinions and ideas too. There have been
videos on everything from the ethics of AI development, pondering our
love of zombies, and whether or not animal crossing promotes the Otaku
lifestyle. While not strictly factual, the ideal channel forces us to think and to question, which is pretty important after watching all those kitty videos.
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<a href="http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/X22t_4ZQK0w/hqdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/X22t_4ZQK0w/hqdefault.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">If the name is not explanatory, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/scishow/videos" target="_blank">SciShow</a> is a YouTube channel that explains and answers the big questions. Black holes, dark matter, whether we're all going to augment ourselves with flashy gadgets one day, and why the hell everyone was so obsessed with flappy bird (as in, the scientific reasoning. Ehem, yes...) </span></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.google.com/think/images/scishow_products_sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.google.com/think/images/scishow_products_sm.jpg" height="178" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/crashcourse" target="_blank">Crash course</a> videos focus on providing step-by-step education on a
bunch of topics, from literature to the sciences to psychology to
history, making them ideal study aids for students.
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<a href="http://24.media.tumblr.com/af2894d0f502ee29078440f610eb51c1/tumblr_mf53jjBPbD1reyqg7o1_1280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/af2894d0f502ee29078440f610eb51c1/tumblr_mf53jjBPbD1reyqg7o1_1280.jpg" height="253" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/theartassignment" target="_blank">The Art Assignment </a>is a new channel supported by PBS, intended to
create interactive art projects for the viewers to undertake
themselves. In their own words, the Art Assignment plans to 'take you
around the U.S. to meet working artists and solicit assignments from
them that we can all complete.'</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://static.tumblr.com/5053711d74aad25b42cb28fe04d58ccb/adrwqwt/Gpzn3u0ml/tumblr_static_cw38k74x1nkkgooco08s4wg88.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://static.tumblr.com/5053711d74aad25b42cb28fe04d58ccb/adrwqwt/Gpzn3u0ml/tumblr_static_cw38k74x1nkkgooco08s4wg88.jpg" height="143" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/MatthewPatrick13/videos" target="_blank">Game Theorists</a> is basically what it sounds like. A channel that
features videos discussing various theories and trivia about video
games, from retro platformers to modern FPS games, these videos will
have you wondering why you never thought of <i>that</i> before...<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5w6ieaTxGA" target="_blank"> Particularly chilling is the video suggesting that Portal's companion cubes contain the remains of actual people. </a></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/MentalFlossVideo/videos" target="_blank">Mental Floss</a> describes itself as 'a weekly series where knowledge
junkies get their fix of trivia-tastic information!', and that pretty
much nails it. If you're the type who collects and hordes random and
obscure factoids in the corner of your brain and delight in
interjecting with those factoids whenever you can (and we're totally
not judging you for this. Sometimes there are lulls in the conversation!) Mental Floss may just be for you. </span></span></div>
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<a href="http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/kxIGlMrrhQM/maxresdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/kxIGlMrrhQM/maxresdefault.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/TakeisTake" target="_blank">Okay, this one has George Takei in it</a>...What? That's not enough
incentive for you to click the link? Really?
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Admittedly the author of this article is a huge Nerdfighter, but
whether you are or not – and it's probably only a matter of time,
honestly-,<a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/vlogbrothers/" target="_blank"> the Vlogbrothers channel </a>is worth checking out. In
addition to their usual twice weekly vlogs where brothers John and
Hank Green discuss whatever the hell they feel like, which can
sometimes include <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7H0ctnAL3jo" target="_blank">Fitness For Nerds</a>
or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xV_4EA-wrPc" target="_blank">having 17 rants</a>,
the made-of-awesome creators of this incredibly popular channel also
discuss some really important and thought-provoking stuff: </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXAoG8vAyzI&index=6&list=PLMs_JcuNozJYGiolArnu7ACeVc7qOn8Dq">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXAoG8vAyzI&index=6&list=PLMs_JcuNozJYGiolArnu7ACeVc7qOn8Dq</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4ow-EZkLjg">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4ow-EZkLjg</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kQ1Po7vzUk">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kQ1Po7vzUk</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KApurF6Yz2Y" target="_blank">What, you still want a dumb video, after all of my efforts? </a></span></span></div>
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</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13132126948909042913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2449970416374328113.post-13109077082714849662014-02-16T11:06:00.000-08:002014-02-16T11:06:24.747-08:00Weekly Round Up #1<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello and welcome to a new segment here on Geeky Femmes! I
(Ari) will to do a weekly roundup of interesting/important things have hit the (or at least my) radar this week. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First up, <a href="http://gingerhaze.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Noelle Stevenson</a> did this ace short comic about what
it can be like going into comic shops as a lady. Luckily enough I’ve never had
this happen, but I’m always guarded in case it does. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCG0DNFpdeExZRinmX9r1qfmMMXqAygAhBKaGTueOQXQ0hC7qIY3bMhDTMxTALW48KfOoenIaNMRto4PVN2fZTHPEMuDVLljCv7VekINppJfbpuPc3M1yWlWo70iGj4tCurgCYia56CT8/s1600/enhanced-11481-1392061041-28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCG0DNFpdeExZRinmX9r1qfmMMXqAygAhBKaGTueOQXQ0hC7qIY3bMhDTMxTALW48KfOoenIaNMRto4PVN2fZTHPEMuDVLljCv7VekINppJfbpuPc3M1yWlWo70iGj4tCurgCYia56CT8/s1600/enhanced-11481-1392061041-28.jpg" height="340" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Images grabbed from Noelle's Tumblr.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Actress Ellen Page recently came out and delivered a
gorgeous, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hlCEIUATzg#t=245" target="_blank">inspiring speech</a> about love.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>She-Hulk</i> #1 was released by Marvel, continuing the group of
lady-led comic books coming out. I gave it a good review over on my other <a href="http://comicsandcookies.com/2014/02/12/comic-book-wednesday-review-of-she-hulk-1/" target="_blank">blog</a>.
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Apologies for the brevity of this, but if you feel I’ve
missed anything, feel free to comment and share! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can find me on Twitter (<a href="https://twitter.com/Ariellalphabet" target="_blank">@ariellalphabet</a>) and Gina
(<a href="https://twitter.com/HEXX_" target="_blank">@HEXX_</a>) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you’d be interested in doing a guest post here, let one
of us know! </span><o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13132126948909042913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2449970416374328113.post-88728817898427353252014-02-13T14:08:00.001-08:002014-02-13T14:12:23.487-08:007 Gift Ideas for your Bestie this Galentine’s Day!<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLO8rYQiCv6iON19d3VnrEiKwL47vgUbxt8nhWpoE1StLzkI38StK7OJURruI-gTOOmbRq8Ov3b_UjnKLe-nDCIUcQa84S7qbIeBd3mjDX_Ql68NfK7A7RbHy20daTtTctykpsldIHeu0/s1600/1545731_10153741546090475_11354979_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLO8rYQiCv6iON19d3VnrEiKwL47vgUbxt8nhWpoE1StLzkI38StK7OJURruI-gTOOmbRq8Ov3b_UjnKLe-nDCIUcQa84S7qbIeBd3mjDX_Ql68NfK7A7RbHy20daTtTctykpsldIHeu0/s1600/1545731_10153741546090475_11354979_n.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello Geeky Femmes! How’s your February treating you
so far? As some of you know, today (13<sup>th</sup> February, the day before
Valentine’s Day) is Galentine’s Day. What is Galentine’s Day? In short, it’s totally awesome. A fictional holiday dreamt up in Amy Poehler’s awesome comedy show
<i>Parks and Recreation</i>, it’s a day where you appreciate your best and closest
lady pals in the way you would celebrate Valentine’s Day. Backed by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Amy-Poehlers-Smart-Girls/37203609337" target="_blank">Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls</a>, an extension of Poehler’s awesome, which helps support ladies and girls around the world, it's one of the best fake-holidays in the world! I think it’s a super
cute idea to appreciate your BFFs and let them know how much you love them!
Sadly I’m not hanging out with my bestie Gina this year (Booo to 9AM university
starts!) but we have the weekend to be awesome. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Onto the list! </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Number One: Mixtapes/discs/playlist/your music player of
choice</b></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ll admit, I can be a little old-fashioned at times.
Sometimes this comes as part of the various fashion subcultures I’m part of,
sometimes it’s because I enjoy it. When I was at
school, I would frequently make mix discs for my close friends (a friend of
mine informs me that he still has one of these!) and I absolutely loved the
experience. Picking songs from my wide library that I hoped my friends would
love, customising a case and then giving it to them was absolutely magical. So,
do the same for your friends- not only is it a great way to share your music
taste and introduce your friends to new bands, it can be a great ice breaker with
new people. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A sample of awesome femme-friendly playlists from <a href="http://8tracks.com/" target="_blank">8Tracks</a> that are great: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://8tracks.com/ellasaidlumos/ovaries-before-brovaries" target="_blank">Ovaries Before Brovaries</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://8tracks.com/sarapyle/who-run-the-world" target="_blank">Who Run the World?</a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://8tracks.com/emilymphocyte/happy-galentine-s-day" target="_blank">Happy Galentine's Day! </a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Number Two: Friendship bracelet/necklaces</b></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS__XrB0dAN7gMDP7GFGqla4CJv7uc1j26UZ1cP-vjE7ANKi2GAJtVcP-IivNE7JWEJTRRPQBwV0QK_poRQzvmfSqldS8P1Ha2Dk1HLrTE5tzQRyVwcYY26jKaaeyr-SooefcSBDyfhEI/s1600/il_570xN.545263290_rphe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS__XrB0dAN7gMDP7GFGqla4CJv7uc1j26UZ1cP-vjE7ANKi2GAJtVcP-IivNE7JWEJTRRPQBwV0QK_poRQzvmfSqldS8P1Ha2Dk1HLrTE5tzQRyVwcYY26jKaaeyr-SooefcSBDyfhEI/s1600/il_570xN.545263290_rphe.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Leslie Knope & Ann Perkins from <i>Parks & Rec</i>!<br />Available here on <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/174276089/leslie-knope-and-ann-perkins-friendship?ref=sr_gallery_1&ga_search_query=parks+and+recreation+friendship+necklace&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=GB&ga_ref=auto1&ga_search_type=all" target="_blank">Etsy</a>. </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another slightly old-school thing, I love friendship
necklaces. I never had them when I was younger (partially out of not knowing
anyone who would really appreciate it, and partially because I’d rather keep
both necklaces to myself!) but as I grow older and peruse the endless shopping
websites and services the internet has to offer, I’ve come across some awesome
ones. In pretty much any Claire’s Accessories shop you can find some super cute
ones, but if you think they’re a bit too little-girly, you can get some super
cool ones on Etsy. Check out some of my favourites<a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/126191831/daria-morgendorffer-and-jane-lane-set-of?ref=favs_view_16" target="_blank"> here</a>,<a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/170605606/mature-content-best-bches-best-friends?ref=sr_gallery_36&ga_search_query=best+bitches&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=GB&ga_search_type=all&ga_facet=handmade%2Fjewelry%2Fnecklace" target="_blank"> here</a> and <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/106029408/portal-necklaces-best-friend-necklaces?ref=shop_home_active_3" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div>
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<b>Number Three: Fandoms</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFDZ6CbyBKyV4Zb19jL-fGJlTLVcXB3yFkQumyuTC17Jn2oVPs7nFnaFLkGCmX4GzPUIZfvdrXeDK-5xjBdL5CAervah5UPOVOlRfKf2eoOPS9pm1Hoxu5H_qOPs81PBLh3y4BCmgLQEg/s1600/il_570xN.556329536_9nfd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFDZ6CbyBKyV4Zb19jL-fGJlTLVcXB3yFkQumyuTC17Jn2oVPs7nFnaFLkGCmX4GzPUIZfvdrXeDK-5xjBdL5CAervah5UPOVOlRfKf2eoOPS9pm1Hoxu5H_qOPs81PBLh3y4BCmgLQEg/s1600/il_570xN.556329536_9nfd.jpg" height="256" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How cute is this <i>Adventure Time</i> cross stitch?!<br />You can buy the pattern <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/177239158/sucking-at-something-is-the-first-step?ref=shop_home_active_4" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Is your best friend a Potterhead? Sherlockian? Pegasister?
Mega-fan of<i> Adventure Time</i>? You can find her something perfect online! Whether it’s
a<a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/113497159/i-ship-destiel-supernatural-dean-and?ref=sr_gallery_15&ga_search_query=destiel&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=GB&ga_page=2&ga_search_type=all" target="_blank"> t-shirt subtly declaring</a> her support for Destiel, an Adventure Time cross
stitch, you can find a sea of amazing things online. Or, if you don’t want to
buy something, check out the sea of tutorials online, and adapt them for your needs. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Number Four: Charity Donations </b></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiysIwKKyuSOXspDCD3Tnd3U9Y-wEWNbbkUyZCIltbKjgCksbqZoatA7fFdvP47os1_kY1b-St3-aFP5RBztu9JBvN1Y-MWw6CRA2beJ2ziU5ncYShJ3qCEMiG5ntNszzwbUY6IEQRes8A/s1600/vdayutvs_web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiysIwKKyuSOXspDCD3Tnd3U9Y-wEWNbbkUyZCIltbKjgCksbqZoatA7fFdvP47os1_kY1b-St3-aFP5RBztu9JBvN1Y-MWw6CRA2beJ2ziU5ncYShJ3qCEMiG5ntNszzwbUY6IEQRes8A/s1600/vdayutvs_web.jpg" height="206" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If your best friend isn’t into material possessions, you can
always arrange a charity donation in her name for a set amount of money. Pick a
charity she feels strongly about, and away you go! <a href="http://www.vday.org/home" target="_blank">V-Day</a> is a great charity to
donate to, but keep in mind any local ones. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Magazines are both a blessing and a curse. On the plus side,
you can always keep them about, be it for scrapbooking, inspiration or just a flick-through
on a lazy afternoon if you don’t have time to get invested in a book. On the
negative side, you can (I always tend to) wind up with a collection of them
scattered around your house, dangerously teetering on any solid surface.
However, magazines are always hand to have around. <a href="http://bitchmagazine.org/" target="_blank">Bitch magazine</a> currently has
a sale on their gift subscriptions (as well as including a pretty slick gift
card!) so this is another great gift idea. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Number Six: Baked goods</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE1u4cafJpICr4hnAz8DOQgsw1hkDzUx4ewyB0PSiedaHEj3DHv2o4fJzjizorObSB-aMu6i7CNf-VmsM2eT4hzbBVsurjg49Lexyb34L-SztCG9buRVkp4o9rvnhn9BJlitfp0aDDiQQ/s1600/varietycupcakes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE1u4cafJpICr4hnAz8DOQgsw1hkDzUx4ewyB0PSiedaHEj3DHv2o4fJzjizorObSB-aMu6i7CNf-VmsM2eT4hzbBVsurjg49Lexyb34L-SztCG9buRVkp4o9rvnhn9BJlitfp0aDDiQQ/s1600/varietycupcakes.jpg" height="200" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everyone I know LOVES baked goods. I mean, who doesn’t?
Galentine’s Day is a perfect opportutnity to make your bestie some delicious
treats. I love <a href="http://www.bakingmad.com/earl-grey-cupcakes-with-lemon-buttercream-recipe/" target="_blank">this cupcake recipe</a>, and I am known to make yummy<a href="http://www.kidspot.com.au/best-recipes/biscuits-and-cookies+45/4-ingredient-nutella-biscuits-recipe+4904.htm" target="_blank"> Nutella cookies </a>from time to time. <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/mlew15/19-lovely-cupcakes-to-make-this-valentines-day-h0se" target="_blank">Buzzfeed</a> have a great list of yummy cupcakes which
can be great inspiration… OR just make for pretty things to look at! </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Number Seven: A Cup of Tea and a Chat</b></span></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How perfect is this gif?!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sure, pretty things and lovely gifts are great, but sometimes you can't beat a good cup of tea. Either in your own home or out at a cafe, a cup of tea and a long chat can be perfect. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So there you have it! Let me know what you get up to this
Galentine’s Day, and how you celebrate! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can also find me on<a href="https://twitter.com/Ariellalphabet" target="_blank"> Twitter</a>, as well as over on my blog
<a href="http://comicsandcookies.com/">comicsandcookies.com</a></span><o:p></o:p><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13132126948909042913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2449970416374328113.post-44039119829136261832014-02-10T12:27:00.000-08:002014-02-10T12:27:49.551-08:00Back to your scheduled progamming. Also, help to decrease world suck!<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Aaand we're back! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It seems we have taken an unannounced hiatus from this blog, but we are back again, and have plenty of posts planned for the future.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Today
I want to talk about something that may not occur to many of us very
often, if at all, and that is using the internet productively. You
probably think that you're already semi-productive with your use of
the internet. Maybe you use it as a platform to showcase your
talents, to keep in touch with friends, keep in the loop about
projects that matter to you, or to casually follow (okay, okay: stalk)
your idols. Of course there is some downtime, often arising from
boredom or procrastination – I totally understand this. There is
nothing wrong with the fleeting but enjoyable amount of gratification
one can achieve from levelling up on one's mmorpg of choice, but it's
all about balance. </span>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.mattpaulson.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/image001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.mattpaulson.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/image001.jpg" height="183" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Do
you use any of that internet time to give hope to people who, at this
very moment, are thousands of miles away from you and don't have even
the most basic essentials that we take for granted each day? No?
Well, here are some websites and organisations that allow you to give
to those who actually need it. Websites that in some cases don't even
necessitate that you part with any of your money at all. </span>
</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.allthingshealing.com/Portals/2/writer_photos/Healthy%20Recipes/care2-logo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.allthingshealing.com/Portals/2/writer_photos/Healthy%20Recipes/care2-logo.JPG" height="220" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<ol>
<li><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://care2.com/">Care2</a>
is a platform for people who wish to make a difference with a wide
variety of issues from animal welfare to politics to civil rights
and the environment. Users can create and sign petitions for causes
that they believe in, and visit the Click to Donate page daily, to
give to charitable organisations by simply clicking the button on
each tab- you don't have to donate any money of your own and
clicking takes no more than a minute of your time. You can help to
save a few acres of rainforest rather than idly reblogging a
photograph of the rainforest on your Tumblr! Better yet, you can
create an account and track how much you've helped each cause over
time; way more satisfying than levelling up, right?</span></div>
</li>
</ol>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>How
does it work?</b></span></div>
<div class="western" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">When
you click on the donate button, care2's sponsors will donate to the
selected cause. It's that simple. </span>
</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.shscctc.scot.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/freerice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.shscctc.scot.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/freerice.jpg" /></a></span></div>
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<ol start="2">
<li><div class="western" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://freerice.com/">freerice</a> is a website that allows you to
donate rice for the hungry </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">and help fund education</span> for the
underprivileged. Owned by the United Nations food programme, free
rice requires you to answer randomly generated questions on a topic
of your choice, including English vocabulary, maths, chemistry, the
humanities, geography, the sciences and even SAT test preparation.
For every correct answer, 10 grains of rice are donated by the
organisation, and I should warn you, the quizzes can get very
addictive. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://blog.patrickrothfuss.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Worldbuilders-Logo_Web_Smaller1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://blog.patrickrothfuss.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Worldbuilders-Logo_Web_Smaller1.png" height="228" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</li>
<li><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://worldbuilders.org/">World Builders </a>is a charitable organisation that aims to “</span>use
the collective power of readers, fellow authors and book lovers to
make the world a better place”. Founded by author Pat Rothfuss,
World Builders works with Heifer International to promote education,
sustainable agriculture, and local industry all over the world, and
in turn those who donate are in with a chance to win all sorts of
cool stuff from authors and publishers of the best books and
webcomics.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There are multiple ways to participate: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>The Lottery</b>, which
is basically what it sounds like: you donate, and are in return
entered in a draw to win a bunch of cool stuff. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>The Sure Thing</b>,
where you basically just buy something awesome from<a href="http://thetinkerspacks.bigcartel.com/"> the store</a> and <b>Auctions</b>, where rare and
specialised services are auctioned off to the highest bidder – in
the past this has included “professionals who are willing to read
and critique your manuscripts...signed art and rare books. There
have been quite a few chances to win guest appearances in comics and
get your name into upcoming books.”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">If you're a self-proclaimed
geek and book lover (which I guess is pretty likely if you're
reading this blog), World Builders is probably calling out to you,
so go on ahead. Just come back here after. We'll be waiting! No
really, I'll be here... </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://fbcdn-profile-a.akamaihd.net/hprofile-ak-prn2/t5/261139_220981334611628_171170643_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://fbcdn-profile-a.akamaihd.net/hprofile-ak-prn2/t5/261139_220981334611628_171170643_n.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></div>
</li>
<li><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://tabforacause.org/">Tab For A Cause</a> is a non-profit organisation that makes donating to
charities super quick and easy. All you have to do is download the
add-on for your web browser (this doesn't take more than a minute!),
and voilà! Each time you open a new browser tab, their sponsors
donate to the wide variety of affiliated charities. </span>
</div>
</li>
</ol>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I
hope that these sites demonstrate how easily you can <a href="http://fightworldsuck.org/">help decrease worldsuck </a>and make your internet browsing sessions more productive –
if you're anything like Ari and I, you clock enough hours on the
internet to make a sizeable difference and increase your own personal
Level Of Ultimate Awesomeness in the proccess. </span>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13132126948909042913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2449970416374328113.post-50637435039611264932013-09-09T12:04:00.000-07:002013-09-09T12:04:34.185-07:00DC stands for Dubious Choices, Amirite? <div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJWUjU5FtWYeJOYc0htlQgb9TJ-CICQh0NbCXAqIy-G6WT_X5kq-Lgt0k7q5uJviQwDiOzGDlnivoRHl1MCIDQVTwZ_cNbzvlCLcjkpE0lznrGxeBen-WkRd39r0RvDasaR78VVj1rq2o/s1600/A9HKnpTCQAAleLa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJWUjU5FtWYeJOYc0htlQgb9TJ-CICQh0NbCXAqIy-G6WT_X5kq-Lgt0k7q5uJviQwDiOzGDlnivoRHl1MCIDQVTwZ_cNbzvlCLcjkpE0lznrGxeBen-WkRd39r0RvDasaR78VVj1rq2o/s320/A9HKnpTCQAAleLa.jpg" width="240" /></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello fellow Geeky Femmes, it's Ari! It's been a while since I wrote anything here, but I've been saving up all my wrath for writing and working on something really needed to be reported on. Sure, over the last month we've had some pretty bad stuff from creator of <i>Kickass</i>, Mark Millar's egotistcal and self-entitled mouth, but it hasn't enraged the comics community as much as what DC have spent this last week doing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While I don’t typically read many DC titles (and so my judgement
may be either biased or missing in vital information, two things I’ll admit)
what’s gone down this week has still majorly pissed me off. DC have truly been
rocking the boat with a variety of questionable decisions, all of which have
coalesced into one group of seriously annoyed fans. Earlier this week, J. H.
Williams III and W. Haden Blackman announce that they were leaving hit title
<i>Batwoman</i> due to ‘editorial interferences’ from the higher ups, the most
shocking of which stated that Williams and Blackman could not show the marriage
between Kate Kane and fiancé Maggie Sawyer. Effective as of #25, the duo will
no longer be on the title, much to many fan’s dismay. (Read more over on <a href="http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=47715">CBR</a>,
including Williams and Blackman’s statement.<a href="http://io9.com/dc-wont-allow-batwomans-gay-marriage-to-be-depicted-1257106266"> iO9</a> also had an interesting take
on the news, and <a href="http://comicbook.com/">comicbook.com</a> features a factual report) Secondly, DC have then gone on to announce a<a href="http://www.dccomics.com/node/305151"> fun new art contest</a>
for talented readers and fans, with the prize to have artwork included in
<i>Harley Quinn</i> #0, written by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti. Sounds all fun
and games, right? Not quite. The contest requires prospective artists to
illustrate four specific panels, as written by Conner and Palmiotti, with no
knowledge as to the rest of the content, but the content is rather…
Questionable. It follows Harley’s various suicide attempts, and climaxes with
Harley, naked in a bathtub about to drop a variety of electrical appliances
into the tub. Leaves rather a sour taste in your mouth, doesn’t it? </span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim8-XuhmXpUdATd6359jdd_SuJkg8PdUayz6yu8-hCppKq2y9W8vXZ3_KJ2KrzrNbyICRajo1megwj8tcdfUTDPC_wPUkOwN0Gdm-v3fgd8ooSi8A4Cje3QbXO0L3oeT76WQ1knZjIutE/s1600/deadpool_x_harley_quinn_x_natural_born_killers_by_m7781-d4ie70u.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim8-XuhmXpUdATd6359jdd_SuJkg8PdUayz6yu8-hCppKq2y9W8vXZ3_KJ2KrzrNbyICRajo1megwj8tcdfUTDPC_wPUkOwN0Gdm-v3fgd8ooSi8A4Cje3QbXO0L3oeT76WQ1knZjIutE/s320/deadpool_x_harley_quinn_x_natural_born_killers_by_m7781-d4ie70u.jpg" width="247" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A match made in heaven... <br />Art from <a href="http://m7781.deviantart.com/art/deadpool-x-harley-quinn-x-natural-born-killers-272760078">DeviantArt</a>.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While the actions mentioned within the panels may be more
representative of Harley Quinn’s more frenetic characteristics (since the
contest has gone live, Jimmy Palmiotti has stepped in to give more context to
the panels- see <a href="http://furiousfanboys.com/2013/09/the-internet-is-pissed-at-dc-comics-today/">here</a> for more details) it has still sat wrong with a lot of
fans, myself included. While some internet speculators have suggested the
possibility that DC may be attempting to make Harley into their very own Merc
With A Mouth, it’s still an odd direction to take
Harley’s character. Many sites on the net have practically bent over backwards
offering their views on the subject (Tumblr and Twitter being such places, much to no-one's surprise) and
many news sites have jumped over each other to completely vilify DC, or in some
rarer cases, defend them. All things considered, DC are being portrayed as the
villains they have dedicated this month to. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First of all, we’ll discuss the news on </span><i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Batwoman</i><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, and what this could
mean for DC. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While it certainly isn’t
the latest DC cock-up, I feel it’s definitely up there as one of the more significant
ones. As mentioned, artist and writer J. H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman
have both walked off </span><i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Batwoman</i><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, citing ‘editorial interference’ often at the last
minute, forcing the duo to drastically alter scripts and art. While this level
of editorial interference is nothing new with DC, it’s what’s being interfered
with which is raising tempers.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a brief bit of backstory for those of you
unfamiliar with Kate Kane/Batwoman, here’s a cram <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjigTt3Wa7lUxudIzpite4HGljy7S8Hs7ptnhaLGLuMFCmhqeZhxQ84-Rp0dES0-aZPYa3nO0UUnYxmdeVpei7KPcXso7uipHhcH287E8ZTCzhKgvw8rWkzYbCbJhSHDwNk4yyMlLJTmo4/s1600/BW_Cv17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjigTt3Wa7lUxudIzpite4HGljy7S8Hs7ptnhaLGLuMFCmhqeZhxQ84-Rp0dES0-aZPYa3nO0UUnYxmdeVpei7KPcXso7uipHhcH287E8ZTCzhKgvw8rWkzYbCbJhSHDwNk4yyMlLJTmo4/s1600/BW_Cv17.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cover to Batwoman #17,<br />art by J. H. Williams III.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
session. Batwoman is one of
DC’s few female superheroes leading a solo title, but in a move unseen from
either of the Big Two, she is also a lesbian, and her positive portrayal within
the series has garnered the creative team/s (including Greg Rucka and J. H.
Williams III’s storyline Elegy, which takes place shortly before the New 52
not-a-reboot-reboot offers a well written and insightful look into Kate as a
character) a series of awards from LGBT+ group <a href="http://www.glaad.org/">GLAAD</a> for positive
representations of LGBT+ characters and portrayals in comics. Recently in the
comics, Kate Kane proposed on-panel to her long-suffering girlfriend Maggie
Sawyer, in what was hailed as an exciting new turn in comics and equal LGBT+
representations. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before I continue, it’s extremely important
to clarify that at no point have DC said that they are against gay marriage, or
are anti-LGBT+. This is not a thing that they have explicitly said, nor is it an
attitude they’ve taken. Furthermore, from these actions you can’t necessarily
prove that DC are anti-LGBT+, in this case, they’re just being dickheads to a
good character. They (Dan Didio) has simply stated that DC are anti-marriage… 'Cuz y'know, God forbid a superhero be married and have a loving relationship. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, DC have gone on the record as saying
that they don’t want to show the marriage between Kate and Maggie, if it
happens at all, horrifying people everywhere. This goes in flagrant opposition
to Marvel’s X-Men 2012 summer event, wherein Alpha Flight superhero Northstar (alias:
Jean-Paul Beaubier) married his partner Kyle Jinadu in <i>Astonishing X-Men</i> #51, which had many fans
celebrating the pairing, event and progressiveness that Marvel seemed to be
showing. However, some have criticised the event as Marvel treating it as a ‘novelty’,
due to the limited references to it. While it is mostly unfair to compare the
two companies, it’s certainly not unfair to compare the two companies’ stances
on marriage and gay marriage. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCQY3j-HQi9zXWVRvD71InWFRH7ThsfduFNl1xbmvb6MtcLyzs7nKQhOXlJEsnCKGbsLJnlJJlJNOO6j1zwzHq9Fsut65bAYpr27eXcgA8BMNGx7mmAybL-tOGwzlkw4fWrFkb9RhyO0A/s1600/GreenLantern_02_300_8430.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCQY3j-HQi9zXWVRvD71InWFRH7ThsfduFNl1xbmvb6MtcLyzs7nKQhOXlJEsnCKGbsLJnlJJlJNOO6j1zwzHq9Fsut65bAYpr27eXcgA8BMNGx7mmAybL-tOGwzlkw4fWrFkb9RhyO0A/s1600/GreenLantern_02_300_8430.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Surprise! It's weakly written character motivation.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We can now go onto look more into DC’s
position on marriage and relationships, and what this means to readers. It’s no
big secret that very few folk in the DC universe seem to be able to keep and
maintain a healthy relationship without incurring murder or worse. Just look at
the latest issue of <i>Batgirl</i>, wherein her boyfriend gets shot. Heck, the trope ‘<a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StuffedIntoTheFridge">girlfriend-in-a-refrigerator</a>’
as a ‘motivation’ for male characters came from DC, where Green Lantern Kyle
Rayner’s girlfriend was murdered by supervillain Major Force and left to rot in
the refrigerator. Charming. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, in
a curious turn from that also embodies a false sense of
we-know-lady-comic-readers-yo, DC announced a comic based entirely around the
romantic relationship between Superman and Wonder Woman (‘cuz all lady comic
readers are super-interested in romance. By geez, I know it’s all I want from
my comics, as it might just melt my cold, cold heart) and how they work as a
couple and as crime-fighters. To many female comic readers, this series came
off as more as an insult to many fans. That said, I’m not holding out much hope
for it, but we’ll have to wait for its release before we judge… At least before
we judge too harshly, anyway. Returning the topic of marriage and
relationships, it’s safe for us to establish the DC has a horrible tendency to
mistreat romantic partners and spouses as a poor excuse for character
motivation.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The fact that DC is so against romantic
relationships and marriage is not just inherently sad, but<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg7-gk0jdjKNnZ9g7dK5wmuwl_5h_5ItePfDjB0ltnR0EY8lK2IBjslgzFF27kCnOGy8dX_DjhUb_sKKPskqNCwXRumP1CSCu8iODUxTAFp3v0H_PZYg8KSubOSrPNdFReNsMYgZacyhU/s1600/comics-batwoman-17-proposal-artwork.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg7-gk0jdjKNnZ9g7dK5wmuwl_5h_5ItePfDjB0ltnR0EY8lK2IBjslgzFF27kCnOGy8dX_DjhUb_sKKPskqNCwXRumP1CSCu8iODUxTAFp3v0H_PZYg8KSubOSrPNdFReNsMYgZacyhU/s320/comics-batwoman-17-proposal-artwork.jpeg" width="207" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kate proposing to Maggie,<br />art by J. H. Williams III.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
it’s also incredibly
damaging. While I as a person may not have a positive view towards marriage, I’m
not going to insist that my media follows my worldviews. I think that marriage,
for the right people and right reasons is a wonderful thing, bringing together
two people who are very much in love. In the case of Kate Kane and Maggie
Sawyer, it would be an absolutely earth-shattering, jubilant thing. It would
potentially change the shape of comics to come, and would prove a talking point
for years. As I already mentioned, I’m not a fan of marriage, but I would read
and celebrate the hell out of a Batwoman marriage comic! I think it would be a
good thing for DC, and a great thing for Kate herself. However, If DC aren’t
willing to portray positive relationships or marriages, then what does it mean
for future characters? What does it mean for people read the comics? It is
perpetuating that superheroes can’t have romantic interests. They can’t be
happy in a relationship, which is an extremely negative message to send. To all
those people who look up to superheroes (myself included) it’s saying to them,
you’re either a superhero, or you can have a romantic interest, and to this, I
say no. I refuse to accept this. You can be a superhero with a husband, or
wife, or girlfriend or boyfriend (or a mix of all four!) if you want to be.
Superheroics don’t end on the streets. You can have both. The fact that these
relationships are being portrayed in such a negative way is hurtful to those
who consume the media. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next up, we’ll discuss the art competition
based around Harley Quinn. At it’s very, very base, it’s a fairly good idea. A
contest to scout out new talent, (God knows DC are doing a damn good job
scaring away their own talent!) using the premise of one of DC’s most popular
characters outside of the Holy Trinity, of course, and launching a new title.
On paper, it’s a great idea, gives a lot of </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">amazing unknowns the opportunity to share
their work with a big company, something they wouldn’t have been able to do
otherwise. The contest is being judged by artist Jim Lee (<i>Superman/Batman, Dark X-Men </i>who also wrote a series of interesting tweets about the controversy, collected<a href="http://www.geeksofdoom.com/2013/09/07/jim-lee-weighs-in-on-dcs-controversial-harley-quinn-artist-tryout-script"> here</a>) and DC
head honcho Dan Didio, so artists really are getting their work looked over by
professionals.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, the thing that has sat wrong with
just about everyone is what the script requests: </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: proxima, Arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1em;">
PAGE 15</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: proxima, Arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1em;">
4 panels</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: proxima, Arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1em;">
PANEL 1<br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;" />Harley is on top of a building, holding a large DETACHED cellphone tower in her hands as lightning is striking just about everywhere except her tower. She is looking at us like she cannot believe what she is doing. Beside herself. Not happy.</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: proxima, Arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1em;">
PANEL 2 <br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;" />Harley is sitting in an alligator pond, on a little island with a suit of raw chicken on, rolling her eyes like once again, she cannot believe where she has found herself. We see the alligators ignoring her.</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: proxima, Arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1em;">
PANEL 3<br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;" />Harley is sitting in an open whale mouth, tickling the inside of the whale’s mouth with a feather. She is ecstatic and happy, like this is the most fun ever.</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: proxima, Arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1em;">
PANEL 4<br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;" />Harley sitting naked in a bathtub with toasters, blow dryers, blenders, appliances all dangling above the bathtub and she has a cord that will release them all. We are watching the moment before the inevitable death. Her expression is one of “oh well, guess that’s it for me” and she has resigned herself to the moment that is going to happen. </div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.25pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip4yH-ngLJbN2Dbb4KbqqXMmHrRLivpP6XxvnZ2J41giGHa48Tw_Iilwr7RGb3ABjxIkasa13m93BDl8ayIFqCoLH1CRZugk_P9lekSJOOX76WwE5iHdMpPM3ghMDSMdaOHY8G9tamDsE/s1600/harley-quinn-dc-comics-600x813.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip4yH-ngLJbN2Dbb4KbqqXMmHrRLivpP6XxvnZ2J41giGHa48Tw_Iilwr7RGb3ABjxIkasa13m93BDl8ayIFqCoLH1CRZugk_P9lekSJOOX76WwE5iHdMpPM3ghMDSMdaOHY8G9tamDsE/s320/harley-quinn-dc-comics-600x813.jpg" width="236" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cover art for Harley Quinn #0.<br />Art by Amanda Conner.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 11.25pt;">While a lot of news sites have gone for the
sensationalistic headline “DC COMICS ASK YOU TO DRAW A NAKED LADY COMITTING
SUICIDE!!!!!” it boils down to much more than this. Palmiotti has gone on to
explain what the context behind the script is (a mildly intelligent fourth-wall
breaking commentary on the state of the strange imaginings from writers, as
well as a strange commentary about nudity in comics? I’m not entirely sure on
that part) but it still leaves many questions unanswered. Sure, Harley is the
lovable, crazy rogue we’ve always known, but isn’t this a bit extreme? Sure, in
context, it’s a commentary on crazy writers, but it’s still a strange concept.
Draw a woman, naked in a bathtub about to commit suicide (for whatever reason)?
Even WITH context it’s kinda weird. It perpetuates a rather lackadaisical attitude
about suicide, and with the contest happening the weekend before National
Suicide Prevention Week, it equates out to either a sick joke or incredible bad
timing- take it as you will.</span> </span></h4>
<div>
<h4>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></h4>
<h4>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></h4>
<h4>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In conclusion, DC Comics have done some
shitty stuff this week. The Tumblr page <a href="http://hasdcdonesomethingstupidtoday.tumblr.com/">Has DC Done Something Stupid Today?</a> Has
been buzzing constantly, and the counter has rarely raised above one. Everyone
knew DC were capable of doing stupid stuff (and have been doing for years) but
it seems that this past week they’ve been making bad choices in an abundance
this week, pissing off people left, right and centre. DC’s
anti-marriage/positive relationship has resulted in them looking like fools,
and the fans and followers of <i>Batwoman</i> have almost launched a revolt against
the company. As for the <i>Harley Quinn</i> palaver… Less said the better. I still
hope to wake up one morning and find it was all a horrible dream. That said,
there are still potential silver linings to be made from both situations. With
the <i>Batwoman</i>-marriage issue DC might one day rescind and change their thoughts,
we might be onto something- I’d rather see positive relationships in my comics
than awful ones, and I’d especially like to see a good wedding- especially so
if it’s Kate Kane’s. DC seem to be ‘learning’ through a trial by fire, as fans
are more vocal than they ever have been when things have been done that hasn’t
been to their satisfaction. Also, as J. H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman
leave <i>Batwoman</i>, it’s been <a href="http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/09/07/batwoman-shouldnt-have-a-happy-personal-life-dan-didio-at-baltimore-comic-con/">announced</a> at Baltimore Comic Con by Dan Didio that
Marc Andreyko would be taking over on writing, and has promised that he wants
to live up to the legacy. All in all, it’s
safe to say that DC have really screwed us all over this past week, and seem to
have lost a lot of fans.<br /> </span><o:p><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Follow me on Twitter for more comic ranting:
<a href="https://twitter.com/Ariellalphabet">@Ariellalphabet </a></span></span></h4>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.25pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13132126948909042913noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2449970416374328113.post-35903915133669543702013-07-05T16:30:00.001-07:002013-07-05T16:30:20.780-07:00Ada Lovelace: The world's first computer progammer.
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Hey everyone, Gina here!</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF2aAizs0ss-I6Lz1uN88jH9yGpLzIRbBP7OGbuhbWRtESRfcABmpYygoyQ9YjzbPzsRM_qF6vMd4u1Qbzw86ElgMIgxDsfxJCKJiAppCy25uSIKI4gBhKcrrNqN9tn8fEkgRyd2xZmz8/s1600/Snapshot_20120706_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF2aAizs0ss-I6Lz1uN88jH9yGpLzIRbBP7OGbuhbWRtESRfcABmpYygoyQ9YjzbPzsRM_qF6vMd4u1Qbzw86ElgMIgxDsfxJCKJiAppCy25uSIKI4gBhKcrrNqN9tn8fEkgRyd2xZmz8/s200/Snapshot_20120706_1.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Sadly, few people know
anything about the world's first computer programmer; the person who
wrote the world's first computer algorithm before the first computer
was even invented and created the foundation upon which they have
been programmed since: enter, Ada Lovelace.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Similarly to most other
women in the field, Lovelace has been overlooked as a pioneer of
science and technology. Her impact upon the world of technology has
been questioned – albeit by the type of bigoted people who simply
have a problem with women advancing in such fields-, but no
one truly educated about this woman can deny that her work was the
basis for how we program computers today.
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Ada Lovelace was born
in 1815, the child of renowned poet Lord Byron and his wife Anne, who
adored mathematics as her daughter later would. Mathematics professor
George Babbage – now revered for being 'the father of the
computer'- asked Ada to translate an Italian description of his
Analytical Machine, and in doing so she created her own additional
set of notes and a way of calculating a sequence of bernoulli numbers
from diagramming the computations which the machine would make and in
doing so, wrote what is essentially the first computer algorithm.
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Ada's interest in
mathematics continued throughout her life - she referred to herself
as a poetical scientist and an analyst and meta-physician- and though
her algorithm was undoubtedly her most prestigious accomplishment,
her general extroverted interest in science and mathematics was rare
and dangerous in a time when women with any advanced intellectual
eagerness were regarded with strong suspicion, known as blue
stockings, and often branded wrongly as people to be avoided for
simply for striving for intelligence over beauty. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Despite the
societal dismissal of female intellectuals in her time, Ada continued
to pursue her interests. She accurately predicted that her method of
algorithms in computing could one day allow us to expand beyond
numerical calculations and suggested that it would be feasible for use
with symbols or anything with a fixed set of rules. Sure enough we
have made massive strides since then and computers are incredibly
useful tools for academics and scholars of many subjects, as well as
being globally popular for use with many more leisurely pursuits.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Even today it is easy to become
pessimistic that attitudes towards women in male-dominated fields
such as science and mathematics continue to be shockingly biased, but
certainly great strides have been made. We owe this to women like Ada
Lovelace, who as well as being far ahead of her time, never let such
unfounded beliefs stop her from being a great mathematician and
scientist in her own right. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">For more information about Ada's contributions and Ada Lovelace Day, see http://findingada.com/ </span></div>
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</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13132126948909042913noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2449970416374328113.post-76741311211364329392013-06-26T16:36:00.000-07:002013-07-01T06:58:02.968-07:00Ari: Female Superheroes in Film<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrVuD45LAI7h3I-eQvfuBpw3pIc0ckBBLtn15h0zsaaxONHb9hJhMt8c7TtvzyHJN2-1uqIgW7TY2alwjhYLfIksjmb1EAmdXDaD19YOoHT1vEqJzxZLKEIZK3KmTJLti-RK6_hOgQFgI/s1600/photo+(1)+(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrVuD45LAI7h3I-eQvfuBpw3pIc0ckBBLtn15h0zsaaxONHb9hJhMt8c7TtvzyHJN2-1uqIgW7TY2alwjhYLfIksjmb1EAmdXDaD19YOoHT1vEqJzxZLKEIZK3KmTJLti-RK6_hOgQFgI/s1600/photo+(1)+(1).JPG" /></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello! Ari here, resident comic book geek, here to talk about female characters in films and TV programmes. "Why is this an important thing? At least there are female characters in the things you watch. That should be good enough." To which I respectfully reply, while having female characters in there is enough, oftentimes it is simply not good enough. The point of feminism and ultimately the point of this post is equality. The same for both genders, and for people who identify as either gender. What goes for one, goes for the other. This really isn't a hard concept to understand, even for the most unscholarly of us. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, in this context, for every one male character/superhero I see in a comic book film, I want to see one superheroine. In the last thirteen years, there have been 48 comic book adaptation to the big screen (accounting for series from Marvel, DC and Dark Horse. For the sake of my argument, original scripts such as <i>Super </i>(2010), <i>Chronicle</i> (2012) and <i>Hancock</i> (2008) have been omitted) and I'll cheerfully (or cheerlessly if we're talking about <i>Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer</i> (2007) admit to having watched nearly all of them. However, out of those 48 films, only two of them, which is less than 5% have female characters as the lead. Frankly, that's an awful number and a rather dire representation of women in film and superhero fiction, and I for one want it to change. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let me preface this mini-rant by saying I LOVE COMIC BOOK FILMS. I cannot get enough of them. Every time I get the news that another of my beloved characters is making the transition to the big screen, I shriek with glee and hunt down every single piece of information about the potential film that I can. Also, like a lot of other straight girls, I especially love watching attractive actors taking my characters and making them into something new, and I have absolutely no complaints about the gratuitous topless scenes featuring the aforementioned actors (Watch the TV series <i>Arrow</i> and you'll see what I mean!) or anything else, and view it as an interesting view on the 'female gaze' as opposed to the male gaze. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH3EpIb7PCU8w-Xn4uX-Oe46l8uehyphenhyphenwCUvAnK7HXpKN2LBlMj798mZ2KVM6nNe4iBJA3S8BwojdFxPc3x4eak7myg9bEj1FF2R9DubPz-1irOnriQNKL7Mnye6ORUWLeCwZqvobNLTtCQ/s1600/220px-XMen1poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH3EpIb7PCU8w-Xn4uX-Oe46l8uehyphenhyphenwCUvAnK7HXpKN2LBlMj798mZ2KVM6nNe4iBJA3S8BwojdFxPc3x4eak7myg9bEj1FF2R9DubPz-1irOnriQNKL7Mnye6ORUWLeCwZqvobNLTtCQ/s320/220px-XMen1poster.jpg" width="215" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Referring back to the 48 superhero films and the characters contained within them, the female characters tend to be one of of two extremes: powerful warrior women or weak little girls in need of being rescued. If we look at Bryan Singer's <i>X-Men</i> (2000) we can see the two extremes almost straight away. Storm/Ororo Munroe, played by Halle Berry is a powerful warrior woman. Jean Grey, played by Famke Janssen, is a powerful warrior woman. Then, we have Rogue, one of the most powerful mutants in the world reduced to be being a weak little girl who then goes onto be rescued by Marvel's fucking poster boy, Wolverine. Of course, we can't blame 100% of this on Wolverine, but the story itself shouldn't need such a cheap writing device to get the point across. At it's heart, <i>X-Men</i> is about social injustices and prejudices, a fascinating subject in itself, especially when you transfer the message to the attitudes for/against the gay community. However, all this said, the female characters in this film are successful and powerful and fairly positive representations of the characters that they're portraying. While it does (only just) fail the <a href="http://bechdeltest.com/view/101/">Bechdel Test</a> (like many superhero films tend to) it's not one of the worst offenders within this group. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like many superhero films, the narrative is often derailed and deviates (in some cases very, </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1nV4_N5GTEnQQ2lY-2kCdago4j_aHXoCTCKYENhXJQXAWOgVuBiJ_bU4saWMq0gy8xAbDbc3WFNBznWpuNBlNWu54HpaOsGJBT7UumzF-tu0Z1nQ9sE__vKPBy0VytxPNBv117NLz-k0/s1600/fantastic_four.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1nV4_N5GTEnQQ2lY-2kCdago4j_aHXoCTCKYENhXJQXAWOgVuBiJ_bU4saWMq0gy8xAbDbc3WFNBznWpuNBlNWu54HpaOsGJBT7UumzF-tu0Z1nQ9sE__vKPBy0VytxPNBv117NLz-k0/s320/fantastic_four.jpg" width="228" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">very far) from the original source material, and one of the worst offenders of this is <i>Fantastic Four</i> (2005) and <i>Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer</i> (2007). Funnily enough, it was these films that got me hooked on reading Marvel comics in the first place, but now I can wholeheartedly say that I hate them. Whether they were intended to be loose adaptations of the Ultimate universe Fantastic Four or whether they just lost track of the story somewhere down the line, I don't know. However, one problem I've always had with the film is the way Susan Storm is represented. I understand catering to a larger audience by using eye-candy or whatever reason they found for having Sue act/dress the way she did, but it just sat very uncomfortably with me. In the comics, Susan Storm/Richards is an intelligent, deadly, and modest woman who developed the use of her powers without a humiliating and unnecessary scene that left her wandering the streets of New York in her underwear. Call it humour, call it allowing for the male gaze, call it whatever you like, but I know the original Sue Storm would never be in that situation. Frankly, I could talk about how the <i>Fantastic Four</i> films have annoyed the crap out of me with their terrible character representations, weak narrative and ridiculous script, but for the sake of brevity, I won't. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fortunately for those who are supremely annoyed by this shit, there's slowly but surely been a difference in the way women are shown in superhero films. In<i> Superman: Man of Steel</i> (2013) Lois Lane (a character I talked about in my previous post, which you can read <a href="http://geekyfemmes.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/behind-every-great-x-man-is-even.html">here</a>) is a strong, female character who didn't fall prey to being damselled or otherwise incapacitated for whatever reason. While her romance with Superman did feel rather tacky and awkward at the end, her character still came out on top, which was an absolute delight to witness. Not only that, but in the promotional shots did an unspeakable justice to the characters, and instead of featuring Lois in either the stereotypical damsel pose (see <a href="http://kateordiecomics.com/archive/strong-women/">here</a> for an amusing parody) or any other ridiculousness, but Lois was at the forefront of the picture, and Superman was stood behind her, mirroring her pose. Here, we see a strong, confident woman who doesn't need to be saved by Superman. Here, we see a damn change. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Credit to Kate Leth of <i>Kate or Die</i>. Taken from<br /> <a href="http://kateordiecomics.com/archive/xyz/">http://kateordiecomics.com/archive/xyz/</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another example of a female character who was surprisingly awesome was Catwoman/Selena Kyle, as played by Anne Hathaway in Christopher Nolan's <i>The Dark Knight Rises</i> (2012). One of many big complaints about Catwoman (aside from the film from 2004) is the sheer impracticality of her outfit, as illustrated in the strip by Kate Leth of <i>Kate or Die!</i> comics. Kyle's outfit/catsuit/whatever-the-hell-it-is remains zipped up and covered throughout the whole film, and the film itself doesn't rely on her cleavage as (if you'll forgive the pun) cheap titillation for the audiences. Admittedly, the fact she's wearing high heels to fight crime is rather redundant, but her characterisation and representation were certainly satisfactory. Again, like <i>X-Men</i> (2000) <a href="http://bechdeltest.com/view/3437/the_dark_knight_rises/">its passing</a> of the Bechdel test is rather rocky. Lastly, we can't consider women in superhero films without considering one of the biggest superhero ensemble films of the decade- <i>Avengers </i>(<i>Assemble</i>) (2012) directed by Joss Whedon. While I (and many others) have problems with the way in which Whedon creates sympathy for female characters by frequently placing them in peril (see <a href="http://www.themarysue.com/reconsidering-the-feminism-of-joss-whedon/">this post</a> over on the Mary Sue for more details, and read the<a href="http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Joss_Whedon"> post</a> on the Geek Feminism wiki for more information) it doesn't seem to happen in <i>Avengers</i>, prompting a celebration from this blogger. Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff, played by Scarlet Johansson fights her way out of every situation she finds herself in without any problems, and ultimately, if it wasn't for her, the Avengers wouldn't have been able to save New York, as Romanoff was responsible for closing the portal that the Chitauri were pouring out of. Not only that, but Maria Hill, played by Cobie Smulders, member of S.H.I.E.L.D. was similarly kickass, and basically beat the crap out of anyone that dared to get in her way. If you wish to read more about Feminist readings of <i>Avengers</i>, read this <a href="http://opinionessoftheworld.com/2012/05/09/the-avengers-feminist-film-review/">article</a> by the Opinioness of the World. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUNgcEsCJaf39fAnPMjGfM3Kmcxw45dRiPh2E5MDQN6rpLvvMrSl9zLejhSAQTU-BmZWB9U9efOtLwNq8NOwxp8kfyEzIUX0KTRGb6KomY7XfkJyhedG3zNQkU9Dby4pL0FtnP8ggGvZM/s1600/marvels-agents-of-shield.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUNgcEsCJaf39fAnPMjGfM3Kmcxw45dRiPh2E5MDQN6rpLvvMrSl9zLejhSAQTU-BmZWB9U9efOtLwNq8NOwxp8kfyEzIUX0KTRGb6KomY7XfkJyhedG3zNQkU9Dby4pL0FtnP8ggGvZM/s320/marvels-agents-of-shield.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So with all that said, why are there so few female-led superhero films? As I mentioned in my previous post, there are absolutely no shortage of awesome female characters who could easily hold a successful film. Sure, <i>Elektra</i> (2005) and <i>Catwoman</i> (2004) were absolutely dire. But not because of the characters in the film. Because of a series of creative decisions, directorial decisions, and generally bad writing. However, you can't place the success/failure of female-led superhero films on bad creative decisions, and with the correct writers, directors cast and so on, a female-led superhero film will be brilliant. Not even a film in necessary in this juncture; even just a TV series would be a start, such as the <i>Birds of Prey</i> series that shakily made its way onto screen and then off again after one paltry series several years ago. The last female-led superhero TV show that wasn't animated was <i>Wonder Woman</i>, from back in 1975-1979, so we're certainly due for a new one! Returning back to Joss Whedon for a moment, his newest series (premiering this autumn) <i>Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. </i>already features a strong, equal cast, but we'll ultimately have to wait for it to air before we can make assumptions or readings on it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A strong point I'm trying to make here is that in the original texts (the comics books) there is a never-ending, wonderful smorgasbord of strong, female characters, and yet they have little to no equal representation within the world of film and TV. You know what? That is awful. Why is there such a small fraction of female characters in the big screen adaptation? Because people haven't realised how flippin' awesome the ladies in comic books are, and this is wrong. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Now," I hear you say. "Ari, you've been waffling about female characters in superhero films for </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMElMT1SRGX7Jp5CEHiKAlSXXX5AI2uHZ_G_3QSbYVq8bApczPQCDOAxVhoDpNG1ZGaeE8_Ha2cAv5w2XNEppDRUl-phlP0BvDvRuAl_oT1e7qQ4ZexDUXXNqDKwc6W7TmCtgXTadThro/s1600/702508_10151312971717491_421529032_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMElMT1SRGX7Jp5CEHiKAlSXXX5AI2uHZ_G_3QSbYVq8bApczPQCDOAxVhoDpNG1ZGaeE8_Ha2cAv5w2XNEppDRUl-phlP0BvDvRuAl_oT1e7qQ4ZexDUXXNqDKwc6W7TmCtgXTadThro/s320/702508_10151312971717491_421529032_n.jpg" width="192" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a very long time. Why do you want them so badly?" Well it boils down to simply wanting an equal representation in the fiction and media I love. I want to see my favourite characters on screen. I want to see Carol Danvers on the big screen being sassy and beating the crap out of people that deserve it. "But it's not always that simple!" You say. Well sadly, I'm aware of that. Not everyone likes to see strong female characters (for whatever reason) and not everyone is interested in making films like that. I don't know why, but it is damn frustrating. All that I (and many others around the world) want is for both genders to be equally and fairly represented, and it really isn't a big ask. However, unless these films or TV programmes are to be made by the right people, there is that horrible possibility that the characters will fall into one of two camos: They'll be either hyper-sexualised, or frequently put into damsel-in-distress situations, both of which are boring, overused concepts and ultimately lazy writing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In conclusion, I'd like to say that this isn't a losing battle. It's an uphill battle. There is a distinct possibility of there being more comic book films featuring female characters in the starring role. As the DC cinematic universe looks to be following in Marvel's footsteps by making an ensemble film (</span><i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Justice League</i><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">) it would be extremely hard to do it the correct justice (haha!) without having a standalone film featuring Wonder Woman, exactly in the way of Captain America or Thor. Furthermore, it is frequently rumoured that such a film will exist featuring everyone's favourite Amazon, so again, we'll have to wait and see. On the Marvel side of things, there are two currently unnamed films coming in 2016, and there is the distinct possibility that one or both of these could have female characters in the lead, and there has been enough support from the Marvel cinematic and comic universe fandoms to make individual films starring Black Widow and/or Peggy Carter, which is a wonderful idea. With Black Widow, you could do a film about her origins, and for Peggy Carter, you could look at her character development post-Captain America. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, to sum up: Wonder Woman film? Yes please. Captain/Miss Marvel films? Yes please. Black Widow film? Yes please. Peggy Carter film? Yes please. We want superhero films led by women, and they are absolutely capable of leading them. However, if we so much as get the slightest whiff of damsel in distress or hyper-sexualisation, we will fuck your shit up. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All we want is a fair representation in the media. It's not difficult. </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13132126948909042913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2449970416374328113.post-55648833359824722332013-06-17T11:57:00.000-07:002013-06-17T11:57:54.866-07:00Geek Window Shopping: A selection of awesome online suppliers!<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Gina here!</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span>
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</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjviiDn5FqyzVZ_rElGacBqXlRrwkmmQLx2rV94tzJmparok5V-6xVscSzpStMEdxejj1tJCLEMWA32OwoIJndV6RHcOAj1_idu4SK8vCkEbScE6uxV3x8jF1eYY_9ZlGxn3G1dGD6M9nM/s1600/Snapshot_20130417_5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjviiDn5FqyzVZ_rElGacBqXlRrwkmmQLx2rV94tzJmparok5V-6xVscSzpStMEdxejj1tJCLEMWA32OwoIJndV6RHcOAj1_idu4SK8vCkEbScE6uxV3x8jF1eYY_9ZlGxn3G1dGD6M9nM/s320/Snapshot_20130417_5.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
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</div>
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I am a list-lover. I
write lists like there is no tomorrow, and today I'd like to share my
list of 4 great suppliers of Geeky merch on the internet! Of course I
couldn't search <i>every</i> geek-related crevice the web has to
offer, but here I present a few of my personal favourites. So grab
the nearest credit card (maybe it'll be yours, maybe not...) and get
to spending! </span></span></div>
<br />
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #a64d79;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></span>
</div>
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></b></span>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>A foreword about Etsy.
</b><br />Etsy is a fantastic place- I've stumbled upon some absolute gems
from the most random and uninspired of boredom-induced shopping
searches. I would like to demonstrate to everyone the joys of Etsy
and, more importantly, the importance of supporting independent
sellers and artists! Take a look at my list of fabulous Etsy sellers!
</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span>
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</div>
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span>
<ul>
<li><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/G33KTweek">https://www.etsy.com/shop/G33KTweek</a>
<b>Etsy store:</b> Geek Tweek. An eclectic mix of video game novelty
items! Want a Mass Effect hair bow, or an 8bit inspired necklace?
How about some Walking Dead earrings or a circuit board necklace?
Geek Tweek has got you covered. They even create custom bottle cap
jewellery!</span></span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>My top pick</b>:
<a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/102640888/my-neighbor-totoro-ghibli-bottlecap?ref=shop_home_active">https://www.etsy.com/listing/102640888/my-neighbor-totoro-ghibli-bottlecap?ref=shop_home_active</a></span></span>
</div>
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span>
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<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
</div>
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span>
<ul>
<li><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/designbynickmorrison">https://www.etsy.com/shop/designbynickmorrison</a>
<b> Etsy store:</b> Design by Nick Morrison. Do you enjoy adorning your
walls with a proud display of your nerdy prowess? Yes, of course you
do! Then you'll want to check out some of the fabulous – and very
reasonably priced- prints at this Etsy store. There's something for
everyone, whether you're into The Avengers, Iron Man, Harry Potter
or just really enjoy displays of anatomically correct hearts.</span></span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>My picks</b>:
<a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/96404063/i-anatomically-heart-you-custom-art?ref=shop_home_active">https://www.etsy.com/listing/96404063/i-anatomically-heart-you-custom-art?ref=shop_home_active</a> </span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/95403364/atom-eve-custom-art-print-based-on?ref=shop_home_active">https://www.etsy.com/listing/95403364/atom-eve-custom-art-print-based-on?ref=shop_home_active</a></span></span>
</div>
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span>
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<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
</div>
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span>
<ul>
<li><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/nonfictiontees">https://www.etsy.com/shop/nonfictiontees</a>
<b>Etsy store:</b> Non-fiction tees. Sometimes you just need a
non-fiction t-shirt. You need a shirt that says something
(anything!). Sometimes you'd rather have a shirt that's more
intelligently stimulating than tedious and nauseating. Head on over
to Non-fiction tees and bag yourself a shirt displaying Isaac
Newton's colour theory, dinosaur evolution, or hey... corn farming.
Stun your friends and family with the sheer amount of info you can
cram on to one t-shirt! You may even learn a thing or two with these
tees, which available in men's and women's sizes!
</span></span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>My picks:</b>
<a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/40096821/typography-tshirt-literature-quote-tee?ref=shop_home_active">https://www.etsy.com/listing/40096821/typography-tshirt-literature-quote-tee?ref=shop_home_active</a></span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/62660123/organs-tshirt-anatomy-science-graphic?ref=shop_home_active">https://www.etsy.com/listing/62660123/organs-tshirt-anatomy-science-</a><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/62660123/organs-tshirt-anatomy-science-graphic?ref=shop_home_active">graphic?ref=shop_home_active</a></span></span>
</div>
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
</div>
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span>
<ul>
<li><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/AuthoredAdornments">https://www.etsy.com/shop/AuthoredAdornments</a><b>
Etsy store: </b>Authored adornments. If you're anything like me, you
love books. You adore to read because reading feeds your imagination
and inspires you and makes you a smarter, and sometimes wiser
person. If you have a connection with books, then you should check
out Authored Adornments, who offer jewellery and accessories
emblazoned with a selection of excepts from some of the greatest
books ever written. Check it out!
</span></span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>My picks</b>:
<a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/98142379/pride-and-prejudice-elizabeth-bennet-and?ref=shop_home_active">https://www.etsy.com/listing/98142379/pride-and-prejudice-elizabeth-bennet-and?ref=shop_home_active</a> </span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/95465414/mary-shellys-frankenstein-victorian?ref=shop_home_active">https://www.etsy.com/listing/95465414/mary-shellys-frankenstein-victorian?ref=shop_home_active</a></span></span>
</div>
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
</div>
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And there you have it,
my list of four unique and fantastic suppliers of geeky knick knacks
and apparel. Be proud to display your love of all things nerdy, and
don't forget to let me and Ari know of any more awesome stores we
should check out in the comments!
</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span>
</div>
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span>
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<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
</div>
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
</div>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></b>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Note: If you are
interested in being featured on our blog, please send us a message
with the details of your store/awesome 'zine/comic/anything else you
wish to share and we'll be happy to check it out!</span></b></div>
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13132126948909042913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2449970416374328113.post-16524969502031979722013-06-07T14:00:00.000-07:002013-06-07T14:35:25.858-07:00The Xbox One and the cost of modern gaming,<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Interested in being
featured on a new blog about geek culture? Me & Ari are welcoming
submissions for a feature/review/interview post on our blog about
your geeky blog/shop/hobby/other nerdy type interest!If you're
interested, email <a href="mailto:geekyfemmes@gmail.com">geekyfemmes@gmail.com</a>
with details of what you'd like to be featured and we'll get back to
you!</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh-THtb83wipMKDG9E7ITl2dGyHnPqHG-cAb8gBRtsgHXtHi2gMHOyFtC5FvGC_P2jniEe-_1AjgUZWtmmBSTkeaabqjUNrziTWHy_WTn3ORQUXLuR6kVyfM_lD8pd3rUkFsM2QdDJB10/s1600/Snapshot_20121117_7.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh-THtb83wipMKDG9E7ITl2dGyHnPqHG-cAb8gBRtsgHXtHi2gMHOyFtC5FvGC_P2jniEe-_1AjgUZWtmmBSTkeaabqjUNrziTWHy_WTn3ORQUXLuR6kVyfM_lD8pd3rUkFsM2QdDJB10/s320/Snapshot_20121117_7.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Gina here! So tell me, how many of you like gaming?</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://b-i.forbesimg.com/davidewalt/files/2013/05/microsoft-xbox-one.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://b-i.forbesimg.com/davidewalt/files/2013/05/microsoft-xbox-one.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Gaming isn't so
accessible when you're down on cash. Actually, gaming isn't really so
accessible for anyone who doesn't have a lot of spare money. Period.
As gaming gains constant popularity, particularly in regards to the
use of consoles, more and more young people are getting involved.
With the upcoming release of the Xbox One console, I'm asking whether
the gaming industry is cheating itself, and its followers.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As someone who held her
first controller at around the age of 5, I've been privileged enough
to keep up with the release of new consoles as I've grown up. The
Sega Megadrive, the PlayStation 1, 2 and an Xbox 360 were (and some
still are) fixtures of my living room, but it seems that the more
advanced the technology becomes, the more expensive it gets, and the
more publishers and hardware companies find new ways to increase
their profits. My first brush with the competitive world of the
online gaming community was after I received a month's free Xbox Live
subscription with my console. I enjoyed the wonders of being able to
connect and play against gamers around the world; it was like
something my young 8 year old self would have idly dreamed up while
wishing I had a constant friend who would take up their post in
controller port number 2. I vastly enjoyed the experience and the
challenge of Live gaming, and after the free subscription finished I
purchased another year of it for around £50. It's true, I did grit
my teeth as I handed over my hard-won allowance money, and after that
year was up, I didn't subscribe again.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As a young person,
employed or not, you're not going to have a whole heap of cash
available to throw at your chosen console company. I found
that the expenses encompassed in owning an Xbox 360 and buying
regular games were on the less-manageable side of my budget spectrum,
though I could manage if I only bought new games occasionally, very
rarely buying games at their new-to-the-shelves retail price of
around the £40 mark. Now however, with the soon to be released Xbox
One console, I find myself for the first time at a crossroads; I'm
unsure of where my gaming future will take me, or even if it will
continue to be, as it always has been, on consoles. With the
inevitability that my 360 console will one day become completely
obsolete and the publishing of new games for it will cease, (possibly
at an increasingly fast pace as the new console is not backwards
compatible) the likelihood of me purchasing an Xbox One console seems
to be slim-to-none.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">When the Xbox 360
Arcade console was released in October 2007 as the most affordable
model of the 360 system, its asking price was around £183. It had
several other, more expensive predecessors , the most expensive of
all being originally priced at around £260. So way back when it was
released and in high demand, the most advanced Xbox 360 console with
the most capabilities and memory cost £260. To pre-order the new
Xbox One on Amazon, complete with the Kinnect sensor will set you
back £599.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Now, I'm well aware
that as technology advances, so too must the complexity of the
systems and thus the price increases – at least for the first year
or so -, but the people at Microsoft clearly saw that their premium 360
console was out of a lot of gamers budgets, and so created another
two, more modestly priced options for those with less cash. Will this
happen for the Xbox One? Well, we don't know yet, but since this is
the most expensive Xbox console bundle to date, it's doubtful that
any possible future options will be as affordable.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There are ways that
gamers try to cut down on spending, and a primary option for many of
us that has exploded in the last several years is the second-hand
gaming market. Here, gamers can purchase second-hand, traded-in games
for a fraction of the retail price, but they likely won't be doing
that for much longer if they're avid followers of the Xbox console
evolution. Why? Because it's been heavily hinted at that the Xbox One
will include a software that detects when you load an already-played
disk into the drive, and will charge you an additional fee for its
usage. Will it be a small fee, or the full retail price of the game?
We don't know yet, as little information has been released about the
gaming aspect of the console, but it's an action that, if taken, will
alienate and possibly completely prevent gamers from buying Microsoft's
new Xbox One consoles. Let's say you pay that £600 for the new
console: you then have to purchase some games to play, and if it
doesn't cost any less buying used games, that will be £30-£40 per
game, and then you get an Xbox live subscription. That will be a
minimum of £50 for a year. So a rough estimate of your total costs
would bring you to around the £690 mark for a console and kinnect, a
year of live and a single game retailing around the £40 mark. Wow.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Obviously there's a lot
that we still don't know about the console, and there are a lot of
cool features that will surely be integrated into the system (I
think the whole 'snap' idea is pretty cool, assuming it isn't laggy
and difficult to initiate), but what I do know is that a lot of
people are going to be put off, if not literally <i>unable</i> to
afford buying the new console and any additional accessories and
games. And that sucks. It truly does. I've never been in the position
of not knowing how I'll be able to play games in the future, and it's
not a fun position to be in. My faint hope is that the console giants will take a moment to think about their younger players, and their players who don't have a large chunk of disposable income that they can afford to spend on video games.
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13132126948909042913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2449970416374328113.post-53389282028747706572013-06-06T04:18:00.000-07:002013-06-06T04:20:53.103-07:00Ari: Behind Every Great X-Man Is An Even Greater X-Woman- Female Comic Book Characters Are Great, So Where's Their Titles? <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge9rECixeYLDsj2wnzILRn5KcS0AATNrOqbmuAvwY-ywM81DptsdtQEJ6Mp9jnx9uYpduTE8k_f_GrqIiBwZaPlhaYSVi6S2YRGoKGTok49KbqFlVc1I4XZZYtAA1tC3WcOkB62l5yr00/s1600/DSCF0028.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge9rECixeYLDsj2wnzILRn5KcS0AATNrOqbmuAvwY-ywM81DptsdtQEJ6Mp9jnx9uYpduTE8k_f_GrqIiBwZaPlhaYSVi6S2YRGoKGTok49KbqFlVc1I4XZZYtAA1tC3WcOkB62l5yr00/s320/DSCF0028.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm Ari, resident comic book geek here at Geeky Femmes! Apologies for the long delay, but I'm hopefully gonna get the ball rolling today. I'm ready to talk about the new all-female X-Men team, a comic that's recently started and has been making waves in the comic world. It's written by Brian Wood and features artwork by Olivier Coipel. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As long as there have been comic books, there has always been the female voice within it. Sure, maybe in the early days of DC and Marvel it was somewhat subdued or caught entirely in the romance sub-genre of comic books, but it was still there. Women have always been in comic books, and have quite often had big roles. Look at Betty and Veronica in <i>Archie</i>. Look at Olive Oyl in <i>Popeye</i>, ad nauseum. This isn't even considering the bigwig titles that started coming from Marvel & DC in the 50s and 60s, such as <i>Superman</i>, the <i>Fantastic Four</i>, <i>X-Men</i> and <i>The Avengers</i>. Lois Lane, fellow intrepid reporter alongside the unassuming Clark Kent will have been in comics for 75 years </span></div>
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this year, which is downright impressive. She's dallied with having her own title here and there, but sadly, not enough has ever been made of it. Then of course, we can't think about female superheroes without considering Wonder Woman, the powerful Amazon. She's always had her own title, and is easily recognised from either the comics themselves, or the gloriously cheesy TV programme from the 1970s, starring Lynda Carter as the lead character. As a character, Wonder Woman has always fought against the patriarchy, and given girls a positive role model in comics. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Same with titles like </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">FF</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, where Susan Richards (neé Storm) has always been a constant in the team (however, we won't look at the gendered roles she was often given back in the day- it's enough to give me a headache!) and as the team work as a family, something rarely seen in comics of the day, it gave FF the relevant edge to stand out in a world full of Supermans and Batmans. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The same can be said of the X-Men. Originally conceived back in 1963, the 'children of the </span></div>
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atom', featuring among their ranks Scott Summers (Cyclops), Warren Worthington III (Angel/Archangel) Henry 'Hank' McCoy (Beast) and Bobby Drake (Iceman) also had the supremely powerful Jean Grey (Marvel Girl) amongst them, and she was without doubt the strongest mutant out of all them, her psychic prowess matched only by their kindly teacher Professor Charles Xavier. Since the early days of the X-Men (and of the Marvel Universe altogether) there have been dozens and dozens of female X-Men, mutants, and super-humans, and many of them being just as strong, if not stronger than their male counterparts. So why, I ask, are there so few female-led superhero books from Marvel? Ever since Marvel unofficially rebooted last year in an enormous creative shake-up and renumbering that annoyed thousands of fans the world over, there's been a dismal amount of female-led comics. Before Marvel Now! There was the incredible X-23 series, which focussed on Wolverine's daughter/living weapon Laura, there have been Ms. Marvel titles over the years, but sadly these titles have never lasted long. Out of all of Marvel's current superhero titles (and boy, are there a lot of them!) there's a tiny fraction that are lady-led: Captain Marvel, Fearless Defenders, Journey Into Mystery, and the newly minted X-Men.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Frankly, this is ridiculous. Don't get me wrong though, I love comic books. There is rarely a day that goes past where I'm not talking/writing/reading/thinking about comic books, and many of my role models have fallen straight out of the pages of my favourite comic books, so it upsets me that so few of them have their own titles. As I previously mentioned, it's definitely not that there isn't any interest- female led titles have often proven to be successful, fan favourites, but they've always been cancelled prematurely. The fact of the matter is, it's frustrating how long it's taken for a full-female team of the X-Men to have their own title. There's plenty of female characters within the X-Men's universe, so it's never that there hasn't been enough interest. I for one am really happy to finally see this book see the light of the day, and despite the negative attention a couple of douchbag assbros have given the book, it's a good thing, and it should be celebrated as being A Good Thing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So what's the point of this post? The few lady-led titles from Marvel are totally kick ass. Kelly Sue DeConnick's run on Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers) has really opened my eyes to a new character, and I never miss this title when it comes out. Cullenn Bunn and Will Sliney's take on The Fearless Defenders is also an awesome title, and the art is downright gorgeous. I could go on and on about my favourite Marvel comics all day, but for the sake of brevity, I won't. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ll leave you with
this: How freakin’ awesome would a female-led Avengers title be?! </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13132126948909042913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2449970416374328113.post-17737062380516803942013-05-29T12:31:00.001-07:002013-05-29T12:31:51.967-07:00Feminist book review: She's such a Geek <div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We're back!</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Wow, what an unexpected hiatus! Unfortunately I've been busy with other personal stuff lately and this blog just slipped to the back of my mind! Oops. Anyway, I'd like to announce that myself and Ari will be posting a lot more regularly over the next few weeks, and I hope you forgive us both! For now, please enjoy my review of a great book entitled She's such a Geek. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">For me, reading She's
Such A Geek was stumbling upon a literary treasure trove of
inspiration and hope. Far removed from a narrative, She's Such A Geek
is an anthology of first-hand experiences of the trials and
tribulations of being a woman in science, technology, video games and
comic books. If you have a young woman in your family who has
aspirations of a job in these fields (or you are one yourself): <b>buy
this book.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The
real life experiences shared by the women in this book are both
inspiring and realistic, offering a truthful insight that expresses
the happiness that following a passion (no matter what your gender) can
offer you, and exposes the negatives that the male-exclusivity of the
geek world can have upon a female interested in the culture. Adding
to its credit, the book displays a fantastic and very admirable
diversity in its contributors, showcasing the experiences of white
women, women of colour and varied ethnicities, handicapped women and,
wonderfully, a transgendered woman. This progressive viewpoint is a
rare and valued encouragement for geeky ladies who are wary of being
discriminated against for their race, disability or gender, and
proclaims 'you are not alone!'
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The
women in this book have been top of their calculus class, they've
been the lone girl in their circle of gamers, they've been to MIT,
they're been in system administration, they've developed video games,
they're engineers and comic book creators. They've invaded every
corner of the geeky spectrum and they are damn good at what they do.
This book is a call to arms for all female nerds, and a reassurance
that they can be part of their scientific field of choosing, they
just have to work hard, and watch out for bigots. I highly recommend
this book as truly inspirational reading, and whether you're a coder
or a kick ass biologist, there <i>is</i> room for you in the world of
geekery.
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Buy
She's Such A Geek; where women meet adversity and say 'bring it on!'</span></div>
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</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13132126948909042913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2449970416374328113.post-32320106973507521382013-02-13T12:10:00.001-08:002013-02-13T12:16:20.891-08:00Gina: My Top Female Geek Bloggers and Vloggers! <div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #741b47;">Well hello there my fellow geekazoids! Happy 2013 from Geeky Femmes!</span></b> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As promised, here is our first real post to kick off our blog. Today I want to give you guys a heads up on some of my favourite female geek bloggers and vloggers, so sit back, turn off the games console and check out some of these fabulous femmes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">One would think that
being a female geek on the internet wouldn't be so difficult- after
all, aren't we at home in the land of ever-evolving technology? But
computer technology is a constantly advancing field; with users all
over the world connecting and sharing their lives via social
networking websites, the net is no longer a hang out exclusively for
geeks – that much is obvious when you find yourself purchasing a
'laptops for seniors' illustrated guidebook for a loved one. The sad
truth is that being a female geek can be pretty tough online. This
past year, female geeks have dealt with sexual assault at gaming
tournaments, gender-based sexism rants by a <i>professional</i> comic
book illustrator citing them as 'fakes' who 'don't know shit about
comics' and even full-fledged hate campaigns, complete with threats
of death and rape.
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Despite all this
unpleasantness which is an unfortunate burden of being a female geek,
there are some awesome, kick-ass ladies out there who are proud and
brave enough to express their inner-geek prowess! My directory to the
(femme) crème de la geek is below. Ladies, we salute you!</span></div>
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Techies: </b></span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b> </b></span>
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>The Frag Dolls</b></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Frag Dolls are an
all-female team of gamers 'recruited by Ubisoft to represent their
video games and promote the presence of women in the industry'. The
Dolls have a YouTube channel where they upload videos of their
game-play, interviews with important people in the gaming world,
convention footage and give-aways. The Frag Dolls are a trailblazing,
professional addition to the female geek YouTube community. </span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Melonie86/ Melonie
Mac</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Melonie Mac is a
popular self-proclaimed PC gamer extraordinaire; a title that is
well-earned, with over 35,572 subscribers. She's having a positive
impact in the community with her game-play videos and reviews. This
super-talented gamer even built her own gaming rig!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<ol start="0" style="text-align: center;"><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Anita Sarkeesian</b> </span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Anita is primarily a
pop culture critic on YouTube but is unabashedly into her video
games. You may be familiar with Anita after she received the
aforementioned slew of a sexism and a hate campaign upon her
announcement of an upcoming video project studying women's
representation in video games. Despite this disgusting show of gamer
sexism, Anita remained strong and the plan is still in the works.
Take a look at her informative videos.</span></div>
</ol>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b> <span style="color: #741b47;">Adria Richards</span></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A new discovery of mine
who I was thrilled to unearth from YouTube, Adria describes herself
as a 'technology evangelist'. Her videos cover a vast array of
technology-related topics, featuring her 'first looks' and various
pieces of software, tutorials on tech set ups, her experiences as a
woman in the technology industry, and hell, even why it's important
to learn how to code. What can't this woman do? For a fresh look at
technology's finest, check out her YouTube channel, and her website
butyou'reagirl.com!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b> <span style="color: #741b47;"> Video bloggers and
Text Bloggers: </span></b></span><span style="color: #741b47;">
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span></div>
<ol style="text-align: center;"><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">“<b>The Flog”
featuring Felicia Day</b> </span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Felicia day creates a
weekly blog on the geek and sundry YouTube channel; a collaborative
project focusing on the many aspects of geekdom by an assortment of
quirky YouTubers. Felicia's blog is always witty and interesting with
a wide variety of content. From Steampunk photo shoots to a day at
comic con and yes, you guessed it, driving a bulldozer, The Flog is a
great weekly series with adventure to boot. </span></div>
</ol>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Abinwonderland</b></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Albinwonderland is an
intelligent, articulate femme and feminist YouTuber whose videos
share her opinions on topics such as self-acceptance, and
discrimination of those with unusual body modifications. A quick
scroll through her Tumblr affirms her love for many things geeky, and
her videos of both Slut Walk and Zombie Walk proclaim her enjoyment
of feminist and nerdy interests. Check her out putting Tony Harris in
his place on her “fake geek girls” video!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Two Nerdy History
Girls</b></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Loretta Chase and Susan
Holloway Scott write a blog about all things historical, from books
with a historical slant to information on old customs of historical
society, these ladies are not ashamed to geek out about history. I
suggest you grab a cup of tea before sitting down to the antique
delights of Two Nerdy History Girls!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So there you have it! A
selection of the interwebz' finest female geeks, nerding out about
video games</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13132126948909042913noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2449970416374328113.post-12056540393875136812012-12-14T11:45:00.001-08:002012-12-14T14:00:24.382-08:00Welcome to Geeky Femmes!<h2 style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">
Welcome to <span style="color: purple;">Geeky Femmes</span>! </h2>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy8MzlXsodVOy8WR8OiATkPXiqDxU92feyfw9pk235OYe_SuacJVhO6pGbMUNNwEuPISwAFaC7Pf36Ue2IyP63yu48NhBCSsSPbChsYO8NY81aAVbkgkqGEFvy8lO1bMWXFoQT9ffpIuw/s1600/blogpic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy8MzlXsodVOy8WR8OiATkPXiqDxU92feyfw9pk235OYe_SuacJVhO6pGbMUNNwEuPISwAFaC7Pf36Ue2IyP63yu48NhBCSsSPbChsYO8NY81aAVbkgkqGEFvy8lO1bMWXFoQT9ffpIuw/s320/blogpic.jpg" width="298" /></a></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: purple;">Left:Ari Right: Gina </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Geeky Femmes is a new blog run by two nerdy friends, Ari and Gina; two aspiring writers who are proud of their interest in Geekdom! The blog will be our platform to express our views and opinions on various aspects of Geek culture; from comics to video games, science to computers, we plan to cover it all in our regular posts. The blog will be officially 'open' in 2013, but for now, here is a little bit of info on the two Geeky Femmes who will be your guide to all things nerdy!</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2 style="color: purple;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Gina's quiz!</span></h2>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh-THtb83wipMKDG9E7ITl2dGyHnPqHG-cAb8gBRtsgHXtHi2gMHOyFtC5FvGC_P2jniEe-_1AjgUZWtmmBSTkeaabqjUNrziTWHy_WTn3ORQUXLuR6kVyfM_lD8pd3rUkFsM2QdDJB10/s1600/Snapshot_20121117_7.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh-THtb83wipMKDG9E7ITl2dGyHnPqHG-cAb8gBRtsgHXtHi2gMHOyFtC5FvGC_P2jniEe-_1AjgUZWtmmBSTkeaabqjUNrziTWHy_WTn3ORQUXLuR6kVyfM_lD8pd3rUkFsM2QdDJB10/s320/Snapshot_20121117_7.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<h2 style="color: purple;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span></h2>
<div style="color: purple;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="color: purple; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>What
are your personal favourite aspects of geekdom?</b></span></div>
<div class="western" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I'm
interested primarily in video games, books and science. The first two
have been passions of mine from an early age, and in the last few
years I've enjoyed studying books which focus on scientific aspects
of different topics, such as neuroscience, environmentalism and how
it ties in with scientific findings, and other more wacky subjects! </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="color: purple; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>What
is your video gaming history? </b></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I<span style="font-weight: normal;">'ve
been gaming since I was little. My first video games were 'Road Rash'
(looking back, attacking motorcyclists with nun chucks, cattle prods
and chains at 6 years old is pretty shocking!) and Sonic for the
Sega Megadrive. Eventually we got a computer and my days were spent
playing the very square Tomb Raider, G-police and Motorcross
Madness. On vacations and long journies, my trusty GameBoy provided
my entertainment, later to be replaced by it's coloured successor.
Fast forward a couple of years to the PlayStation 1, and Tekken 3
became my new favourite game (and still is one of my favourite series
today!). I also enjoyed the Spyro and Crash Bandicoot games at that
age, too. After a few years collecting games for the PlayStation 2, I
received an Xbox 360 one Christmas and started playing FPS'. Fallout
3 quickly became my favourite, while I also ventured into the button
mashing madness of Halo and Borderlands. I enjoy most other genres of video games as well, including adventure games. My game collection is
ever-expanding, and with a history of playing games it's no surprise
that they have become such an intregal part of my life.</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="color: purple; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>And
your video gaming platform of choice?</b></span></div>
<div class="western" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Currently
the Xbox 360, but if I'm craving nostalgia I have no qualms with
returning to my Sony roots!</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="color: purple; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>What
is your favourite video game and comic book? </b></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">It's
so tough to choose one favourite game, so I'll choose one from the
previous period of my gaming history and a more up-to-date one. Tekken 3, and nowadays, Fallout
3. </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I'm
not huge on comic books (that's more of Ari's thing!) but I have
always admired the artwork and concept of Tank Girl. I think she's a
kick-ass heroine.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: purple;">What
are the hardest aspects of being a geek for a female?</span> </b></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I
think the fact that society encourages this idea that anything geek
is an exclusive boy's club, because it's eye-poppingly infuriating
when I go into a game store or comic book store and get stared at
with such baffled intensity purely because I'm female. There's also
the tirade of harassment female geeks get online and on Xbox LIVE. I
think it's tougher to be a female geek than a male one because not
only do geeks in general get branded 'weird anti-social hermits' by
society outside of the culture, but you get the male geeks who are
skeptical of your interests just because you have boobs. You have to
go through two layers of judgement, and it is ironic that some people
within geek culture aren't hesitant to ostracise others.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="color: purple; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>What
sections of geek culture are you going to explore in your part of the
blog? </b></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I
plan to cover video games, book reviews, science related titbits and
internet related goings on. A nice mixed bag of nerdy goodness!</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="color: purple; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>Why
do you think it is important to address the problems and difficulties
faced by female lovers of nerdy culture? </b></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">It's
important because so many are either put off joining the culture due
to the exclusion of females, or they receive abuse for being brave
enough to do so. The sheer amount of women who report receiving abuse
from other players on internet-based gaming platforms like Xbox LIVE
is atrocious, as is the cultural negative view of female geeks as
somehow being less likely to enjoy nerdy interests.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="color: purple; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>Who
is your favourite nerdy <i>fictional</i> female character?</b></span></div>
<div class="western" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">This
is definitely a tough one (and I have plans to cover my favourite
fictional nerd girls in an upcoming blog post), but I'd have to say
that my all-time favourite is probably Daria. Being equal parts implicit
and sarcastic- well, she reminds me of myself!</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: purple;">What
do you hope to accomplish with this blog?</span> </b></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I
hope that between us, me and Ari help to increase visibility of
female geeks who enjoy games, comics, books, science and other stuff
within this male-dominated culture. I hope we can both entertain and
educate people and give a female viewpoint on some of the topics
usually buried in male opinion. </span>
</div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Ari's Quiz!</b></span><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp_W1bEeUjZkQtblqns7z5xkSemPMwFrJ2HkfcCEf_BVFLyTtkox7oVrHwXqSwRJ2bwTUcyF7ci0EIrNlq9dHIKsBdm16FUTpBwMkHIkZSM_J6VNj46rz_xkdbJIAN0iVW05gEai8Ey34/s1600/DSCF0028.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp_W1bEeUjZkQtblqns7z5xkSemPMwFrJ2HkfcCEf_BVFLyTtkox7oVrHwXqSwRJ2bwTUcyF7ci0EIrNlq9dHIKsBdm16FUTpBwMkHIkZSM_J6VNj46rz_xkdbJIAN0iVW05gEai8Ey34/s320/DSCF0028.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><b>What are your personal favourite aspects of geekdom?</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I adore comic books with pretty much every fibre of my being. Every day I can’t help but read new comic books, think about them, talk about them… Pretty much everything! Comic books have long become a world I can escape to if the real world gets too much for me, and knowing this has become an integral part of my life. Aside from comic books, I play video games quite a lot, favouring the terrifying survival horror antics of the Resident Evil series to most FPS. I am also a budding/noobie cosplayer, and hope to debut a lot of new outfits in the new year! When I’m not busy in university or scribbling up posts for my blog I devour all kinds of literature. My book taste has ranged from the teen-drama series Gossip Girl to dystopian classic 1984 and further. I’m currently reading ‘X-Men and Philosophy’ which is a collection of academic essays detailing various philosophical aspects of the X-Men universe, and it’s been a very good read so far! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>What is your video gaming history?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ve been gaming for as long as I can remember! My first game console was the Playstation 1, and I spent hours upon hours playing Spyro The Dragon, Resident Evil 1 & 2, Tekken, Crash Bandicoot, Final Fantasy 8 and a whole range of other games when I was a kid. When I wasn’t gaming at home or at my best friend’s house, I was playing Pokémon Blue Version, Tetris and Wacky Races on my purple GameBoy Colour (a relic I still have to this day!) at every chance I got! As time passed on, the PlayStation 2 was released, and I added a new bunch of games to my favourites. Some of my best memories centre around playing Resident Evil Four with one of my best friends, or playing Final Fantasy Ten and facing off against the dark aeon… But now, I’ve been sticking to the Xbox 360. I’m a huge fan of the Bethesda game Fallout 3, and I play Resident Evil 5 on a pretty regular basis. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>And your video gaming platform of choice?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That would have to be either the PlayStation 2 or the Xbox 360! </span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>What is your favourite video game and comic book?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like Gina said, it is super difficult to pick just one game, and for me it’ll be even harder to pick on favourite comic book! If I’m looking at retro games, it would probably have to be Spyro The Dragon. Who doesn’t love running around as a diminutive purple dragon? As for newer games, like Gina, I’d have to pick Fallout 3 for the amazing gameplay and storyline. My favourite comic book is incredibly hard to pin down, since I tend to change my mind every other month as new titles come out, or I revisit my old graphic novels. In my top favourites list however, is Transmetropolitan, a futuristic tale of politics, scandals and madbastardry; Morning Glories, a ‘cross between Gossip Girl, Avengers Runaways and Lost’; and Peter David’s X-Factor. </span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>What are the hardest aspects of being a geek for a female?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I often find that one of the hardest aspects is people not believing I’m a geek, or not believing I read comic books. It’s not entirely un-common for women in this subculture to be looked down, and people only believing that they’re interested to their boyfriends, male friends and so on when it’s not always like that. Not just that, but many people believe that the geek subculture is purely a ‘boyz-only’ club, but I know dozens of talented, amazing women who are just as devoted to geekdom as I am, and we're not all out to 'prey on geeky guys' like asshole supreme Tony Harris would believe. Women in geekdom are here to stay, and yes, we brought cupcakes. </span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>What sections of geek culture are you going to explore in your part of the blog?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I will be exploring the comic book side of geek culture, as well as talking about any conventions I go to, and maybe a few bits of cosplay thrown in there too! </span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Why do you think it is important to address the problems and difficulties faced by female lovers of nerdy culture?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because this culture is not just for men. There are lots of geeky girls out there who love the subculture just as much as men, if not more, and they deserve an equal voice in this. Also the representations that women tend to get within comic books are often absolutely dire, and I am sick to death with them, almost as much as the spangly, completely impractical outfits. Equality is an important thing in our society on the whole, and I don’t see why it shouldn’t stretch to subcultures as well.</span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Who is your favourite nerdy fictional female character?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Hi. I’m Layla Miller. I know stuff.” Layla Miller, one of the female protagonists of Marvel’s X-Factor has been one of my favourite nerdy fictional characters ever since I read her first appearance during the events of M-Day. Smart, quirky and sarcastic, Layla is everything I aim to be! </span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>What do you hope to accomplish with this blog?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I hope that I (along with Gina) can raise more awareness for girl geeks, and girls who love geeky things. I will hopefully be raising more awareness for the amazing women in comics, and hopefully we’ll be able to entertain people along the way! </span><br />
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