Katie Bowers, NY, USA, SSH Blog Correspondent

This weekend marks my now-annual tradition: cosplaying at New York Comic Con (NYCC).  I’ve attended NYCC as Ramona Flowers (from Scott Pilgrim) and Amy Pond and Donna Noble (both from Doctor Who). Needless to say, as a geek girl, cosplayer, and advocate for ending street harassment, I’ve been pretty interested in the work of Geeks for CONsent.

Geeks for CONsent is a group of female cosplayers and allies working to make sure that comic cons and the surrounding streets and events are harassment-free zones.  They have produced comic books, info sheets, and online resources for attendees, and they also advocate for and help convention staff to create high quality, well-publicized sexual harassment policies.

On the street or in the convention center, cosplay grabs attention and can inspire a lot of picture-taking.  If you ask for a photo and behave politely, most cosplayers are happy to oblige – we worked hard, after all, to look this awesome.  Unfortunately, some con-goers don’t apply that basic level of respect to cosplayers.  Harassment at cons often involves a camera: harassers may grab a cosplayer’s body parts during a photo, snap shots of cosplayers bending over, click quick up-skirt pics while sitting on the floor, and other clearly unconsented behaviors.  Other times, it won’t be on film.  It will be a passing comment in the hall about how a woman “fills out” a costume or the sudden, frightening sensation of a stranger’s hand feeling your costume or your hair.

This is a problem at every con, including that largest and most well known of the nerd conventions: San Diego Comic Con.  Back in July, we reported that despite Geeks for CONsent’s 2,500 signature petition, SDCC would not be updating their harassment policies or changing the ways they publicize those policies.

Fortunately, Geeks for CONsent and other anti-harassment advocates know that San Diego isn’t the only con around.  The work of the anti-harassment movement led both Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle and Rose City Comic Con in Portland to post some clear and beautiful signage throughout the convention center reminding attendees that “Costumes are not consent”.  Awesome Con, which hosts shows in Indianapolis, Milwaukee, and Washington, D.C., brought in Geeks for CONsent as their in-house anti-harassment team and used their anti-harassment training manual to train all of their volunteers in 2014.

This weekend, NYCC will open their doors with a new anti-harassment policy, created by geek girl blog The Mary Sue and a panel of geeky advocates.  The policy includes a pretty comprehensive definition of harassment and protocols for reporting and dealing with harassers.  The policy also introduces the new Report Harassment feature of the NYCC app.  This cool piece of technology allows users to file an immediate, detailed report (provided, of course, that they have cell service in the concrete depths of the Javits Center).  Geeks for CONsent and Fan Girls’ Night Out will also be on hand to “spread the anti-harassment message, collect your stories, and provide a safe space to talk about your experiences”.

As geek culture becomes mainstream, making cons a place where all people feel welcome is more pressing than ever before.  At its core, geeking out is about enthusiasm.  It’s the type of unbridled exhilaration that gets you reading every installment, watching every episode, dressing up in character, traveling to cons.  Geeks are thrilled by seeing our favorite fictional heroes battle the forces of evil.  But what’s exciting now isn’t in the stories: it’s in us.

Major conventions are adopting new policies, geek celebs are speaking out against harassment, high traffic blogs and just-for-fun tumblrs are heralding the call that cosplay does not equal consent. Outside the geek-o-sphere, street harassment is being talked about by everyone from The Daily Show to Fox News (with, let’s say, “varying levels of support”).  After years of work, and even longer years of stifled silence, the heroic efforts of anti-harassment advocates are starting to turn the tide.

This weekend, I’ll be at NYCC and I’m excited to see how things are different.  Will the new policies eliminate harassment at the con?  Of course not – but this is the beginning.  It feels good to step into the Javits Center – wig, costume, and all – and know that the convention has my back.  And that?  That’s something to geek out about.

Katie is a social worker and community educator interested in ending gender-based violence, working with youth to make the world a better place, and using pop culture as a tool for social change. Check out her writing at the Imagine Better Blog and geek out with her on Twitter, @CornishPixie9.