Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
In addition to stocking the existing Her Universe merchandise, Disney will feature two new exclusive shirts. Kid’s sizes of two of HU’s designs will also be available.
Ashley Eckstein will be a guest at Weekends, which run each Friday, Saturday and Sunday May 20 through June 12.
The shirts will be exclusive to Disney only through June.
HBO’s adaption of Game of Thrones premieres tonight amid a new storm of controversy about women and fantasy. What could possibly have soiled the premiere of what is probably the biggest fantasy literature event of the year? (Well, the biggest one that doesn’t involve boy wizards and horcruxes, anyway.) Why, yet more false assumptions about women and what they watch and read, of course!
It was all sparked by Ginia Bellafante’s New York Times review. Behold this bit of ‘wisdom:’
The true perversion, though, is the sense you get that all of this illicitness has been tossed in as a little something for the ladies, out of a justifiable fear, perhaps, that no woman alive would watch otherwise. While I do not doubt that there are women in the world who read books like Mr. Martin’s, I can honestly say that I have never met a single woman who has stood up in indignation at her book club and refused to read the latest from Lorrie Moore unless everyone agreed to “The Hobbit” first. “Game of Thrones” is boy fiction patronizingly turned out to reach the population’s other half.
Uh-huh. There’s plenty one can say to this, but since I am the absolute last fantasy-loving female in the blogosphere to address it, here are a few selected responses:
The reality check. Emily of The Discriminating Fangirl responds to many of Bellafante’s misconceptions. Key quote: “…How can the show require MENSA-member viewers and be too stupid/silly for HBO?”
The feminist. Sarah Louise of Bleeding Cool takes on the gender normative tone of the review. Key quote: “The main thing I find shocking about all these sweeping remarks is the fact that the piece was written by a woman. Aren’t we all supposed to be in this thing together?”
The ally. Alan Kistler wonders where the actual review was in his Newsarama Op-ed. Key quote: “We didn’t get an informed opinion on the show. In fact, in her whole review, the story premise is barely touched on and not one character, plot point or scene is mentioned. ”
The snarky: Annalee Newitz of io9 asked (with spoilers) why would men want to watch Game of Thrones? Key quote: “Who but a woman would even be able to keep all those Stark children’s names straight, let alone all the other people connected to the Stark family?”
The full package. Amy Ratcliffe of Geek with Curves talks about what she really wants to see in the series. Key quote: “I’m not tuning into the television show to see sex either. I won’t lie – I’m not unhappy about seeing Jason Momoa shirtless as Khal Drogo, but that isn’t the primary reason I’m watching. I want to see Westeros on screen.”
The author. George R. R. Martin breaks his own rules to say something about the review. Key quote: “…if I am writing ‘boy fiction,’ who are all those boys with breasts who keep turning up by the hundreds at my signings and readings?”
And naturally, amid all this? A Today piece on how ladies power viewership for SF/F TV. How long must we have to harp on this before the Ginia Bellafantes of the world catch on?
UPDATE: Bellafonte responds. What does she take from this? ‘People on the internet are mean?’ So much facepalm.
Is it… Robot Elvis? What kind of pose is Nathan Fillion doing on the cover of the new Entertainment Weekly? Topless Robot readers have many, many answers. Your reward: Looking at Nathan Fillion.
Shocking facts! A survey of 5,041 Star Trek fans found that 57% of them were female. Fascinating.
Brain a moose. Check out the manuscript for George R. R. Martin’s A Dance With Dragons. Or check out the HBO features on House Stark, House Baratheon, House Lannister and House Targaryen.
You’ll laugh, you’ll cry… A funny Regretsy post involving Roseanne Barr, Carrie Fisher and (of course) a puzzling crafted object.
Your indie moment(s) of zen. Mario and a trailer for Ferris Bueller’s Day Off recut as an Sofia Coppola-esque coming-of-age film.
Oprah Winfrey’s people are looking for collectors of Princess Leia merchandise:
Are you a big Star Wars fanatic obsessed with Princess Leia? Do you collect the biggest, best, most outrageous Princess Leia memorabilia in the universe? We’re looking for fans with the most unique collectors’ items out there. Do you have a special edition Princess Leia Pez dispenser, a life-sized model of Princess Leia — or do you own all the Princess Leia figurines/dolls in existence?
If other Star Wars fans are envious of your unusual collection of Princess Leia goodies — then we want to hear from you!
Could Carrie Fisher be going on the show? Maybe Katie? We’ll find out.
Today is the day to support Star Wars and geek pride for Katie, so wear or display some Star Wars gear, or donate a Star Wars toy to needy children. (But don’t forget to add a note saying that the toy is for a boy or a girl!)
Meanwhile, io9 has an theory on the reason behind bullying Katie.
As a nice counterpoint to yesterday’s facepalming about TheMarySue.com, CNN’s Geek Out has a double-punch of stories: One about Katie the Star Wars girl and geek girls in general (featuring Ashley Eckstein!)
More happy news from Katie’s introduction to fandom. (This is the little girl who was deluged with love after her mom wrote about her being teased for liking Star Wars.) Her mom reports that she has not only gotten some awesome stuff from fans, but she has learned lessons from folks who have written in and is now helping others.
Rock on, Katie! Here’s hoping we all live up to your example.
Katie, the young Star Wars fan who was bullied for liking Star Wars, has been getting a lot of love in a short time.
In addition to several pieces by several prominent female geeks, GeekingOutAbout.com reports that the stars of The Clone Wars have offered up some sweet gifts and opportunities for her. (The numbers have already changed drastically from when this article was written.)
Katie has also received many offers of toys and other collectibles. But the family is requesting that you donate those, instead, to a charity. I know the 501st is about to kick in to the Toys for Tots season. It might be a sweet way to honor one small voice who has inspired so many.
This has been all over the internet today, so apologies if you’ve heard it already. A girl was bullied for – of all things – bringing a Star Wars water bottle to school:
But a week ago, as we were packing her lunch, Katie said, “My Star Wars water bottle is too small. It doesn’t hold enough water. Can I take a different one?” She searched through the cupboard until she found a pink water bottle and said, “I’ll bring this.”
I was perplexed. “Katie, that water bottle is no bigger than your Star Wars one. I think it is actually smaller.”
“It’s fine, I’ll just take it,” she insisted.
I kept pushing the issue, because it didn’t make sense to me. Suddenly, Katie burst into tears.
Response has been pretty overwhelming – There are 300 comments on the original post and more than a thousand on Epbot, who’s been spreading the word. It’s pretty much all over Twitter and even Tumblr this evening. But that’s no reason not to drop in a word yourself.
UPDATE: Bonnie at StarWars.com and our pal Mandy at The Adorkable both have messages for Katie and other girls.
So yesterday, Erika wrote a piece for us on Her Universe and response that some (but by no means all) male fans have to it. She laid out her case well, and it’s generated quite a bit of discussion. Now, Ashley has posted her response to the issues at hand, namely price, sizes, and design.
It’s important that we understand that Her Universe is a brand-new company, and starting a company from scratch is no mean feat. And it’s particularly tough to please everyone.
What we need most here is patience. It’s not the popular answer, but there it is. If you can’t afford a $30 t-shirt, then you can’t afford a $30 t-shirt. But the hope here is that enough of us can and will, and that will form the base that allows Her Universe to grow. And remember, they haven’t even been selling stuff for an entire year at this point!
Given how accessible Ashley has been to feedback, I expect that each addition to the line will reflect more than a few things that fans have requested, or at least as much is possible at this point. So yes, we have to be patient: There’s a lot of catching up to do here. 30-some years of it.
