So Meagan Marie is a lady I follow on twitter. I haven't met her personally but I get the impression that she's a nice lady and is certainly a good writer. She used to work at Gameinformer, where I first heard about her through her reviews, and is now working in PR for Crystal Dynamics on the Tomb Raider game. She also cosplays. I'm not particularly good at judging cosplay but apparently she's quite good.
All of these things are relevant because, at PAX East, she was hosting a gathering of people cosplaying as Lara Croft. Unfortunately, the female cosplayers were harassed by a member of the press who captured that treatment on camera. He made comments like "none of the men here could please you in bed" and when asked why he felt he was justified in embarrassing them he stated "the girls were dressing sexy so they asked for it". When Meagan stood up for the women to the man he replied that she was "one of those oversensitive feminists" and walked off in a huff like a child who'd been scolded.
Meagan handled the situation like an absolute professional explaining the situation to the PAX representatives and not announcing to everyone who the person worked for or his name on the internet or to any other press. But because the situation was at a public event and because it became a thing on her twitter she wrote a blog on her tumblr discussing the matter and her take on situation and sexism as a whole in the industry.
Now I know this is well worn territory and I have a feeling I know where this thread might go. But I hope it doesn't because I think her response is of a high enough quality that any such backlash would be unnecessary and unwarranted. She did a great job incorporating her own experiences in with the PAX incident in a really thoughtful manner. She's not blaming of all men or the industry or anything else that we men sometimes feel like might happen whenever sexism is discussed (I have to admit I've done that in the past so I get where you dudes are coming from). She blames specific people in specific instances but I would do and say much more then her if I were put in the situations she described. She's simply offering a perspective and I think it is one worth reading (patent pending @patrickklepek).
I know that this might be a tiring topic to see come up over and over again but I think Meagan sums up nicely her take on this sentiment in the second to last paragraph.
"The treatment and representation of women in gaming has come to a head this past year, and I know some of you are tired of hearing about it. I’m tired of living it. I want to feel safe and valued as a member of this industry, whether I’m conducting an interview, talking to fans on a convention floor, or cosplaying. And I have a right to that."
I really don't want this to turn into a big long thing where we take sides and define what view is right or wrong and so on and so forth. I would rather people simply read the article and that's all. If you want to comment please do but I really hope this doesn't become a big, drawn-out debacle. Especially when I think the perspective is well worth hearing even if you don't believe it to be accurate or fair.
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