Anime Convention Bizarrely Offers Established Cosplayer a Stripper Gig in Exchange for $200 and Snacks [Video]

Ginny McQueen, a costumer of 14 years who works full-time as Director of New Media for Cosplay.com, the largest cosplay website on the internet, recently received a proposal from an anime convention in Las Vegas offering her $200, snacks, and two free tickets in exchange for a "live burlesque performance" that would require McQueen to strip down to her undergarments (lingerie or pasties!) and dance for hours on both Friday and Saturday nights.

Here's the email:

from:
***@***con.com
to:
ginny@ginnymcqueen.com
date:
Mon, Aug 6, 2012 at 8:37 PM
subject:
Booking Contract for  ***CON

Dear Miss Ginny,

Are you interested in dancing for   ***CON  Friday Aug 17 and Saturday Aug 18, 2012?  Terms are as follows: 

 ***CON agree to the following:
• Two Hundred Dollars US ($200) as compensation
• Complimentary Snacks and Beverages in the Green Room
• Two complimentary 3-Day Badges to   ***CON  2012 ($120 value)
• A shared gratis booth to sell your merchandise/autograph pictures in the Exhibitor's Hall 3 days of the convention (Friday, August 17, Saturday, August 18, and Sunday, August 19, 2012)
• To promote you (Ginny Mcqueen) as a performer of   ***CON

Ginny McQueen agree to the following:
• Wear undergarments (lingerie or pasties) underneath your cosplay attire
• Provide your own cosplay attire(s) for to wear during your live burlesque performance on Friday, August 17, 2012 and Saturday, August 18, 2012.
• Perform live onstage in the 18+ lounge at ***CON on Friday Night, August 17, 2012 at 11:20pm to 11:40pm, 12:00am to 12:20am, 12:40am to 1:00am, and 1:20 to 1:40am, and Saturday Night, August 18, 2012 at 11:20pm to 11:40pm and 12:40am to 1:00am for six 20 minutes burlesque strip tease dance routines to anime songs (take off cosplay attire down to undergarments (no nudity)
• Return cosplay attire in good condition before you exit the 18+ lounge
• Perform live onstage at our Rave at ***CON on Saturday Night, August 18, 2012 at 12:00am to 12:20am and 1:20am to 1:40am for two 20 minutes go-go dance performances 
• Live up to the terms of the Exhibitor Contract in the Exhibitors Hall
• To promote   ***CON  from now till the actual convention on all social media and at other events
• To provide   ***CON  the right to use your name and images, videos, marketing collateral, etc. in conjunction with promoting of   ***CON  in all media
• To be available and actively participate in any video/photo/media interview opportunities during the convention  

This Offer, when signed, constitutes a binding Memorandum of Understanding.

______________________________________________ ___________________________
Miss Ginny McQueen                                               Date 

Earlier this week, McQueen posted a YouTube video detailing the many offensive aspects of the offer: the "Miss" salutation (McQueen is married, but more to the point, what type of business contract assumes a woman is a "Miss" these days?), the extensive amount of work asked in exchange for less than minimum wage, and most outrageously, the fact that the convention assumed McQueen would be interested in stripping even though she's never done anything of the sort thus far in her career.

Here's a selection of some of the detailed costumes McQueen has constructed over the years; one of her favorites is this Madame de Pompadour dress, which earned her a spot in Doctor Who Magazine. She's won 18 costuming awards for her work. But she's also a lady — a lady who models and sometimes wears skimpy outfits — so, therefore, the convention assumed she'd be more than eager to take off all of her clothes for a bunch of convention goers. And for paltry compensation, at that.

"I find it insulting that someone would assume that because some of my costumes are revealing, I'd want to do a striptease for a crowd of people and let them film it," McQueen told us. "They put no effort into researching me or what I do. They also had absolutely no grasp of what a contract is." McQueen added that she tries to have a sense of humor when it comes to gender stereotypes within the cosplay community, as evidenced by her follow-up video, "How To Strip Off Your Cosplay." I was being facetious," she said. "I am not a stripper or dancer, nor would I spend even more of my own time and money to alter the costumes I've already made so I could easily strip them off for someone. I will, however, make insane videos of myself for the sake of humor."

Will the cosplay community at large ever fully accept women like McQueen, a self-professed "horribly goofy" geek who is also very traditionally attractive and enjoys emulating characters who wear skintight clothing? If they're stripping off their clothes, definitely! Otherwise, we're not so sure.

(Image via McQueen's website.)

View the original article here

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

John Scalzi Helpfully Explains Just How Not Okay It Is to Sexually Harass Someone at a Sci-Fi or Fantasy Convention [Sexual Harassment]

Author and and President of Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America John Scalzi affixed his blogging sheriff's badge on Tuesday to remind everyone that it is a) decidedly shittastic to harass anyone at a science fiction or fantasy convention, and b) pretty frustrating that women are still being harassed at these conventions.

Scalzi was addressing an incident that occured at this year's Readercon, which, he notes, has a very explicit "zero tolerance" policy about sexual harassment.  Genevieve Valentine first blogged about being harassed at Readercon by a guy named Rene Walling, who, Scalzi points out, had been "banned from the convention for two years, an amount of time which is less than ‘permanently' would be."  A cavalcade of outraged responses followed Valentine's post, many of them speculating that Walling had been "let off easy" because he's a well-traveled fan who's run conventions himself.  Dismayed commenters ultimately concluded that Readercon, tripping clumsily over its own sexual harassment policy, seemed to side with the harasser over than the woman he harassed.

As President of SFWA (and hugely popular writer of the hot new sci-fi book Redshirts), Scalzi was pressed for a response to the incident, which he provided in the concise, bulleted litany that follows:

1. No one should have to fear sexual harassment at any science fiction or fantasy convention. The fact people still do - the fact women still do, let's not dance around that little fact of life - is deeply embarrassing to all of us in this community.

2. It doesn't matter whether the person sexually harassing someone else is a big name in the field or is well-liked or is otherwise a decent human being or feels really bad about it in retrospect.

3. Conventions should have policies and procedures in place to deal with sexual harassment. Those policies should be unambiguous and clear. They should apply equally to everyone.

4. If a convention has a policy on sexual harassment which it then does not follow, then it has failed - failed the person who was harassed by not living up to its obligations to them, failed its guests by not following the rules by which it purports to run, failed the community at large by continuing to allow exceptions and exclusions and excuses to those who harass, and failed itself by not being the convention it claims to be.

Everybody clear on that?  Scalzi goes on to address the fact that harassers often profess ignorance, as in, "I had no idea that the woman gritting her teeth and backing slowly away from me wanted me to stop talking to her about the mating habits of adult hyenas.  Really, I swear."  Scalzi explains pretty bluntly that being clueless about harassment "doesn't matter.  At the end of the day, everyone at a convention should be free to enjoy themselves without being sexually harassed."  People who willingly enter huge social stews of strange fellow humans shouldn't be prepared to deal with harassment — they should be prepared to interact with other people decently.  That means not getting up in a stranger's personal space and making that person cringe.  If such social nuances elude any prospective attendees, then it'd probably be best for them to stay indoors and wait for some social awareness to bludgeon them across the forehead.

Readercon, Harrassment, Etc. [Whatever]

View the original article here

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.