Emily S. Whitten: It’s Hard Out There for a (Fan)girl, part 1 – I Would Like to Buy a Shirt, Please

Emily S. Whitten

Emily S. Whitten writes everything from news, reviews, and interviews to how-tos, con round-ups, and opinion pieces for ComicMix and others; as well as comics featured on ComicMix, MTV.com, and Reelz.com; and occasionally even award-winning poetry and fiction. When she's not writing for fun or profit, she’s sharing geeky thoughts on the Fantastic Forum radio show and podcast Made of Fail. Emily is a convention organizer and consultant, and co-chair of the fourth North American Discworld Convention, which she co-founded. She has been Program Coordinator for Awesome Con and staff for several genre cons. Emily is a program moderator for Awesome Con and Fan2Sea; and you might also recognize her from her days of answering questions online as her alter-ego, Ask Deadpool. In her copious spare time, Emily enjoys crafting and cosplay, and looking after the cutest three-legged dwarf hamster in the world, ElliePuff. Oh, and when she's not doing all that, Emily is an active member of The National Press Club and holds down a 9-to-5 as a senior attorney for the federal government - although that may just be her superheroine cover identity.

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18 Responses

  1. Martha Thomases says:

    And why has no one ever made decent Wonder Woman bracelets? You know, big enough to really bounce bullets? They don’t have to work (I try to avoid bullet situations) but they would look awesome.

    • MisfitsTamara says:

      Agreed! My sister dressed up like Wonder Woman last Halloween and it was ridiculously difficult to find good bracelets for it. Like, RIDICULOUSLY difficult. Unacceptable.

    • Emily S. Whitten says:

      That is a very good point! And goes to something I didn’t discuss here because it would have made the column way too long but it is: actually authentic costumes (as opposed to the “sassy” Marvel costumes, etc. *siiigh*).

    • Emily W says:

      I would like a pair of those! I love the look of wide cuff bracelets anyway. Heh.

  2. MisfitsTamara says:

    The other problem with t-shirts for ladies (besides the sexist/misogynistic designs that often pop up) is when they *are* cut for women, 90% of the time they’re Junior sizes which is great for the bite-sized lady-nerds but not when you’re amazonian.

    • Emily W says:

      That’s a good point – I don’t have as much personal experience with that, but I know several of my friends have complained about it, and it seems like there’s no reason for the issue at all – why don’t they make things in the right sizes if they want people to wear them??

  3. LOVED THIS! And I also Iove shopping. I love comics. I love shopping for stuff related to comics and I love women!

    And I’m also a minority!

    • Emily W says:

      Thanks, glad you enjoyed! And whoo-boy, how comics deal (and have dealt historically) with ethnic/racial minorities is a whole ‘nother can of worms. *siiigh* Maybe that would be a good column too (or have you or someone else here done that topic already?). I am thinking I will eventually do one on the actual female characters in comics, perhaps.

  4. mike weber says:

    I love malls. Wife Kate hates them.

  5. r_a_black says:

    This is why I still enjoy going to Hot Topic sometimes. I mean, I hate how noisy their stores are, but now and then they sell geek things that I love. I saw this Batman clutch/wallet on their site, for example, and I loved it. I’m buying it as soon as I can in fact.

    And I LOVE stealth geek attire. I have some HP stuff that easily passes as regular jewelry so I wear them pretty often. You mostly only find that stuff on places like etsy though, where the fans make ’em. :

    • Emily W says:

      YES. My friend Amy and I went to one in CA, and it had been so long since I’d been that I’d forgotten they really do have some fun geek stuff.

      Stealth geek attire is the best. (Also I am planning to start an Etsy store that will feature stealth geek jewelry. *g*)

  6. Mindy Newell says:

    Emily, the NFL finally caught on to the distaff side as a marketing bonanza a couple of years ago. Before this, I had to make do with Men’s small sizes. Now you can get all sorts of cool stuff made for us with your favorite team’s logo! (I’m a GIANTS fan.)

  7. Bytowner says:

    This is a fair argument to make. *looks at the merch-makers with interest to see their reactions*

  1. May 30, 2012

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  2. May 30, 2012

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