#GeekSHEroes: Cosplay, Conventions and Conventional Abuse (Zoltan aka SolidSnake)

The #GeekSHEroes campaign wishes to raise awareness and familiarize other groups with what means to be a geek. Fort Knox PR, Jane Candy and Edge and Back are proud of its geek roots and have never been shy to speak their mind. Here are our statements. We wait for your stories and we will do our best to have all your voices heard. We invite you to read our first article here.

Zoltan aka SolidSnake, a good friend of ours shared his thoughts:

There are lots of things that can happen at a convention, a few are quite fun a few are not. As a cosplayer myself, I saw the funnier and the weirder parts.. Most of the people talk about the fun and games but sometimes we have to talk about what needs to be changed. I mean the abuse. Of course, you can say „if you put everything out, then why you are surprised?” Cosplay DOES NOT mean consent! There are people who like to portray „sexy” characters, but this does not meant they have to endure unwanted physical contacts – who feels comfortable when random individuals touch your butt just because they can? Abuse can come in various ways, but I strongly believe that the first thing to do is not just run away shrieking, but to tell people this is not what cosplay is meant to be. You can be a male or female, young or not that young, but being the victim of abuse is not something we can joke with or about.

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