#wewantleia

[sarah-slater]

Carrie Fisher 

photographed by Tierney Gearon 

[sarah-slater]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_z2v42F0E0) 

The Importance of Female Superheroes - an excellent talk about the gender constraints that mass media impose on kids through marketing of male superheroes, while arguing for a critical increase in equity and representation, to embolden and empower “the future of our future.”

[lleullinsdragon]

Next letter in process. #leia #starwars #LeiaIsAwesome #wewantleia #100daysProject #100daysofmaking

[yakface96]

So long, Princess http://yakfaceforums.com/main/2015/03/16/so-long-princess/

[lleullinsdragon]

[dearmarvel-aboutyourcomics-blog]

The same disney that wasn't planning on making #WeWantLeia action figures seems very eager to push the sexist failings of it's subsidiaries back onto subsidiaries (like marvelentertainment)

Which really sucks, because if any single company had the power to re-write the narrative of women and their portrayal, it would be disneyanimation (and Marvel).  Product development takes time, but a "whoops, hey, here's a stop gap fix" and "we'll do better" is something that could be done in an afternoon) And, once again, this could be solved by companies hiring a child fan to say "where are the people of color?  Where are the girl heroes?  Why do the aliens look like that?" http://dearmarvel.weebly.com/blog/dear-disney

[tkeiralea]

In this month’s Fangirls Going Rogue, Teresa and I mentioned some awesome emails from fans who support the show. Our biggest feedback month happened after our March episode that covered the Star Wars Rebels Toy Fair rollout. Collecting site YakFace.com’s Twitter pointed out that Star Wars Insider #151 addresses the #WeWantLeia campaign.

While fangirls were speaking up alongside mothers and fathers of fankids, many fanboys expressed their enthusiasm for more gender diversity in Star Wars toys. Yakface spearheaded the petition, and after our coverage of the New York Toy Fair on Fangirls Going Rogue, the responses to the show via email and voicemail were pretty evenly split down gender lines. The responders all expressed their desire to see more diversity in Star Wars and its merchandise. The #WeWantLeia campaign even had coverage on Syfy’s The Wil Wheaton Project. Listener Andrew Nowicki agreed to allow us to reprint his email to the show.

Hey Tricia and Teresa,

First let me say that while initially I was overwhelmed by the slew of new shows on Rebel Force Radio I think you are finding your niche and every show I’m enjoying more and more. I wanted to say that as a collector I have always been frustrated with the idea that female figures don’t sell. I remember when Star Wars figures came back in ’97 that Leia was short packed. Collectors went insane trying to find the figure and the aftermarket price was astronomical. Sadly the next figure to go through the same phenomenon was Lando and I can’t help but think that being a minority played into that a bit. These were major characters that were not given a fair shake because an outdated statistic. Over and over I have heard the line “Female characters don’t sell well”. Being an older fan (turning 40 this year) I know that when I was growing up there was a hard divide between boy’s toys and girl’s toys. When I was young I didn’t know any girls that liked action figures, Star Wars, Dungeons & Dragons, video games, or most of the thing I liked growing up. So this line of thinking wasn’t something I questioned a whole lot. Even as an adult collector I found myself in a male dominated group. The other side of the equation is that during the 70’s and 80’s most female characters were pretty pathetic. There were exceptions like Princess Leia but most of the female characters were just there to be rescued or be a love interest for the hero. They rarely had more going on for them. I’m glad things are changing. I definitely see where female characters are being written with all of the importance of their male counterparts. While it still isn’t everywhere it is definitely not the rarity it once was. However I don’t think that the marketing machines that are behind the merchandising see the change or know how to adapt to what is happening. I still see the mentality of short packing all the female characters. The latest Marvel Legends line for the Captain America movie has 3 Captain America, 2 Winter Soldiers, and 1 Black Widow. The Amazing Spiderman Wave has 2 Amazing Spiderman, 2 Superior Spiderman, and 1 Black Cat which is swapped out in the second shipment for Spider Girl. On ebay they are fetching Black Cat $28 Spider girl $30, and Black Widow $60 so the demand is there. And then there are issues like the cancelation of Injustice not because of poor ratings but poor merchandising/advertising.

While I never watched the show, because I’m a diehard Marvel fan, I heard it was a good show and the fact that you would kill a good program because you don’t know how to sell commercials during the show just because the demographics are not what you are used to seeing gets my blood boiling. I’m going to bet that if you are into traditional boy’s shows you will be into traditional boy’s toys regardless of whether you are a boy or not. So please keep letting them know you are out there and that these are the things you want to see. The irony of all of this is I can remember a time where I would get teased for playing with “dolls” and now we apparently won’t let girls play with them.

Keep up the good work,

Andrew Nowicki

Thanks, Andrew, for listening to Fangirls Going Rogue. The show notes are a few days late for this month’s episode. Expect them in a day or two. Here’s the link to the show, which includes an interview with Ashley Eckstein and Consetta Parker. Until next time, “Yub! Yub!”

Below are the many ways to provide feedback to the show:

Twitter: Fangirls Going Rogue: @FGGoingRogue Tricia: @fangirlcantina Teresa: @icecoldpenguin

Email: [email protected]

Facebook: search for Fangirls Going Rogue

Tumblr: fangirlsgoingrogue.tumblr.com

Instagram: @FGGoingRogue

Voicemail: 331-21 Ewoks or 331-213-9657

Please go like RebelForce Radio on iTunes and leave a positive review, and in your review mention how much you like Fangirls Going Rogue.

Until next month – Yub Yub!

[tkeiralea]

This week’s Assembly of Geeks episode “To Nerdrage or Not To Nerdrage” is posted. From the show notes:

Geeks are passionate!  Sometimes, the passion can turn into nerdrage. That rage can sometimes have a positive impact, while other times it might be pre-mature or even unnecessary.  In today’s geek assembly meeting with Jen Rhodes from the Anomaly Podcast we examine at the recent cases of nerdrage:

1. David S. Goyer’s comments about She-Hulk.

2. The cast of Star Wars: Episode VII.

3. The #WeWantLeia campaign aimed at adding Princess Leia merchandise to the Disney Store Star Wars line.

The Fantastic Fortress has been fully repaired and upgraded since the monster attack, and nobody is more excited than GANNIN.  So much so, he leads the geek news report meeting with stories about Mark Hamill’s concern about Episode VII hype, the Ant-Man director fallout, the confirmation of Billy Dee William’s involvement in Star Wars Rebels, the re-release of Ghostbusters, the addition of Howard Stark to the Agent Carter series and a smelly new app.

We also announce a Star Wars Rebels prize pack drawing!

Since I have been tackling Darth Real Life the past few weeks I am going to allow Dunc at Club Jade, Alyssa Rosenberg of the Washington Post and Johnamarie Macias of the Wookiee Gunner make the points I would have made on Episode VII casting, diversity, Star Wars’ relationship with female fans, and speaking up about it.

You can also subscribe to the show on iTunes.

For updates on all things FANgirl follow @FANgirlcantina on Twitter or like FANgirl Zone on Facebook. Assembly of Geeks news can be found @GeeksAssemble.