Creepers and stalkers and worse, oh my
Sep. 19th, 2012 07:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_archfiend1) “On Thursday night a man groped my breast during one of the parties. Of course, he was drunk, and he did it in such a way that it was difficult to tell whether or not it was done on purpose. (That’s how these assholes work.) I didn’t report it at the time. These things happen. You just learn to avoid the man in question, which I did.”
2) “Holly eventually had enough and told him to get the fuck out and that no one wanted him around. He tried the “I was just being nice ploy” again which, when it didn’t get any traction, quickly moved to aggressive and belligerent.
He stood and I think most of us thought he might try to hit Holly but instead he announced that he was a witch and was going to curse Holly and her entire family. Also, he was going to astral project into Holly’s dreams and turn them into nightmares.”
3) “He wandered into the Nightshade party and decided to regale my boyfriend with tales of how he was TOTALLY a witch and could totally gives ‘bitches’ (all women were bitches, apparently) nightmares about spiders coming out of their nethers. Also how Lemmy from Motorhead taught him how to control strippers with his mind.”
4) “And when told that he actually wasn’t charming or appealing and that in fact he was bothering us, he got more stubborn and more determined that he would only leave on his own terms. Eventually Jonathan got him to move to the other side of the patio but he did yell out at us 15 minutes later “I’m still he-re.” Like it was some principle of his freedom and had no idea that he was more than quashing our own right to stand in our own space and not be harassed or that we even had the right to choose who *we* wanted to talk to. He had become the victim in his own mind. But eventually, Chris and Jonathan escorted him off the premises. It was both a very beautiful moment and also deeply sad because he left because two big guys showed him the door and not because five women had asked him politely, and then more bluntly, to leave us alone.”
You can read about the rest of this crap at Jaym Gates' web site (which is, of course, where these quotes came from); the worst aspect of it is this: all four of these incidents were the work of one unnamed individual who is exactly what female fen are concerned about these days, and for good reason. And keep in mind that the WFC is not exactly anyone's idea of a party con/Relaxacon:The World Fantasy Convention is an annual gathering (almost a reunion) of professionals, collectors, and others interested in the field of Light and Dark Fantasy art and literature. The number of Attending memberships are limited (to 850), and usually sell out in advance of the start of the convention.
The main features of the convention are the World Fantasy Awards, presented at a banquet on Sunday afternoon of each convention and the large Friday-evening autograph reception. Cost of the banquet is separate from the cost of membership.
An area of the convention that helps define its character is the Dealers Room.Usually there are about 50 tables of merchandise (limited to art and literature), almost all of which are collectible and new publications. There is also a very high quality Art Show, which includes some works for sale as well as displays of art from the top published artists in the field. Entry into both the Dealers Room and Art Show is juried, and should be requested well in advance of the convention. Books/art work need to be of appropriate subject matter. The convention reserves the right to exclude material which it deems of an inapproriate nature.
Nevertheless, the unnamed turd in question picked this sort of a convention to ply his trade at. Riiiiiight.
Is it any wonder why so many female fans are becoming wary of cons these days? And yeah, I fully realize that for the most part incidents like this are still relatively rare. It can happen to anyone, though. Just ask Connie Willis.
