Tony Harris anti-WOMAN Cosplay Rant

Ok, for those of you who were on my twitter this morning, you KNOW i'm pretty pissed about this guy. For those of you who don't know - Tony Harris is a comic artist who went on a rant bashing female cosplayers by ways of claiming we're not actual geeks, AND attacking body image. He seems to have gotten a mix of support as well as other people who are also angry about this. It's also infuriating that he's only attacking WOMEN. What makes a woman who cosplay's knowledge cred different than a man's?

I'm posting this here because this is DEFINITELY going to be a big topic, and i would like YOUR FEEDBACK to perhaps bring up on the show as well. Whether you AGREE or DISAGREE, go ahead and post! I won't be posting too much in here, as i want to know what you have to say, and will be talking about it on the show. I'm even debating if we should even TRY bringing this guy on as a guest, as i think i may have a brain aneurysm out of anger.

Here is the link for his facebook post, & I will post a screen cap at the bottom as well. (if you go to his actual fb page tho, some of the comments left in support are just as infuriating). --same with his twitter. I look forward to hearing what you guys have to say! (sheesh, & i thought the "vlog naked lady" pissed me off)

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tony.harris.313/posts/4441714834591
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TONYFINGHARRIS



UPDATE
so, was checking comments on the page, and he has since posted the following. Just wanted to update you guys:

I think there are always going to be a subsection of the geek/nerd community that is 1.) elitist and 2.) for some reason thinks these sorts of hobbies are only for guys. I can't tell you the number of times my wife has mentioned she was female while playing League of Legends only to get a "there is no such thing as girls on the internet" sort of response.

The truth is there are plenty of girls, even really good looking ones, that enjoy geeky pursuits. I know that comes as a shock to a lot of nerds (many of who think that the reason they can't get girls somehow has to do with there being no girls who share their interests), but it is the truth. I think it's grossly unfair to automatically assume that any girl cosplaying is somehow just trying to manipulate impressionable nerds. It's simply not true. Are there some of those girls out there? Certainly. Do I think they're the "rule" as this asshole puts it? Nope. I think the vast majority of girls who engage in cosplay are simply fans of whatever they're cosplaying as.

This sort of thing comes up all the time in the RPG community as well, and it infuriates me to no end. It's true that my hobbies are male dominant (some, like MMOs, less so), but I have a question for these guys who are complaining about girls cosplaying: do you not WANT girls involved? Do you not WANT more people interested in what you do? There's a certain sense of elitism that comes along with this as well. It's that hipster mentality, although I have no idea why it's being specifically applied to women in this case.

Guess what nerds? It's fun to have your wife or girlfriend or just women in general play games with you. It's an enriching experience. Your D&D games (or first person shooters, or MMOs, or whatever) really don't need to be a sausage fest.

In short, people like this guy need to stop hating on women who are involved in our interests. It makes the rest of us look bad.

This rant by Tony Harris sounds like the frustrated rant of a guy who has never been laid.

I'd like to add, i realize everyone's entitled to their opinion. BUT, as a COMIC ARTIST of some what notoriety in the public eye - by saying such, you're really alienating a part of your fan base/paying audience, AS WELL AS insulting women on the ever on going "geek cred" battle AND body image issues of "not perfect" women cosplaying...

I'm telling you....if this man were to get laid....He probably wouldn't give a shit about any of this....he is a very frustrated man....

I've had to face this kind of gender discrimination all my life; from family, friends, the media, in social media, and in the workplace. I've always been attracted to less "feminine" things like working on cars and roleplaying games. My video game collection rivals a lot of my male counterparts. My book collection reads like a best-of list of scifi and fantasy as well as graphic novels and newspaper comics.

To see that kind of bile spewed out into the mainstream is disheartening at best. I really had hoped we'd moved past it.

Who cares if a girl is at a con just to play dress up or if she's there because of an undying love of Iron Man or Rorschach? If she's just a model, and the con is just another job to her, why should that matter? She's being paid to be there.

Another part of the rant that really got to me was the direct jabs at women who don't fit the "socially acceptable norm" in body type. I happen to be a bit overweight, and it's hard enough just trying to find clothes that fit me correctly- much less a costume. If i do have a costume, it's because I MADE it. When I make a costume, I take my weight and looks well into account. I don't want to offend anyone due to my size. (Though I still don't understand why it should, even after 32 years on this planet.) My chest is a size 40d, my waist is a 16, and my hips necessitate that I wear size 22 pants. I'm so sorry if that offends anyone, but I won't hide in shame anymore. I won't do it. I've hidden enough in my lifetime. If I want to wear my homemade Nausicaa costume somewhere, I will and no puffed up Eisner-award winning artist will tell me different.

I agree that this is a guy who's been shot down for a date by Lara Croft a few too many times. It's also clear that he's an artist and not a writer - his grammar is atrocious.

This is, unfortunately, indicative of a problem I see throughout the geek community.

We are elitist a-holes. We've spent years being the ones beat down, kept down, told we're losers. For some among us, this brings out a need to prove "Not only am I worthy, but you are the one who isn't!"

I get it. I get that it's a defense mechanism. I understand the psychology behind it. But I also understand it's the same psychology that drives schoolyard bullies. (And no, I'm not saying this is bullying. It isn't. But both forms of anti-social behavior come from the same place.)

Guys like this used to drive me up the wall, make me want to rant and scream. Then I realized that this is the ONLY way they learned how to handle those problems from their childhood: Impotently flailing their arms while sobbing like petulant little children about how, even now, the world is mean to them because they "have to" see/hear something or someone they don't like.

That doesn't make me angry because it's pathological. It's a sickness. I don't get angry at someone for being sick, I feel sorry for them. Especially when the case is as terminal as this.

Why does unnecessary elitism exist in a culture where love is first and foremost in the first play? Why does it have to be like this?

Mistress J wrote:

I'd like to add, i realize everyone's entitled to their opinion. BUT, as a COMIC ARTIST of some what notoriety in the public eye - by saying such, you're really alienating a part of your fan base/paying audience, AS WELL AS insulting women on the ever on going "geek cred" battle AND body image issues of "not perfect" women cosplaying...

Popular conception of what's a "perfect" body type is bullshit anyway. I don't know how we got to the point where super skinny twig women were what was considered "perfect" but it's crap. Then again I'm a guy who likes bigger girls anyway, so perhaps my opinion is skewed in that regard. Regardless, we shouldn't be judging people based on body type. Everybody's different. And every body type is attractive to somebody. Let everybody dress (and cosplay in this case) how they wish.

Silent Hunter wrote:

This is, unfortunately, indicative of a problem I see throughout the geek community.

We are elitist a-holes. We've spent years being the ones beat down, kept down, told we're losers. For some among us, this brings out a need to prove "Not only am I worthy, but you are the one who isn't!"

I get it. I get that it's a defense mechanism. I understand the psychology behind it. But I also understand it's the same psychology that drives schoolyard bullies. (And no, I'm not saying this is bullying. It isn't. But both forms of anti-social behavior come from the same place.)

Guys like this used to drive me up the wall, make me want to rant and scream. Then I realized that this is the ONLY way they learned how to handle those problems from their childhood: Impotently flailing their arms while sobbing like petulant little children about how, even now, the world is mean to them because they "have to" see/hear something or someone they don't like.

That doesn't make me angry because it's pathological. It's a sickness. I don't get angry at someone for being sick, I feel sorry for them. Especially when the case is as terminal as this.

i completely get what you're saying. however, it's more so the fact that he goes into women's body types and their "right" to dress as certain things in addition to attacking geek cred (as well as all in the comments section of the post). Also, when you are someone of notoriety, AND make your living in comics, where females/cosplayers are a part of your paying fan base, i think it's that much more sad/irresponsible to go on a rant like this. It's also the fact that this is against female cosplayers, and not males. I get that there is much "cosplay hate" out there where people don't understand, or think it is stupid. I just can't understand ONLY spewing hate against females on it. Nor do i understand how dressing up "ruins" your geek cred against any other non-cosplaying female claiming to be a geek. It takes fucking dedication to make most of these costumes. Believe me, if you spend that much time making something, YOU KNOW YOUR SHIT. His statements really have the undertone of simple "female hate" disguised within a post of cosplay/geek cred attack.

Speaking of male cosplay, I should totally cosplay as Gragas:

I read and i'm shocked, one of the greatest demonstration of stupidity and insensitivity i ever see on the world wide web, this is an asshole with no respect for any human being, not just women cosplayers.
People like Tony Effing Harris don't deserved my attention and neither further audience should be given for him except as a bad example of interweb's behaviour fort generations to come.

Cosplayers are people with more humble and brave that idiot. He stand for nothing and will go back to nowhere after this, while those girls, women and ladies will remain in my heart and memory forever because the sum of their standings in the middle of the crowd overcomes any imperfections that may be presented by critics.

Tony Effing Harris stands in the crowd as a piece of shit on the floor ready to be sweep away and only remembered with disgust.

This guy obviously has serious issues with women. That seemed to be coming from a pretty dark place. The idea of "geek cred" is pretty silly. I really don't care if someone's read more comics or seen more classic Doctor Who eps. than me. I still like those things and thats all that matters. More people getting into geek culture is a GOOD thing. Even if a woman (or a man for that matter) goes to a con in costume and doesn't know the first thing about the character they're dressed as, who the FUCK is this asshole to tell them what they can and can't do? Does it make you love that character less? If so why?

And if you look at a beautiful woman and your thoughts go straight to anger, then perhaps you should get some help because that doesn't seem normal.

You'd think that if the guy is so passionate about his statement and feels that it is important he would have bothered to use spellcheck, maybe some adequate punctuation and maybe broken his thoughts into different topics and paragraphs to avoid having one wall of unreadable text.

Hey, i added an updated addendum up on the original post at the top of a screen shot of his response to the backlash he's been getting towards him.

Honestly it's about attitude. If you hold a generally negative attitude toward women, they pick up on that. Tony Harris' problem is he thinks he's the superior one, when clearly he has nothing superior about him.

Treat women as inferiors, they show how you are the inferior.

Treat women as an equal, they respect it and treat you as an equal also.

AlexJowski wrote:

You'd think that if the guy is so passionate about his statement and feels that it is important he would have bothered to use spellcheck, maybe some adequate punctuation and maybe broken his thoughts into different topics and paragraphs to avoid having one wall of unreadable text.

His text is readable Jowski, Harris is just too stupid at the moment to care for why he should have think twice before he post that. His text was a thought stream and thought streams most of the time end bad.

Yes yes, this is silly and all, but...who the hell is Tony Harris?

Honestly, the more I read this, the more I think this is some sort of misguided marketing ploy; an attempt to get his name out there. After all, there's no such thing as bad publicity, right? I had never heard of the guy before today, so I guess he succeeded in that. Still not interested in anything he has to say or anything he's made.

Perhaps we should all stop feeding the troll because I'm starting to think that's all he is.

thecinemasnob wrote:

Yes yes, this is silly and all, but...who the hell is Tony Harris?

he's a comic book artist of somewhat notoriety

Mistress J wrote:

thecinemasnob wrote:

Yes yes, this is silly and all, but...who the hell is Tony Harris?

he's a comic book artist of somewhat notoriety

From what I could research (thank you Wikipedia) he seems most famous for a run of Starman from the mid 90s. Got nominated for a few Eisners. Must be a decent artist, but seems like a colossal asshole.

I think that this rant of Harris' was offensive on several points.

1. Women and Men deserve equal respect. Period. I hate misogyny, with a passion.

2. His comments on body type sickened me. I am a bigger guy, my wife is a bit bigger as well.
I don't give two figs what he feels is appropriate for people to wear, if it bothers him, he shouldn't do cons.
The conventions usually state if they allow cosplay, it is his choice and prerogative to attend.

3. His assertion that this is "His Office/Workplace" He is there for business. Tough. In the case of "booth babes", they are working too! He has no right to question how they earn a living as opposed to himself. In regard to Con attendees, we pay good money for the privilege of being there, it is our leisure activity; as long as people are being civil, and paying him for autographs/sketches, perhaps he should stop complaining and do his damn job, in a professional manner.

So he's talented... and an asshole. That's nothing new. Those people that are saying they're going to boycott his work or not buy his stuff are too over-reactionary. So he has a contradictory opinion on cosplay - has that affected his work? The people who follow him on facebook and twitter obviously liked his work regardless of his opinion before.

I think Spike Lee is an asshole - I still watch Spike Lee movies.
Morrissey is an offensive douche - I still listed to The Smiths
Robert Downey Jr. comes off as an egotistical prick in interviews - I still liked his performances in The Avengers and Sherlock Holmes.

It's not that hard to separate the art from the artist.

AlexJowski wrote:

So he's talented... and an asshole. That's nothing new. Those people that are saying they're going to boycott his work or not buy his stuff are too over-reactionary. So he has a contradictory opinion on cosplay - has that affected his work? The people who follow him on facebook and twitter obviously liked his work regardless of his opinion before.

I think Spike Lee is an asshole - I still watch Spike Lee movies.
Morrissey is an offensive douche - I still listed to The Smiths
Robert Downey Jr. comes off as an egotistical prick in interviews - I still liked his performances in The Avengers and Sherlock Holmes.

It's not that hard to separate the art from the artist.

true, but whenever you're "in the public eye", you will still have consequences for what you say. I'm not questioning his work, not saying people should boycott. It's the whole stigma of women having to "prove their cred" and those who assume who are posers and who are not. It's HOW he's making his "points" that are just hatred for women in general and no articulation to back up his view/instances of "fake nerds". Also going into body type, talking about preying women, and the fact this is directed at cosplayers instead of just "fakers" so to speak is what is so infuriating. If you make your money from comics and go off presumptuous on part of your audience, you have to expect backlash. I made this topic because this is an on-going issue i want to tackle on wtf & genuinely want feedback on how people feel to tackle on air -not that the issue is started by him. He's just an example (especially being in the public eye) of the hatred & unfounded notions about females. He's making these sexist statements, only targeting women, and making claims of "fakers" not deserving to be at conventions "taking up his air while he's trying to work". And here at WTF, we talk about when people of notoriety say stupid shit. So, thus, the fact that this is a case of putrid spewing against female geeks/nerds coming from a somewhat notable artist does not make it any less subject worthy. Same with the christian extremist blogger that spewed asinine unfounded statements about dungeons & dragons we did months ago. Made the topic cause i thought it would be good to include some listener feedback to go off of on the matter.