Is Sexual Harassment 'Sexy' Enough Now?

I wonder how the organizers of the 2009 San Diego Comic Con will handle any incidents of inappropriate or criminal behavior by out-of-control attendees this year? As noted elsewhere, Twilight fans comprising mostly of young women might be flooding the Con. If the ridiculous, perhaps unintentional but wholly negligent "3 Monkeys" policy of the last year carries over to this event then that is sure to have negative results.

Hopefully the Convention Center and Con organizers will be a little pro-active this time around and lay out some basic rules of good behavior for anyone attending. They should if they have any idea of what would be good for their financial future and more importantly what is simply moral and ethical. The press ignored the reported incidents of last year (probably due to there being no police involvement and that the story wasn't 'sexy' enough for them) but if anything untoward occurs this time I suspect the victims' lawyers and the media will descend upon the Comic Con and Convention Center boards like a Millennium Falcon cargo-hold of fanboys on a long box of discounted 90s X-Men comics.

Important. Go read.

Click the picture for an important story from Bully's Pal, John DiBello.

It was only until recently that news organizations stopped referring to Comic-Con attendees as weird, virginal losers who liked nothing more than dressing up like the characters from their favorite Japanese cartoon. The local coverage of the Con recognized that it was no longer just about buying the first appearance of Green Lantern, Hammer film festivals and getting a sketch from an artist. The SDCC is now a major media event. Yes, there was the usual story about people dressing up as Storm Troopers from Star Wars, Slave-Girl Princess Leia and Spider-Man but the news is visual and any reporter that failed to mention or display them would be remiss in their duties.

Not that Mr. DiBello described goings on equal to the Tailhook Scandal, and convention attendees everywhere usually have a habit of going a bit wild. Still, this isn't Spring Break in Florida. It's behavior resulting from the mentality of "if a woman dresses like that, she's asking for it." The actions of a few ignorant jerks that was reported by Mr. DiBello and observed by others would have resulted in police involvement and arrests had the same activity taken place on the street, in a mall or on the beach.

I'm giving my support to those calling for improved security, policy and procedures so the next Con can be enjoyed by everyone.