In a world wide web of obsessive perfectionism that propagates impossible standards for women, Elizabeth Miervaldis Lemon was a flagship of human imperfection. She made it OK to eat that bowl of cereal before bed … in bed … and leave the dish on my nightstand. She made me feel proud of my period underwear. She rocked the hell out that Princess Leia costume. Not Slave Leia. Full-length, white robe Leia. Continue reading
Ashley and Ahsoka
Actress and designer Ashley Eckstein is living the dream of every Star Wars fangirl. As the voice of Anakin Skywalker’s scrappy apprentice Ahsoka Tano on the Cartoon Network series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, she’s become a part of sci-fi history. But even as a member of a legendary franchise, Eckstein encountered an all-too-common problem for female geeks: a lack of Star Wars items for women in retail stores. Sure, one could make do with a boxy tee made for a man, but that shouldn’t be a woman’s only option. Continue reading
Dominique of Comics Period
Dominique Agri is the kind of cool, intelligent woman that we dream of running into at comic shops and hanging out with. Dom, as we call her, is the force behind Comics Period, where she not only blogs about the comics medium, but also does educational videos on the history of characters and their impact on the larger culture — hence the tagline, “The Reading Rainbow of Comic Books.” She also writes the Vlog Girl comic strip (illustrated by Anthony La Hara), which has reflected her adventures as a fangirl in a guy-dominated world. Girls Gone Geek recently interviewed Dom about Comics Period, her origin story, so to speak, and the books that make her look forward to Wednesdays. Continue reading
Zoe Saldana landed on geeks’ radar screens in a major way via J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek” movie last year, but she started showing the community some love as early as 2002. That’s the year she starred as Laila, the marching band dance team captain Nick Cannon wooed in “Drumline.” Yeah, the movie was set at a historically black college and suggested that band types could reach “Top Gun” levels of badassery, but there is nothing geekier than being in a marching band (I was) and taking it seriously (I did).
Saldana went on to rock the role of Uhura —and her minidress — with aplomb. Like the rest of that great cast, she paid homage to a beloved character while bringing something fresh and unexpected to the table. She’ll be getting her geek on again soon as the extraterrestrial lead, Neytiri, in James Cameron’s “Avatar.” I’ll be honest; I can’t tell whether that movie is going to be amazing or “Battlefield Earth” terrible. But whatever happens, I’m so happy that a minority actress (Saldana is of Dominican and Puerto Rican descent) is getting high-profile film work that doesn’t require her to act alongside a man in drag or simply act as a sounding board/best friend. I mean, when my daughter told me she wanted to dress up as Uhura next Halloween, I almost turned a cartwheel. Continue reading
