Thread by @ChrisLauManson, Hello, fellow men in comics

Hello, fellow men in comics - I'd like to talk to you about the Pledge that's going around.

It's a graphic that lists out various behaviours that the person retweeting it promises to follow, and I think it has originated from good intentions. But there's more to it. 1/14

The Pledge is, essentially, bare minimum stuff that we should be doing already. It's sort of like declaring "I will not murder people, and I will never set fire to my house".

It's all stuff that we should really be doing by default. 2/14

The reason that this matters is that, while it's nice to show your support by retweeting a graphic, things like this (e.g. the "Safety Pin" from a couple years ago) can often lead to a false sense of accomplishment. We rest after believing that we have done something. 3/14

Promising we're not going to be assholes isnt enough. We need to actually step in and help. And there's loads that can be done! It can be as simple as listening to womens' experiences, letting them know we believe them, learning about behaviours that make them uncomfortable. 4/14

Better would be to talk to our friends and colleagues about those behaviours, making it clear that we don't find that acceptable. Challenge those behaviours when you see them - it doesn't have to be a big confrontation, often a quick "Dude, wtf?" will be enough to interject. 5/14

Invited onto a panel at a con? Check out who else is on, and if there's a distinct lack of ladies on the panel, maybe suggest to the organisers that they would appeal to a wider audience if they balanced out the panel. If they're hesitant, it would be great if you offered up 6/14

your seat on the panel and suggested a friend or colleague who is a woman, who could talk about the same things you would have covered. And if they still resist, consider not doing the panel at all. I know it sounds scary, that you may be damaging your career. But think of 7/14

it this way: women are denied career progression all the time by not being invited onto these panels, by being sidelined. Many still power through despite that - you'll understand a bit better having done so, and will have made a statement to the organisers. 8/14

If you're an organiser yourself, or have any degree of power - even if it's your own indie comic - consider hiring women. There are plenty of editors, sensitivity readers, artists, and designers out there who have the expertise to work with you and make some amazing comics! 9/14

Make sure to support women. Listen to them when they tell you that something is going wrong and taking action like I mentioned before when somebody is making them feel unsafe. Share their work, cheer them on, let them know about career opportunities. 10/14

Gonna end this now by summing up: The Pledge is nice, but is the bare minimum stuff we should be doing already. Men in comics need to be prepared to intervene when we see our friends, our colleagues, behaving inappropriately. Disrupt them, call them out, disconnect them. 11/14

Make sure women are afforded the same opportunities as we are. Be prepared to take a hit on your own opportunities if the system resists - it's comparatively small compared to what women face constantly. Hire women on your teams, pay them for their time and work. 12/14

And to practice what I preach, here are some ladies working in comics who you should consider hiring, buying from, and supporting (not exhaustive, but I gotta end this thread at some point!)

@illusClaire - Editor and comic critic

@_HeatherAPalmer - Writer and editor

13/14

@DeeNewtsoda - Writer, illustrator, designer
http://etsy.com/shop/newtsoda

@One_In_Hundred - Writer, Illustrator, designer
http://1-in-100.co.uk

@RCrawfordArt - Artist, Illustrator
http://etsy.com/uk/shop/RebeccaCrawfordArt

14/14

1 in 100

http://etsy.com/shop/newtsoda

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