Rumpus cartoonist MariNaomi wrote a powerful essay at XOJane about being sexually harassed during a comic convention panel.
“This isn’t the first time this has happened to me. Years ago, at another comic convention, a fellow panelist blatantly looked me up and down and said it was “getting hot in here” — onstage, humiliated in full view of an audience of hundreds. That time, like this one, I was so shocked and confused that I ended up saying nothing.
What gets me the most is that in real life I would have put these guys in their place. But the vulnerability of being onstage and watched by many pairs of eyes is what stops me. It’s one thing to tell a pest to back off if you’re out in the world, but once you’re onstage, those moments will be all the audience remembers of you.”
As a result of her essay, the guy who was harassing her has issued an apology.
