Eastercon and diversity

[nanila]

lapswood was kind enough to send me a few photos he took at Eastercon last month. I thought this one made a nice illustration of some points that were made about PoCs and the (lack of) diversity at science fiction conventions.

This is from the panel I was on. Myself, the gentleman next to me and the man on the opposite end from me are all working scientists. The other man is the moderator - I'm not sure whether or not he is a scientist.



When I look at this picture, the first thing that pops into my head is the Sesame Street song: "One of these things is not like the others/One of these things just doesn't belong."

Visually, the thing that doesn't belong is me. And that makes me sad. What does it make you think?

Comments

[holyschist]

Flippantly, I was actually thinking it's the vest on the guy next to you. That is a heck of a vest. O_o

But...I am glad you are there, and even more glad for the outreach you do and the little girls who want to grow up to be Nanilas. I mean, I honestly don't know what I would have done with my life if I'd thought when I was a kind that scientists were all old white dudes. So, it sucks that panels still look like that a lot of the time, and it sucks that it takes a special effort to make panels more diverse, but you absolutely belong.

[nanila]

He does have an eye-catching collection of waistcoats. :D

I know it made a difference to me that my physics teacher in high school was a woman. And that my undergraduate research supervisor was, too. And earlier than that, my mum would bring home biographies of famous female scientists. I'm not sure I would have realised it at the time, but in hindsight I can see how important it was.