Earlier this week I discussed my concerns for women in the Star Wars fandom after the cancellation of The Clone Wars, which featured some of the best characterization of female characters. Here are a few more items that I found relevant to that discussion:

Vote #TeamLeia

This week in the Star Wars “This Is Madness” bracket challenge, Leia narrowly defeated her mother Padmé in their showdown. A few days later, Ahsoka held off her television show counterpart, Captain Rex. So the female characters are still 1/8 represented, and this is a good thing. On April 1st, Leia will face off with R2-D2, and later in the week Ahsoka will take on Chewbacca, in two light side battles.

When I talked about the marginalization of female fans in the post, I hope that the message isn’t lost that 2013 is so much better. Really, turning other fans away, especially on the early online message boards, was about fear of the unknown. The more exposure given to geek girls – and by exposure I do not mean Slave Leia – and the stories told about female characters, the easier it is for the geek community to see them as genuine and human. But there is a power dynamic in play, too. TheMarySue reported on the past week’s PAX East cosplay harassment incident that highlights how female fans have to “lean in.” After being harassed by a member of the media, Tomb Raider cosplayers discussed how this had been the norm and also how they often . . . → Read More: More on Women in Fandom