On October 8, 2018, Lisa Olson, a former employee of Roseville’s Source Comics and Games, published a Facebook post about her experience as an employee that went viral and elicited many comments from both customers and other former employees about their experiences in the store. Below is an open letter that was sent to Twin Cities Geek this week by the game masters who run the Kattakemeros and Kosnos games at the store on Sundays.
Shieldmaiden Sundays are a casual meetup in the Source Comics and Games game room for women who want to meet other women with whom to participate in nerd-oriented activities, such as playing games, painting miniatures, and reading and making comics. This letter represents the views of the two groups that run all-female/femme RPG games during that time. These two groups have been using the space the longest and are Source regulars, but they do not speak for all those who participate in Shieldmaiden Sundays—only themselves.
We are the Shieldmaidens of Kattakemeros and Kosnos.
We believe Lisa Olson. We have all been Lisa Olson. We don’t have the luxury to be surprised by this information, so we’ve chosen to be angry. That it is happening here, again, because most of us have had at least one bad interaction while at the store. At all stores. Because this is not unique to one place, but a systemic issue (hopefully) in its death-throes: gatekeeping and misogyny in geek spaces.
We stand with the disenfranchised, the marginalized, the ignored, and the invisible. We are the shieldwall with and for our sisters, not just our cis-ters.
The concept of the Shieldmaidens has never been just about the Source. We highly encourage more chapters to pop up, whenever and wherever you feel welcomed. We are not a Source organization; we are our own collective of women/girls/femmes/female/LGBTQAI+ geeks. Anyone can step up and lead an event or a game or a movement. Thus, any decisions about events at the Source must be undertaken by the members of that event/group, as individuals.
At least one group has decided to stay, that they will not be driven out by toxic masculinity. Another has decided to find another venue. Some are still deciding. All are valid choices, and should be honored. There are many ways to fight this fight.
(If you have the option, please do not fight this fight by buying from Amazon instead. There are better options without worker exploitation.)
We would be remiss if we did not mention how the staff—and Hans—has either stood up for us during an incident or given a personal apology afterwards, regarding interactions with other groups using the space. We do not believe Hans to be an inherently terrible person. But none of us were born “woke.” We have all had work to do, and work we are still doing, to overcome the prejudices we have internalized. Hans, like everyone else, clearly has more work to do. More work than we would have hoped, apparently, but that does not make the situation unsalvageable.
As the Shieldmaidens of Kattakemeros (Chandra’s game) and Kosnos (Quinn’s game), we believe the Source can and should be better. We are dedicated to improving the world around us. Some of our members are currently discussing the logistics of a purchasing boycott, to continue until management provides concrete steps towards improvement, but that is still in the formative stages. We will, effective immediately, stop promoting the store to our friends and family as a queer- and female-friendly space to shop.
We highly suggest the Source show us that our faith in its potential is not misplaced by:
Code of Conduct
Immediately making the rules for the game room the rules for the entire store and holding all employees to the same standard as their customers.
Establishing a policy for takedown requests/challenged books and applying it consistently. The ALA already has guidelines, as does the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.
Training
Participating in a training program on gender, sexuality, and disability. Most colleges have these programs available and some will even come to the store. The University of Minnesota comes highly recommended.
Learning how to spot and intervene in any interactions that might be making other customers uncomfortable or feel unsafe.
Staffing
Hiring more diverse staff and listening to their suggestions. We have a rich pool of very geeky people in the Twin Cities from which to find passionate, knowledgeable candidates of various backgrounds.
Inclusive Action
In the spirit of complete inclusivity, installing automatic doors, which will benefit the disabled, the elderly, parents, and anyone with their hands full for gaming purposes. We laud the unisex, accessible bathrooms, but they also need automatic doors.
We will not tolerate the continuation of toxic masculinity such as Lisa has described. It is everything we are against. At the same time, we acknowledge and support our allies that are on staff with the Source. Know that you’re seen, loved, and supported, and we’d form up the wall in front of you like we would for any of our sisters because we know you’re in this with us.
It should be noted that Hans was not the only problem Lisa faced. Some of the issues came from store patrons. Members of OUR geek community. The Source is not the only place where change needs to happen.
We’re Shieldmaidens, with all that entails. We will not tolerate racism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, or misogyny. We are blazing a better path for our younger members, towards a better geeky world WITHOUT this baggage. Now it’s time for the Source to be better too.
—Shieldmaidens of Kattakemeros and Kosnos
Shieldmaiden Sunday at Source Comics and Games
I don’t know if I can help at all, but if I can, I want to add my voice as a trans non-binary person who’s willing to talk to the Source about where and how badly they’ve messed up their ties to the trans and nonbinary community with this news, and what they can do to try to help make it better.
I’ve been lucky to be able to keep my calm, steady voice over the years, even when my heart is boiling. Now I see, I might be able to put it to some positive use.
You know maybe Lisa should consider competing against the Source. The southern and western suburbs are bereft of a game store of the quality of the Source. I go to a store in these areas in hope of finding something besides Games Workshop wargames, Pathfinder and D&D 5E and I get the same answer, go the the Source.
Easy answer but I am in the southwest corner of the cities. It’s not a run over to Bloomington or Golden Valley. This region needs a top caliber store.
You know, there aren’t many comic book stores around anymore. Printing is a dying form of media. It’s a shame to see one of the places that’s survived the longest get one-sided blasted over a societal problem that goes well into almost everything competitive.
I’m a white male. Am I guilty of perpetuating this societal problem? I’m sure I do without even realizing it sometimes. I can remember my younger self tossing the word ‘gay’ around with negative connotation. It wasn’t until I was called out by a gay friend whom I’d offended for saying it that I felt embarrassed enough to want to change my vocabulary. Even after that I’d let it’s slip and from time to time and feel the same embarrassment.
My point is that with a direct approach as a confident individual with experience and fact to back you — you can go at those people like a heat seeking missile and do a lot of good.
Go at these people and ask them “Would you want to bring your daughter here if she were 10-15 years old?”. I know I wouldn’t and I love playing cards with a room full of nerds. Change the ownership’s perspective & shape culture with provocative questions. Who would want collecting & card games to go extinct while fighting sexism that goes so many more directions?
Places like Source harbor a comfort zone to a lot of respectful ‘nerds’ who wouldn’t otherwise have a place to socialize with people who have similar interests. It bothers me to read about boycotting sales, comments suggesting to compete against them. That kind of shit’s not going to do any damage to the problem affecting society — we’re already living in a capitalist society!
Are you here with your boyfriend? Husband? Did your son/husband/boyfriend teach you how to play magic? DUUUUUUDDDEEEE! You got beat by a girl?? You suck! Oh, you need cards out of the case- what kind of Magic does your husband play? “Judge, quick question..” Go sit down. I’ll be over when I can get to you.
These (and more than I care to type here) are all statements that have been made to me as I try and play Magic at the Source. When I talked to two highly respected Magic players in the community about my experiences, both advised me to play elsewhere. (FYI this is NOTHING compared to the horror that was Outpost 2020-they HATE women there are are not ashamed to show it)
Lisa was a shining spot in my experience playing at the Source and there were several times where I would call, verify that she was working and then head over to shop. Just knowing she was there made me feel better, and safer. I knew I wasn’t going to get harassed about the cards I wanted or why I wanted them. My heart breaks for her and at the same time I AM SO PROUD OF YOU for speaking out.
I don’t know whether to boycott of try to effect change from the inside and show them (as I have been doing for a very long time) that women can and do show up for FNM, we do know how to draft, and Standard isn’t just for dudes. It hard, and it hasn’t gotten any easier. I just don’t know.
Had I a brick and mortar store rather than just an online store, Geek Foundry would be proud to host a chapter of Shieldmaidens. There is no room for misogyny or any kind of assholery in gaming or in life.
I applaud what you stand for.