Tag Archives: Where’s Hera?

Tosche Station Radio #102: Where’s Hera?

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On this episode of Tosche Station Radio, Amy Ratcliffe and Bria join the hosts to answer a question that’s been bugging us all lately: Where’s Hera?

There’s only one thing New on the Blog this week: Brian did a live-tweet style review of Idiot’s Array.

In Fixer’s Flash, the hosts have been busy watching Agent Carter. Nanci’s been writing and working on a new novel. Meanwhile, Brian is obsessed with various sportsballs.

Deak’s Dirt starts on the interactive side. Like Star Wars games? You’re in luck! Good Old Games has released a crap ton of them. Meanwhile, Celebration will be screening the Navajo version of A New Hope, will also be bringing back Speed Dating and the Tattoo Pavilion. Strange Magic comes out this week, if that sort of thing is your bag.

Biggs’ Bull$#!^ has standalone casting rumors ahoy! Rooney Mara, Kate Mara, Felicity Jones, Tatiana Maslany. George says Disney went their own way with Episode VII.

Camie’s Concerns this week looks into the stunning lack of Hera in Rebels and Star Wars merchandise. She’s the captain of the ship, so where is she in the marketing and merch? Amy and Bria join in to discuss articles they’ve written on the subject (Amy’s here and Bria’s here) and tackle why it’s deeply problematic to exclude her. After the break, Nanci and Brian discuss a more recent revelation that the Episode VII target toy market excludes girls.

Amy Ratcliffe can be found online at numerous sites, but her personal blog is here at Geek with Curves. You can also find her on Twitter with the handle @amy_geek.

Tosche Station Radio is the official podcast of Tosche-Station.net and a part of Majestic Giraffe Productions. If you like what you hear, please leave a review on the iTunes Music Store. We can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.

Nanci and Brian are the co-founders and writers of Tosche-Station.net. You can find Nanci on Twitter with the handle @Nancipants and you can find Brian with @LaneWinree.

This podcast has been brought to you in part by Her Universe and Audible.com.

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Where’s Hera? (And Sometimes Sabine)

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January 4th, 2015 and I’m already tired. Why? Because I am sick of it. Because I’m sick of death of having to constantly fight and ask for female representation in merchandise when there’s absolutely no good reason not to include it. Are you a fan of Star Wars Rebels and love the ENTIRE team? Well good luck finding merchandise that includes Hera or Sabine let alone both.

If this is sounding familiar, it’s because we’ve been through this before. We wondered where Black Widow was in all the Avengers gear after the film came out in May 2012 and then we asked again in August 2014 when Gamora was almost nowhere to be found. (Amy Ratcliffe detailed the latter over at her blog.) At this point, it’s an easy choice to call it a pattern of marketing (especially Disney in this situation) purposefully eliminating female characters from their products. This is hardly also a new battle for Star Wars. Those in the fandom will likely recall the uproar when Daisy Ridley was originally the only new woman in the Episode VII cast and then again when Hera and Sabine were not announced with the first wave of Rebels action figures. (And hey, that’s just the highlights from 2014.) Unfortunately, it looks like it’s time to start up a hashtag for #WheresHera.

Let’s take a look at some of the Star Wars Rebels merchandise out there. Over the weekend, I found myself at the Disney Store, a calendar mall stand, and Jo-Ann Fabrics. While this is not a comprehensive listing of places that sell Star Wars gear, I found the products there to be fairly representative of what I’ve seen other times.

I found this set of kids’ PJs in the Disney Store. Notice who’s missing?IMG_1411I don’t recall seeing anything with either lady on anything in the store but I DID see a girl of perhaps five eagerly grabbing for a Star Wars lunch box. Much of the rest of the items featured Darth Vader, clone troopers, and the Inquisitor. (It took effort not to explain the Inquisitor’s lightsaber to the confused dad holding it.)

 

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