Marvel writer harassed for having a milkshake with coworkers? It's as silly as it sounds.
Her milkshake brought all the trolls to the yard.
A woman got a milkshake with some coworkers, and the internet lost its collective mind.
Seriously.
Heather Antos is an editor at Marvel, where she's worked on titles like "The Unbelievable Gwenpool" and "Star Wars." It was Friday afternoon, and she and a few coworkers decided to get a milkshake. She snapped a quick picture of the group and posted it to Twitter with the caption, "It's the Marvel milkshake crew! #FabulousFlo" (a reference to Flo Steinberg, a key to Marvel's success, who passed away in July).
This totally innocent and normal photo of seven coworkers hanging out and having a good time was enough to enrage a certain section of the internet. Over the course of the coming days, Antos was flooded with tweets and direct messages accusing her of being a "fake geek girl" or calling the group a bunch of "SJWs" (SJW is short for "social justice warrior," an epithet often used by anti-feminist types to attack people they see as trying to push a social agenda in some way or another). In other words, the response to the photo was completely bonkers and just disproportionate.
Screencaps via Twitter.
Antos, who was only trying to share a joyful moment with some colleagues, felt pretty down about the whole thing — understandably so.
In response, Twitter users rallied around the hashtag #MakeMineMilkshake, showing solidarity with Antos and all women working in comics.
Plus, it was a pretty good excuse to step out and grab a delicious milkshake, and honestly, who doesn't like that? (OK, aside from people who are lactose intolerant?)
The official Marvel Twitter account even got in on the action, sharing a frame from "Young Avengers, Volume 2."
A number of artists shared some original work in support too.
Fans, colleagues, and others chimed in with words of encouragement as well.
The fact that there are people who see a picture of a few coworkers hanging out and think, "This is what's wrong with comics today!" is really toxic.
"Captain Marvel" writer and best-selling author Margaret Stohl let out an exasperated sigh of a tweet about some of the negative attention women in comics get simply for existing.
Alanna Smith, a Marvel assistant editor who was in the original milkshake photo, summed the whole ordeal up in a tweet of her own.
People of all ages and genders can enjoy and create comic books.
In April, a Marvel executive made news when he said that "people didn't want any more diversity" in comics to account for a drop in sales. But as others have pointed out, that argument doesn't actually hold up to scrutiny.
No, "SJWs" aren't trying to "ruin" anyone's childhood. And even if they were, let's just let people drink their milkshakes in peace, OK?