Every woman knows what it feels like to be cat-called or whistled at while walking down the street, but most of us wouldn't expect for it to happen during an on-camera interview. Unfortunately, that's exactly what 23-year-old fashion designer Mandy Carusco went through when she attended New York's Comic Con last week.
Carusco was dressed as Marvel's Black Cat at the event, when she was approached by a fan club that asked if they could interview her for their online video channel. She nicely agreed, but was surprised when, instead of asking her questions that actually related to the event, they began sexually harassing her in front of the audience!
The incident first started with the interviewer asking Carusco to spank him. Ugh, seriously? When she declined and laughed it off, he went on to ask her about her cup size, to which Carusco responded,"That is actually none of your f***ing business" (a girl after my own heart!). After he continued his gross questioning–even going so far as to ask the crowd their opinion on Carusco's breast size–she finally walked away…but not before totally telling the offensive guy off by saying, "That was unprofessional and I hope that isn't your day job because you can't interview for sh**, my man."
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Good for her! He sounds like a complete and utter jerk (and I use that term only to prevent myself from employing less PG words) who definitely had it coming. On the bright side, Carusco managed to come out on top at the end. After the exchange went down, she posted about it on her Tumblr–and has since gotten over 20,000 reblogs with people from around the world showering with support and praise!
Yes! I love that…and so does Carusco. "I'm so proud of the community for stepping up and spreading the word and sharing their own stories, and if I have sparked a conversation about gender equality and awareness I am truly honored and thankful," she said of the overwhelming response. "We can be heroes!"
Well, ain't that the truth! Hopefully, all this online attention will cause Comic Con and other popular fan conventions to actually establish some harassment policies and recognize that that kind of behavior is unacceptable. As for Carusco, well, I think it's safe to say she got the last word.
Image via The Grind Haus/tumblr
