Katie “Star Wars” Girl shows off her Jedi skills.
When we reported about a little girl named Katie being bullied at school liking Star Wars, we knew that our fans would rally to her cause.
Not only did Katie get hundreds of positive comments on her mom’s blog entry about the incident, we got over 500 comments (and they’re still coming) from fans on our own blog entry about why Star Wars is for everyone, not just the fellas.
We asked fans to show support of Katie liking Star Wars with the hashtag #MayTheForceBeWithKatie on Twitter, and thousands of both male and female fans did just that. #MayTheForceBeWithKatie went viral, showing that sometimes the best part of social networking sites is the positive outcome that develops from millions of fans showing a little girl why it’s cool for her to dig Jedi, stormtroopers, droids and everything else awesome from a galaxy far, far away.
Katie w/ Yoda voice actor Tom Kane and a few Star Wars friends.
The fans took it a step further and decided to turn Dec. 10, 2010 into “Support Star Wars and Geek Pride for Katie Day” on Facebook. On this day, fans (both guys and girls) vowed to wear a Star Wars shirt in support of Katie and other little girls who love Star Wars. In addition to the T-shirt support, Katie’s mom also asked that, in light of the season, those with the means donate a Star Wars toy to needy children.
Recently, Katie’s mom talked with The Huffington Post’s Jenna Busch in “May the Force Be With Katie” about the outpouring of positive support from fans, and updated her own column as well with this update — Adopted by the Geeks and Nerds.”
I had no idea about the phenomenon of girl geeks until this happened… when the post started to move around and I started to seeing the comments coming in, I noticed a common theme on the initial wave, which was “Hi Katie. I’m a girl and I love Star Wars and science.” And I saw it over and over. And I was astonished by how many females were out there who were not only supportive of Katie, but plugged into each other. Once one of them heard of what happened to Katie, it seemed like all of them heard! I was thinking to myself, these girls must have some kind of amazing support system going for each other.
This has been one of the first times I have seen something go viral when it’s not about gossip, it’s not about porn, it’s not about somebody having fallen off the wagon for something, it’s not about some catastrophe somewhere. And just to see a story go viral that’s so ordinary… it’s everybody’s story. Everybody, everyone was once a little kid who felt different at some point. It’s funny that it’s become such a sensation, because it’s every story every day about million kids around the country. But at the same time, maybe that’s why it’s such a big deal. It’s so easily identifiable.
Below is a selection of some of our fave photos of fans who tweeted photos of themselves wearing Star Wars shirts in honor of Katie.
Absolutspacegrl from NASA dons a Skywalker Ranch shirt.
Fans do a t-shirt tweet-up in honor of Katie!
Crafty fan Amanda Jean Camarillo shows off her Star Wars t-shirt dress in honor of Katie!
StarWars.com Senior Editor Bonnie Burton at work in a Her Universe shirt!
Check out more photos from Thinkgeek here:
#MayTheForceBeWithKatie Day photos
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More buzz about “May The Force Be With Katie” Day:
- “Vader Doesn’t Like Bullies” - In support of today’s fan-created “Support Star Wars and Geek Pride for Katie” online event, artist Stephen Hayford calls on the big guy to send a message to anyone who thinks Star Wars is just for boys…
- “The Force’ is with you, Katie” – via CNN International
- Wear Your Geek Pride #MayTheForceBeWithYouKatie
- Get your geek girl on – via CNN
- Internet rallies behind teased Star Wars girl – via Yahoo
- Girls Gets Bullied for liking Star Wars – via MSNBC
- You are not cool enough for Star Wars – via io9.com
Art by Stephen Hayford
Tags: Her Universe
Sadly, both my Star Wars shirts were in the laundry today or else I would have joined in! I am sitting here in my room, surrounded by Star Wars, and thinking of Katie!
I wore my Plo Koon/Ahsoka Tano shirt today in support for young Katie; the Force is with her
Go Katie! I wish I had a Star Wars shirt, I totally would have worn it for Padawan Katie!!
May the Force be with You Katie!!
~Jedi Knight Autumn
I wore my Empire Strikes Back t-shirt today in Katie’s honor. I hope her story inspires other kids (Girls and Boys) to like what they wanna like (Star Wars or other wise.), no matter what anyone else has to say about it.
Keep it up, Katie! Let’s hear it for all the girl star wars fans out there like us!
Today I wore my darth vader sweater in honor of katie. When I read the first article, I touched my heart because when I went public with my obsession with star wars people critisized me because I was a girl. They even made judgements, saying I was a nerd and everything. But I overcame it, even though people said things I didn’t think twice about it because its my passion. May the force be with you katie and love starwars, your destiny is…
Katie is really is a “little jedi”
her story made myself, and everyone of my geek friends smile.
May the force be with Katie
Shelbie-Padawan Learner
I wore my Rebel Alliance logo shirt, but due to uniform restrictions at work I couldn’t wear it during my shift. However, I brought Obi-Wan with me, and he stood vigil over the day’s activities
http://bit.ly/i9hWnF
I made a blog post about Katie today on my website: http://www.bradysossaman.com and I’m so happy to be able to. That “end bullying” picture is my new desktop picture!
i may not be a fan of star wars but you have totally inspired me
I wore my Empire Strikes Back shirt under my blazer at the office today. Go Katie! Together we stand proud and tall!
Keep on rockin! May the force be with you! I’m a total geek but star wars fans unite! My BFF is a girl who loves star wars! WHOHO!
i wore my rebel logo necklace today for katie , and my own daughter gianna.
I wore my New Hope shirt in support! Drive on Katie!
MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU KATIE.
Proud to be a Star Wars fan.
Go Katie.
if i only knew this was the support katie with the force day I wheared a star wars shirt maby i should buy a shirt first becouse here in the netherlands we don’t have much of those cool star wars shops or somethin like that
but we all support katy becouse we are all star wars fans an star wars fans should help eachother out we do it becouse we think the same way and that is why all star wars fans rule becouse they are proud to say
WE ARE STAR WARS FANS!!!!
I wore my SW yesterday! May the force be with you, katie!
Katie,I hope you had so much fun seeing those characters.I know i would have alot of fun.p.s.may the force be with you all ways!
Wish I knew yesterday. I would have worn my SW shirt to school and let my class and my SW club know. You go, Katie!
This dude salutes the female Star Wars community! Honestly, I think I’ve meet more woman and children that like Star Wars then men my own age. I almost always have on a Star Wars shirt! But, on the 10th, that Darth Maul shirt, was for Katie! May the Force be with you my young Padawan! The bullies are just jealous!
Good for you, Katie. Good for all of you, in fact! I had a little girl in my classroom tell me that Star Wars was just for boys. All my students, boys and girls, responded that Star Wars is for everyone – it’s okay to like whatever you want, whoever you are!
Katie may the force be with you. use the force to show the bullies your jedi skills.
you got awesome girl power, keep it up!!!
I’ll wear my Star Wars shirt for you.
Lol, The Fan Girls Strike Back!
I wore my stormtrooper outfit for Katie today, girl have a right to love Star Wars and I always liked girls who liked it themselves, I used to think that they were awesome. So be proud to v it Katie and may the force be with you!!
on casual day at my school i wear either my luke skywalker vs darth vader shirt or my clone wars shirt or my r2d2 shirt. im made fun of constantly but i have my good friends that will come up to those jerks and be like “hey u picken on her……” and it would be funny.
we r going to need to make a movie on this skyler
Dear Katie,
I love your story, and do a mind trick on those boys and say “Walk away, you will” I’ll wear my star wars pin all the time and as a girl, I play with my ahsoka action figure all the time. And now I’m able to play on clone wars adventures and made my own lady jedi!! So you keep rockin the force
Show them whose boss!
I should have worn my XL (even though i am a small) Darth maul shirt to school. i know how you feel. Tons of people treat me like that too. i am also a child in grade 7. Girls can SO be Jedi. GO GO GO Katie!!!! You rock that lightsaber girl!
May the force be with you Katie!
Padawan Katie
I wore my STARWARS armor yesterday when i took down a bounty and he said. “What AWESOME ARMOR you have” I have to fly to Coruscant to track another bounty. I may not believe in the force but may the Force be with you
the guys who said star wars is only for boys must be so embarresed, you should probably show them this
Only for boys, Star Wars is not!
Go Katie! May the Force be with you and don’t let anyone tell you no.
It’s great that people are flocking in for support. This is a great example of how powerful our fan base is guys and an awesome job standing up for Katie.
good job katie.
keep strong.
may the force be with you.
wow Katie your amazing! I’ve always had trouble at school with me liking star wars! I have a star wars notebook and I left it at school one day and some one graffitied on it!
i always thought i was the only girl that liked star wars, but now i’m glad to know that i’m not alone!!!!!
If I had a Star Wars shirt and would’ve known about this I would’ve worn it yesterday. Star Wars is the greatest SCFY Saga in my Opinon, the books, the movies and the Games are great. May the Force be with you Katie. and thank you George Lucas for creating Star Wars.
If you guys like Role-playing games and Star Wars then try out this game: http://www.swcombine.com
Katie, my daughter is absolutspacegirl and has been “Princess Lea” her whole life. Space girls and science geeks require much more intelligence than any athlete (in my opinion). Keep doing what you like and don’t worry about what other people say.
I am very proud of my Mission Control “Princess Lea.”
I post this as I am wearing my Star Wars T-Shirt featuring Ben Kenobi and Darth Vader duking it out on an old Nintido game. Katie, if you’re out there and are reading this, (and I quote,) “The Force will be with you. Always.” -Ben Kenobi
I went for the first 6 months of high school without friends b/c I said I liked Star Wars. I stuck to my fandom and still love Star Wars today and I am a better person for it. Stick with it Katie. You have passion and don’t let anyone take it away!
It’s sad how us girl’s are made fun of for loving Star Wars. It’s for everyone not just boys. And I’m a girl and a huge Star Wars fan. Yesterday I wore my Padme Noveau shirt made by Her Universe to support Katie. She’s not alone I used to hide my love for Star Wars once it sprouted again a little over a year ago. I loved it as a little girl and drifted off but now I’m back into it and a geek girl. May the Forbe be with you Katie you’re not alone!
~♫♪♥Senator Ri Skygirl♥♪♫♪♫~
I went to work wearing my Imperial Officer Uniform, its always been fun
Katie you rule!!
Katie, You’re a very lucky girl to have the support of this wonderful community. Star Wars are the best ever!!! I wore my 2nd Death Star Epic Fail t-shirt yesterday. Part of the Jedi code says “there is no ignorance, only knowledge”, now these ignorant bullies have knowledged!!!
May the Force be with you… Always!!!
Im with you girl..i was made fun of not when i was younger but more like in middle school and junior high. If you love Star Wars like i think you do keep with it. it was out of my life for three years and i am disappointed in myself for pretending not to love it, But now i am in college and their are tons of girls who adore star wars and guys think its attractive if a girl likes it.
It’s wonderful 2 see that so many can support our “younglings”. Noone should ever be afraid to be themselves, and those who would belittle you for it are usually afraid themselves. I can identify with katie, I was once part of a very small group of fans that were almost constantly ostracized throughout school. We all shared the same love of a galaxy far away, and a belief in the higher ideals, that are represented in the Republic and Jedi Order. There is much to be gained when lending your knowledge and strength to those in need. I would like to point out, only when I became older, did I find out about a wonderful group of fans, from around the world, who do great work. The 501 or 501’st legion is a group of Star Wars fans, who turn out in force, sometimes of Corp size units (a Corp is half of an army.), in support of charitable causes. They’re showings can be found on youtube. I have met personally some of the members, and they are wonderfull people with a the same love so many of us have, and a desire to use that to further charities to help others. i hope my children share the same love and bravery that little Katie displays as they grow older. Katie, I am reminded of a quote from a Jedi master on Dantooine, “The order shall always walk with you” The order of SW fans is just the same, we will always support one another when needed.
We in the sith are also on your side Katie!!! Tell those boys to talk to me if they thimk you can’t like star wars, I’ll finish it!!!
We in the sith are also on your side Katie!!! Tell those boys to talk to me if they thimk you can’t like star wars, I’ll finish it!!!
Bullies suck!
Good job Katie and keep loving starwars like me. I’m crazy about it!
We all know bullying is wrong, but it should not be publicized and make Katie look more popular. It is good if she stands up for herself and we stand with her, but this is becoming ridiciulous. If another person wrote an article of their child being teased for being a star wars fan no one would do anything about it, but feel sadness and loss.