Last week the Star Wars community was consumed with headlines of bullying and hurt feelings. The good news is that our community rallied together and condemned the thoughtless act of mockery and turned it into a teachable moment. However, amidst all of the negative headlines, something extremely exciting happened and I’d like to shine the spotlight on something positive in our community. (Of course I’m biased, but bear with me.) At Celebration VI, we had a Her Universe photo shoot for female Star Wars fans. Girls have been asking me for the past two years if they could be a Her Universe model. Her Universe is a brand for the fans and when the fans tell me what they want, I do my best to make it happen. So we were able to arrange a free photo shoot for any girl that showed up to strike a pose and have their photo taken by professional photographer Preston Mack.
Some Of The Girls From The Lakehouse Sisters!
Two and a half years ago, when I launched Her Universe, we had a lot of girls who were shy and almost scared to admit that they liked Star Wars. I had a small group of home-schooled girls who found my website and they all shared the same story, how they didn’t know any other girls who liked Star Wars and they thought they were alone. Now those same girls have formed a large group called The Lakehouse Sisters and they are confident, shining examples of girls who are proud to be Star Wars fans and more importantly proud to be who they are!!! Ladies showed up from all over the world to have their photo taken and we have put all of the photos from the shoot in an album on Facebook. After last week’s incident, I’d love to shine the spotlight on these photos and point out how lovely and beautiful ALL of the ladies look! The Star Wars community is doing so many great things and we should lift each other up with positivity when we have the opportunity. Encouragement goes a long way!
I want to say a BIG thank you to Mary Franklin and Preston Mack for making this shoot possible and also to Jorge, Stephanie, Savanna, Megan, Meghan, Rae, Brick, Tracey, Jason, David, Christine, Susan and Mama E for your help and for making everything run smooth!
May The Force Be With You!
Ashley 
Please check out the rest of the photos by clicking here!
Ashley Eckstein is the voice of Ahsoka Tano on Star Wars: The Clone Wars and also the Founder of Her Universe, the first merchandise line made exclusively for female Star Wars fans! You can follow Ashley on Facebook and Twitter.
Tags: Fangirls, Her Universe
so awesome!! those girls are so blessed and lucky to have done that with you. wish I could have been at CVI!
I LOVE the results of this photo shoot! It’s so great seeing the huge diversity of women in Star Wars fandom.
Isn’t everyone just gorgeous in their own way?
(It might be fun to go outside of women, next Celebration, and grab random fans to photograph. Just an idea.)
Ashley, the pictures of the women above actually teared me up. Especially the young lady in armor and the Mara Jade t-shirt! I still remember when I was little and kept being told girls can’t be Star Wars fans- it made no sense because I was a girl and a fan! I’m so glad my fellow sisters in fandom have all come out to play, be heard, and be accepted in the overall fandom. My daughter who is 6 laughs at anyone who tries to tell her she can’t do something because she’s a girl, especially when it comes to Star Wars fandom. The best part? She’s not the only little girl laughing at them.
Thanks again for being a strong voice for women in fandom!
That is such an awesome sight to see. I only wish I’d been able to go to CVI to participate in the shoot. I’m so proud to be able to say that my fellow female Legioneers and Star Wars fans have a great company and spokesperson that we can look up to such as Her Universe, Ashley Eckstein, and all the lovely ladies @ Lucasfilm!!
MTFBWY!
*~Mara-Belle~*
Creator & Artist
Ladies of the Legions
An Anti-bullying, Star Wars Costuming Group
This is so amazing! I wish I could have been there. Thank you Ashley for being a role model for young women everywhere and showing that we are all beautiful! I’m sure none of the women who participated will ever forget this. May the force be with you all!
I am so sorry I missed the photo shoot. I was really looking forward to it, but I was helping my dear friends at the 501st Galactic Academy table. Maybe next time if you do it again.
Gina
Awesome! Wish I could have been there!
That is awesome! The girl in the Mara Jade shirt and armor is so cool and this picture of Victoria in her Ahsoka costume and Rebel Alliance shirt is amazing. Thanks for give us girls a chance to show are fandom Ashley! You and Ahsoka are the coolest people ever!! MTFBWY!!!
As I stated on one of your pics on Facebook, but added a few extra words, looking at all of those amazing photo shoots, it just to show that they are real fanwomen and fangirls in all shapes and sizes.
Makes me feel a tad bit better about my own shape and for openly liking Star Wars and whatnot. Since I’m a bit of a big girl as well. C: This is awesome. Hopefully I’ll be able to purchase some of these items in the near future.
This is amazing!! Her Universe is definitely one of the greatest gifts a female star wars fan and sci-fi can have
I loved buying the Mara Jade shirt at CVI!! I’m sorry I missed the photo shoot though…I had to be in the slave leia shoot and I volunteered to be in the “shoot a slave leia” when Daniel Logan invited me to it…Now i’m really wishing that the Her Universe photo shoot could’ve been on more than one day…
Just to say, this is the most awesome thing I’ve ever heard of!! Ashley, I am just so happy to be a Star Wars fan and a geek girl, and not afraid to say it beacause of you! I’m just sad I couldn’t have been to the photo shoot at SWCVI beacause I went on Friday. I really, really wish I get a chance to meet you sometime in the future! The Force will be with you, always.