Since I buy comic books (dollar bin/back issues) I have them stacked and don't put them in a long box til I read them. Currently have about 300 to read. Today I was reading a Spectacular Spider-Man (in my opinion the most underrated comic book series ever and the first Spider-Man series I ever read) from 1977 and in the section where Stan Lee has his soapbox he was hyping an upcoming special comic book highlighting the female super-heroes of Marvel and he listed some of the big names that would be included in the comic.
Stuff like this along with the 80s/90s ads showing a group of boys along with one or two girls playing video games always annoy me because there seemed to be a modern day script where any female/minority in the gaming, comic book, or any other nerdy IP says that when they were growing up they didn't see anyone who looked like them or didn't feel "welcome" and they act like women/minorities have never been in anything until woke Hollywood came along. I call BS on that every time because while you may have someone be rude to you, 99 times out of 100 if you know your stuff or show a genuine interest in something nerds will welcome you with open arms. The vitriol over men (especially white men) enjoying a hobby is off the charts in the last decade especially.
Ironically a comic book company, gaming company, or any studio today would never hire a woman or a minority who actually is interested in the material. They would rather hire people who can't shut up about diversity.
I learned Spanish in high school and I went to a Summer Camp before senior year where you had to speak Spanish 24/7 and were kicked out if you were heard speaking English. As an adult I've had some jobs where I had to speak Spanish all or most of the time and on the way to becoming fluent I started listening to the music. One time I went to a spanish music store (was working in a heavy hispanic area) and the owner told me that there wasn't anything there I would like. I spoke to him in Spanish and explained I liked the music and he immediately started showing me what he had and what was on sale and I bought quite a few cds that day. Nobody in the store "looked like me" but that didn't stop me.
Without fail, every time I've heard someone say that they did not feel welcome someplace, because people didn't look like them, or act like them, or talk like them, it's because they were treated the same as anyone else, and they did not get special treatment.
They were also 'corrected' (told they were wrong about something they were not familiar with, like say, some D&D game rules, and someone told them how it really was) and this upset them.
It's not about you, it's about the group of people who treated you like someone was new and wanted in. There was no special treatment, so you got upset.
It's been that way every single time.
Add in the number times you see some women complain about gatekeeping and getting quizzed on obscure lore when most likely they had on an avengers shirt and some guy asked them what comics they read.