In this essay I aim to explore the world of cosplay, to understand what the practice involves and why people choose to participate in it. Furthermore, I am predominantly going to delve into the discrimination that cosplay and cosplayers are exposed to. I have found the most useful and up to date sources of information to be from the internet where I have accessed websites, blogs, fan forums and Facebook pages to research the cosplay community, their activity, experiences and opinions.
The term cosplay comes from the joining of the two words “costume” and “play” and is the practice of portraying fictional characters often associated with comic books, anime, video games and science fiction. There are generally two categories: basic cosplay involving dressing as a character, and masquerade where cosplayers try to take on the identity and perform as that character. Both of these usually take place at conventions where groups of fans meet in large numbers to participate in social activity with like-minded people.
“Clothes allow us to temporarily play with identity and self-image” (Suthrell 2004:17). Some cosplayers take this to the extreme and totally immerse themselves into the character, not only using costume and accessories including wigs, make-up and even prosthetics, but also by adopting the mannerisms and behaviour that the character portrays. Some participants choose characters because they recognise certain aspects of themselves that they would like to accentuate, whereas, others may prefer personas that have the characteristics they would like to explore without the fear of discrimination. It may be that a person is shy in their home or work life and they choose characters to play that are depicted as confident and powerful. Cosplaying can be the ideal opportunity to feel liberated from the restraints of everyday life where players may feel unable to express their inner needs for fear of ridicule. Dress is a powerful, visual way of displaying a person’s transformation into an alternative being. When we take a look at our world, clothes are a huge factor of how we identify ourselves, our social class and wealth. Connections between dress identity and power relations are well proven in today’s society, but it is not only visual, it is also the person’s social environment in which the dressed body appears that has an effect on how they are viewed. This concept of the cosplayers and where they play is the same as an average person dressing appropriately for the actions they are taking that day such as a wearing a suit, uniform or protective clothing for work.
Yet, is cosplay only a practice involving bodies and costumes, or could it also be an embodied practice? Ultimately, cosplay is an interesting example of how an identity can be constructed. Fans create their own identity by associating themselves with fictional characters and embodying them. Through the process of creating and portraying a character both cosplayer and character may become lost and then imagined as a new individual. Maybe the new individual is the reality as in an image in simulacra because cosplay is based on simulation and the player has created a simulation from it and turned it into reality.
It may be argued that cosplaying is just trying to deviate from the norm as retaliation against the established order of life and questioning the principles of realism in a subversive manner. Maybe a minority of cosplayers are using humour to get some temporary relief from the hypocrisy of life. Perhaps cosplay can be considered to be a form of escapism. If we consider escapism to be a diversion to break away from the pressures and boredom of one’s home or work life then surely the human race has been participating in it for as long as man has existed. Our ancestors will have sat around a fire, telling stories and reciting legends and in the more recent past people read poetry, shared in games and played the piano but now we escape the realities of life by watching films, soap operas and browsing the internet. This shows how we indulge in a false sense of reality, we’ve become a society that likes to watch the fake life of others to enable escape our own. Many cosplayers are happy to confirm that although they take part mainly for fun and social interaction they do use it to distract from the burden of monotony, but this is not necessarily a bad thing as escapism can be a healthy way of releasing stress and anxiety.
The term “fandom” refers to the collective group, community or subculture of enthusiasts who share an interest and devote themselves to a certain media. Cosplayers express their fandom by dressing and performing a character to the admiration of other fans. However, fan activities are not restricted to conventions but are in fact numerous and diverse, such as fanfiction, re-enactment, filmmaking and fan art. Cosplay itself may be considered to be performance art as during conventions participants will often put on plays, interact with other characters and pose for photographic sessions. Furthermore, it is possible that it may be classed as a form of postmodernism as, in essence, postmodernism is the freeing of something from its context and Cosplay is an excellent example of that. More recently social media has become a huge influence on the cosplay community, with a quick internet search revealing hundreds of cosplay specific websites, blogs and forums. The question arises as to whether this is a positive or negative aspect of cosplay, considering that although social media encourages communication, it can also be an opportunity for bullying. While most true fans enjoy the interaction of sharing costuming tips, photos and information, it has been suggested that social media has almost become a beauty contest and thus incurs jealousy.
Bearing in mind that cosplay supposedly provides a safe environment, there is in fact an issue with discrimination within the community. Women seem to receive the majority of judgment when they cannot fully replicate the body type of their character, which is impossible when most don’t have the large breasts, tiny waist and long, muscular legs that are depicted. Source material for cosplay generally comes from comics and films where the representation of women is usually not realistic or body-positive and the characters are often scantily clad. On November 12th 2012, comic book illustrator Tony Harris submitted a lengthy article to Facebook claiming that “Any woman cosplaying at a convention is not a true fan, but an attention seeker trying to lure men”. …. “You are willing to become almost completely naked in public”. “You are more pathetic than the REAL nerds, who YOU secretly think are REALLY PATHETIC”. This particular quote is really interesting because it is a contradiction of itself. Cosplay is supposedly a world of escapism, free form discrimination, yet Tony Harris, who should be a leader of this message is, himself, being discriminatory not only to the outsiders but also to the people he refers to as the “Real nerds” ?ref who are, essentially, fans of his work. He is. in effect, putting people off wanting to pursue this subject almost suggesting that cosplayers want to keep it a private thing and don’t want it to grow any larger in popularity. Creators and authors such as Kelly Sue DeConnick work tirelessly to push for changes in the depiction of women in anime books and magazines. However, men also have their share of ridicule for not having the almost impossible musculature of the superheroes they may be cosplaying as.
Most fans are aware of the social stigma that many attach to their pastime and that they are often considered weird or geeky and these misconceptions can lead to fans only sharing their interests among close friends, for fear of repercussions. It would seem that because of the public nature of cosplay, some people view it as their right to voice their opinions, which can often be derogative. Amazingly, there are websites that have the sole intention of shaming cosplayers for their size, race, gender and sexuality, not only using, often vile, verbal abuse but also posting pictures under categories such as “Too fat to cosplay” and “Cosplay Train Wrecks There is also a problem with physical and verbal harassment at cosplay conventions and cases of this have been documented on “The Mary Sue” which is a website that focuses on women in geek or nerd culture and science. Racial discrimination has also infiltrated the world of cosplay with the main complaint being that cosplayers are the wrong race for their character, cosplayers with darker skin are criticized for adopting white character personas while white cosplayers are accused of brownfacing. When asked about the reason for such remarks, the common defence people offer is that it’s an accuracy thing but surely a cosplayer’s enthusiasm and effort to emulate their favourite character should be the most important factor no matter what the colour of the skin.
“Crossplay” is a term used to describe a cosplayer who dresses as a character of a different gender. Some women find it empowering to wear male costumes, particularly if they are against the stereotypical female characters, it also gives them an opportunity to carry weapons, further adding to the feeling of authority. Men who crossplay are often misunderstood and automatic assumptions are made that they must be transgender, or gay when they may just like the particular costume or characteristics of a female character. Male to female drag appears to be less visible than female to male, suggesting that the former has more stigma attached to it. Perhaps surprisingly, all this abuse and discrimination isn’t just from non-cosplayers but also from fellow members of cosplay society. Does this suggest a contradiction in terms, when we think of a community as people having shared interests and attitudes in common, yet these people are turning on one another through jealousy and vindictiveness? It might be considered that the rise in harassment may be connected with the development of the internet, when before it existed, a cosplayer was only remembered by being seen for a day or two at a convention. With the help of social media, a cosplayer can get compliments from strangers, encouraging them, asking for advice, giving suggestions and sharing costume construction techniques. There are drawbacks though, to those posting all of their cosplay business online, it makes it easier for people hiding behind a screen to insult them anonymously.
Nevertheless, the cosplayer community is fighting back, creating a Facebook group called “Cosplayers against bullying” which has an ever growing number of members who support each other and promote positivity. The page gives a platform to cosplayers who have experienced physical and verbal abuse and group members post and share countless positive affirmation photos and posters. I particularly admired this post ”I don’t care how well known you are. I don’t care how much money you’ve spent. I don’t care how much time you’ve invested. I don’t care how you created it. I don’t care where you bought it. I don’t care how many awards or praises you get. None of those things gives you the OK to put down another cosplayer. Respect yourself. Respect others. (Knightmage 16th September 2014). Convention organizers are bringing awareness to this issue by implementing anti-harassment policies. In New York’s Comic Con, a large sign is installed that says ‘Cosplay is Not Consent’, and everyone should be treated with respect. There’s even a group, Con Anti-Harassment Project, that’s urging conventions to take a strong stance against harassment and recently, a group of cosplayers put together the video “How to Avoid Being Branded a Convention Creeper.”
Ultimately, people will always be cruel to each other and, as long as the internet continues to be unregulated then both outsiders and fans will always have the ability to be mean and hurtful. Cosplay should be available to all despite their looks, physique, gender or social status and first and foremost should be fun. Hostility will creep into any newly created hobby or pastime for whatever reason, be it misconception, fear or jealousy, but, for the practice to continue the participants must stand united against the negative and embrace the positive. My overall conclusion is that despite the widespread negativity and varied mistreatment that cosplayers receive, it would appear from my research that Cosplaying is here to stay.