Something I’ve always found a bit disheartening about conventions is the treatment of certain cosplayers. To be exact: female cosplayers. And to be even MORE precise, I’m talking about girls who cosplay a character that is seen as something of a more racy or sexy variety.
Several months ago, I saw a picture of a gorgeous fem!Thor going around. The picture was of Toni Darling, who a lot of people are familiar with. The photograph was pretty stunning and that girl has a gorgeous body that she works hard to maintain. I envy her drive to keep herself in shape and she’s part of my motivation for my attempt to keep myself fit. Below the gorgeous photo were a bunch of pretty nasty comments from people complaining about how they were tired of girls thinking that just because they have the body for it, the original character wasn’t meant to be so sexy.
That’s right. The same fangirls worshipping the sex appeal of RDJ and Tom Hiddelston couldn’t believe that a beautiful girl should be a sexy super hero! I couldn’t believe it! She’s beautiful and made a genuinely top quality cosplay and she gets shit from people saying they are sick of all the sexy characters. It was like her beautifully made armor never existed.
Not long after that, I attended Phoenix Comicon over Memorial Day weekend. I saw Toni while I was there. I didn’t talk to her, but I did see her. I looked at he cosplay. I paid attention to detail and I realized how talented she is as a cosplayer. I really loved Phoenix Comicon. I always do and there are always many gorgeous cosplays, no matter how much skin shows. It was the first convention that I had gone to where I wore my Yoko Littner cosplay. Before that, she had been all test shots and previews. Not only that, but she was my first legitimate female cosplay. I have always cosplayed men and boys until I got a calling for Yoko.
And why did I choose her? Despite the fact that she’s a half naked sex symbol for otaku everywhere, I really just love her as a character. In the episode where she’s super jealous of Nia, you see this strong, beautiful girl truly act her age - which, at the time, is fourteen-years-old. She is a bad ass chick with a huge gun and she’s only fourteen. She’s strong. She’s dependent. And she’s smart. But TTGL’s creators did a great job reminding their audience that she was still a kid.
So I don’t see her as a sex symbol. I see her as a role model for teens. I love her, despite what she’s wearing. Yes. It’s true that Nia is my favorite character in the series. I cosplay her as well. But Yoko just needed to be done first. I needed the challenge of telling myself, “Okay. I’m not gonna let the half naked thing get to me. I really want to be this character.”
As terrified as I was, the nervousness quickly dissipated once in costume. The attention, I admit, was pretty nice at first. People recognized my character and had nice things to say about the quality of my cosplay (even though it wasn’t 100% complete - and still isn’t).
I didn’t mind having my picture taken. It was a familiar routine to me and I had my wonderful cosplay partner with me as Nel from Bleach. It was a ton of fun for both of us and we felt… I admit… sexy.
And it’s NICE to feel sexy sometimes! Girls should be able to feel that!
But it kind of starts going downhill from there, because some men just can distinguish between creeptastic and a genuine compliment. After the con ended, I got a bunch of friend requests from people who I’d apparently met during Phoenix Comicon 2012. The majority were men who had insisted we hung out. I didn’t know what they were talking about, but I meet so many new and different people, both in and out of cosplay, that I don’t always know who they are. So I accept the request to find out. I soon came to realize that they had all simply been men (between the ages of 15 and upwards of 30) who had not actually met me, but only stopped me for a photo. Upon this revelation, I took many of the people who had added me to Facebook and deleted them. Why? Because I’d soon come to discover they only wanted to speak to me because of my Yoko cosplay. Perhaps they figured they’d get an even better look on my Facebook.
Sabotencon 2012 was no different. So far, I haven’t received any friend requests outside of those from people I actually did meet or hang out with. And I’ve changed my settings on Facebook so that it’s not as simple to add me anymore. That said, I did notice some things that bothered me a lot. I don’t say them because it has never happened to anyone before. I say them because it has. And now I know how that feels and I wish I could change it. But I can’t.
So here’s the deal: I cosplay Yoko Littner because I like her. It’s a very difficult cosplay to do in what I have going for it right now. My feet are literally bruised on the bottoms from my boots and my head is pounding from the weight of the wig. But I love this character so much. Even better, my cosplay partner, Chimera, was there with me. And she was Viral. Both of us love the series. She’s the one who got me into it. On my birthday. Now, it’s easily a top favorite.
Walking around the con, we were very excited. She looked beautiful. She is truly beautiful in every sense of the word. Just gorgeous inside and out! Chimera has the perfect face for Viral and with her talent, she pulled together a great cosplay, even though neither of us are completely finished just yet.
She’s my cosplay partner for a reason. When we love a series, we cosplay from it. We are a team under the name Kaimerin Cosplay. That means that when we cosplay from the same series, if you ask for one of us, you usually get both.
This weekend, at the con, specicially the last day when I wore my Yoko cosplay, I was pretty disheartened by what I experienced.
Older men, much older than those in my personal comfort zone and dating range, came up to me asking for a picture of Yoko. Just Yoko. Despite he fact that my Viral was standing directly beside me.
I don’t want to say that the situation is exactly as I am going to tell you it is. I don’t. But it is.
The fact is, these men don’t give a single flying fuck about who Viral is because he’s not a big-titted character in a bikini (and for the record, I am 2 sizes smaller than the smallest A cup.) And these men, running around with heir cameras, singling ME out pisses me off. If you were truly a fan of Gurren Lagann, you’d be excited to have photos of us together. As we are meant to be. As this is a team cosplay. You don’t just single out one partner away from the other because you like what she’s wearing better. WE worked harder on this than that. If you’ve seen Gurren Lagann at all, and know more than just Yoko as a character, you’d have stopped a moment to truly appreciate Chimera as Viral. Regardless of how much clothing she’s wearing, she is a gorgeous and talented person. Over looking her because she’s not showing off her stomach like the person she’s COSPLAYING WITH is simply RUDE. At several points, I was very adamant that if these guys wanted pictures of Yoko, they were getting one of Yoko and Viral together. That’s what we wore them for.
I’m sorry, but I think it’s kind of disgusting that these older men walk around taking pictures of half naked young girls. Yes, I understand it is the price we pay for choosing to wear less than modest cosplays. I get it. But convention-going men need to learn to have the decency and respect toward the opposite gender to know that we are not here to show off our bodies to them. At one point, I had stopped to fix a part of my costume and the man behind me stopped, as if I was in his way. He pretended I was blocking his way, when there was plenty of room to just step around me, and proceeded to stare at my ass as if I had no idea his creepy gaze was there!
Honestly, I don’t even have a great body. I have a bit of a tummy and a muffin top. I’m not perfectly fit and it took so much more confidence than any of those men will ever understand tow ear that cosplay. But Chimera was as much a part of it as I was and leaving her out was just stupid. So many of those men were blatantly confused when I said, “This is my Viral. She needs to be in the picture with me.” And that’s pathetic. As both a huge fan of the show and a self-respecting person. Knowing myself, and knowing that I look MUCH, MUCH younger than I actually am, I had at least 5 older men ask me for a picture.
Again. Yes. I chose to wear it. But what man needs shots of a half naked teen girl? None. That’s weird. And while I am not a teen girl anymore, I know I still look it. The entire principle is kind of off-putting. Kind of very off-putting.
I’m legal. But what of these other girls these men take shots of? And why do these men have to be such creeps about it? And where the fuck does your fat, creepy ass get off being so rude to one of the most beautiful cosplayers you will ever have the pleasure to meet? Why does their outfit have to be skimpy for you to consider them worth your time? Why can’t the quality and detail be a focal point for you guys out there who love to do cosplay photography so much? Do you just see skin and immediately forget that under the wild get up, there’s a living, breathing, feeling PERSON, who does not what to be objectified by what a fucking pervert you are? Because, above all else, I am a human fucking being. Not reading material for you and your right hand on date night.
So there it is. I’ve said my piece. Take it or leave it.
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