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| This is Jeremy's second win! |
It was appropriate that for Dragon Con weekend Put It In My Mouth received D*C themed suggestions, and it was even more appropriate that only a couple of dorks participated.
Participation is something that Dragon Con thrives on, in fact participation and fandom are the parents of this now twenty seven year old convention.
Last year I wrote an exam paper about the fandom, cultural hegemony, and cultural capital of Dragon*Con. I was given a grade of 92 out of 100.
The flaw of my paper was that I approached it as a fan. My paper merely served to celebrate everything I loved about D*C, highlighting very positive aspects of the convention. I even cited the genius of Henry Jenkins to reinforce my opinions — how could I go wrong?
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| Rose-colored typewriter ribbon |
When you're in love with something it is difficult to be critical; as a student it is your job to be critical. I did a bad job addressing the less celebrated virtues of Dragon Con and I am taking this opportunity to redress that. I apologize to everyone for the tone of this blog entry—but I can't discuss cosplay without disclosing my true and tortured discord on the subject.
Origin Story
In third grade my school promoted a "Come as Your Favorite Storybook Character Day".
Without question I would be dressing as Ramona Quimby. In fact, it couldn't be easier. I already had Ramona's hair cut and I felt confident I had a wardrobe I could work with too. After all, I deeply identified with her. I was going to nail the costume, it was going to be great.
It was not great. It was humiliating, decimating, and discouraging. No one recognized that I was Ramona Quimby. Peers were picking on me, teachers were criticizing me and accusing me of not putting any effort or thought into my costume. So for the rest of the day I wore a name label "Ramona Quimby: Age 8", but that didn't help. Other girls were dressed like Cinderella and Alice in Wonderland. Their mothers made their costumes, they looked perfect, and the teachers made sure I understood the comparison. They didn't have to wear a name label. They didn't have to defend themselves or their choice; and they didn't spend most of the day crying.
I learned that being true to yourself wasn't easy and it wasn't popular.
Believing this informed nearly every choice I did or didn't make from then on. I hid the parts of me that were rejected and I embellished the parts of me didn't give a frak about rejection.
To this day, I am still learning to separate
from the character that developed from that.
Torridity Story
Not participating in cosplay due to Atlanta's unrelenting heat has always been my number one excuse and it seems to be effective some of the time. But let's be honest, cosplay is about commitment; and devotees will never let their fandom be weathered.
One solution, wear less. And that brings me to this ...
Minority Story
One of many places myself and Ramona Quimby should feel safe is a convention that operates within participatory culture and reveres individuals that embrace the expressions of fandom.
Only as an adult, what is at stake seems to be different.
In third grade I didn't have to worry about being sexy.
Who would I most want to visit Dragon Con as?
Cheetara, She Ra, Lisa Garland, Number Six? These are a few characters that always come to mind but they are inherently sexy characters—and I often hesitate to intentionally dress sexy. Correction, I always worry people will think I want to be found sexy. Being found to be sexy is exhilarating. Directing people to notice how sexy you are gives me pause.
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| SDCC |
This cosplay example is from San Diego Comic Con but Google is no fool, Google knows what we are a
fan of.
On the other hand, dressing up like Olivia Dunham or President Laura Roslin, who dress modestly, would make me almost invisible in an environment that encourages gawking. And just like that, I am wearing a name label that says "President Roslin" and no one is impressed and my commitment is questioned. At least, this is my fear.
The truth is cosplay isn't for the meek; and physically revealing costumes will remain an important measure of "quality cosplay".
Deformity Story
Worrying about being liked and being sexy is not the essence of cosplay. You can experience cosplay and be completely unaffected by the over sexualization of women, and I suggest you do try to have that experience.
But the reality of these pressures are pervasive and shouldn't be ignored.
Before I proceed any further with this dialogue let me be clear about what I am NOT saying:
I am NOT saying sexuality is bad [I mean I'm posting from a blog called Put It In My Mouth, for goodness sake]
I am NOT saying sexy cosplay is bad
I am NOT saying it is wrong to find these costumes sexy
I am NOT saying I have never dressed in a manner in which I hoped may be perceived as sexy
I am NOT saying it is wrong to want to be perceived as sexy
I am NOT saying any of these things
What I AM saying is that the very narrow image that is being projected and perpetuated as sexy has a pejorative effect on both men and women.
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| SDCC |
I'm relying mostly on examples from San Diego's Comic Con, because this convention receives more public attention, but please understand the same sexual explicitness happens at Dragon Con. It is a crude coincidence that the founder of Dragon Con, Ed Kramer, is an accused sex offender. Update: Ed Kramer plead guilty three months after this was published.
Actress Michele Boyd came forward publicly this year after being
sexually groped by a stranger, or as she eloquently describes him—a douchenozzle, at SDCC.
I argue that the environment created at these conventions can facilitate the very wrong sense that this activity is okay.
Sexual assault occurs more often than any of us can imagine and the scope of the victims suffering is truly unmeasurable.
1 out of every 6 American women and 1 out of 33 American men are victims of an attempted or completed rape.
By the time I was 18 I had been the victim of an attempted rape. By whom? My best friend. By the time I was 25 I had been the victim of domestic violence. By whom? My best friend, my spouse. Just earlier this year I experienced the panic and anger described by Michele Boyd when I was at a rock show and was sexually groped by a stranger.
I've recently noticed that my resting stance, the one I take while standing, waiting in line, or being on display is with my arms crossed in front of my lap. It is as if I am literally protecting my genitals, and I do not think this is a coincidence.
My experiences aren't unique, and one more time — let me be clear that I am not implicating cosplay as an institution that is responsible for sexual assaults ... I am directing awareness to the idea that the images we see and share daily contribute to a sexually violent world that we have become tolerant of. I am saying that as of today, these conventions have not broken this convention.
As always, someone else has said it better. Author, speaker, and filmmaker Jean Kilbourne:
"Turning a human being into a thing is almost always the first step toward justifying violence against that person. We see this with racism, we see it with homophobia, we see it with terrorism; it is always the same process. The person is dehumanized and violence then becomes inevitable."
Jean Kilbourne: Killing Me Softly 4: Advertising's Image of Women
I take responsibility for my role in establishing these values as acceptable. I believe most of us perpetuate these ideas and knowingly or unconsciously help sustain them.
Danai Gurira thoughtfully asks us to bring consciousness to the media and images we consume.
"The media image is America's biggest export."
Women Who Kick Ass Panel SDCC 2013
It terrified me to have this discussion with you. To bring up something as grossly complex as this and to admit to you that I know of no solution and to understand that many of you wouldn't agree there is even a problem ... to take that risk ... it's terrifying.
To Jeremy, who was probably not expecting a response this dark [on a comedy blog]:
All cosplay is great. The only regrettable costume, one that requires dependency of a staff to go to the bathroom.
I suppose I could've honored your suggestion with a simple potty joke.
Here is my closing statement:
There is a subculture of cosplay devoted to sex appeal, this is not a bad or shameful thing. Sex should be celebrated. I advocate for sex, everyone should feel sexy—this is a good thing.
Our current and collective ideas of what sex appeal is and our reactions to it is what I take issue with.
I don't know how we can work together to change that but I do know that the world never got better without confronting change.
Having discussions like this (no matter what side you fall on) is a great start and having media literacy and a conscious mind is even better.
Here are my sins of D*C week:
Byron, I'm sorry I patted your ass (and that I am discussing it here). You did nothing to invite that behavior and it won't happen again (unless we are in improv).
Miley C., I am sorry I referred to your music video as kind of skanky. Skanky is the word I use to describe the way I feel when I get off of work. I do not think your music video is covered in sweat and pork fat. I do not know anything about you even though the media wants me to believe I do. All I know is that you are a woman and you probably encounter a lot of the same conflicts as I do. I will be more respectful of the way I inform all of my opinions about all women.
