Race and Cosplay

[Spindrift]

Cosplayer I follow on Fb posted this link:

http://www.xojane.com/issues/mad-bac...ka-cumberbatch

Caption of the post I got it from reads, "A cosplayer speaks out about skin color and ethnicity in cosplay. Before you make a comment on the internet about someone dressing up as their favorite character, give this a read!"

I know a lot of people on the forum enjoy cosplay, so thought I'd post it here and see what discussion comes out of it.

[Nate Walis]

Odd that a black cosplayer portraying a non-black character would generate such comments when the vast majority that I tend to see are white people dressed as oriental characters, but then I suppose that's all part of the prejudice involved here.

[Kanti]

Wow that's unfortunate.
How many anime/videogame characters are even black to begin with? All I can think about after
5 minutes is the chick from Bleach and that sidekick girl from Resident Evil 5. The only black guy
I can think of is the dude from FF7.
So what do those people complaining honestly expect? She alternate between a handful of costumes
where she may not even know or like the characters?

The article was really well written and I'm glad that girl doesn't let the bullies get to her. Cosplaying
is similar to mermaiding as in it can be an expensive hobby. Dressing up as your favorite characters
just because you like them. You shouldn't be judged for it.

[malinghi]

I saw a panel on this at DragonCon actually. I was pretty surprised. I had no idea how much racism there is in cosplay. Then again, this kind of thing could probably be a single chapter in a book on bigotry and intolerance in geek culture- just think of all the sexism, homophobia, and weight related discrimination. Also this.

[Usagi]

Wow that's unfortunate.
How many anime/videogame characters are even black to begin with?

Afro Samurai? Haha

[Ashe]

I really look up to this girl. She doesn't let anyone get to her and keeps on doing what she wants. As a cosplayer, mer, and an artist, I know how it feels to get pushed around for the silliest of things. And just because you have a different skin color or gender as your favorite character doesn't mean you can't dress up like them. My favorite character is Jack Frost from Rise of the Guardians. I'm a girl, he's a guy. I'm making a costume for him and even though I am doing a female version, it's basically the same thing. Like she said cosplaying isn't serious; it's just fun!

[Mermaid Momo]

Jack is my fave too! I'm going to cosplay him eventually once I find a freaken hoodie I like (this things are so elusive!)
sadly this is really common in the cosplay and geek community, and what makes it worse is that any dark skin characters are usually whitewashed either in the show or in fan art (korra from LOK, katara,soka,iris from Pokemon,and lots lots more)

[ShyMer]

i had never thought about this before. I'm not surprised people feel this way, but man, come on. Like nate and a bunch of commenters on the post said, if you were going to be fussy about it, only Japanese should be allowed to cosplay for the anime stuff, not 'white' people. besides, i thought she did a fantastic job with the costume that caused so much trouble for her.

i guess people really look down on cosplayers with different body types and such too, huh?

Her attitude is awesome.

[Nate Walis]

Seems to me that if a fat, white male can dress as Faye Valentine from Cowboy Bebop (seriously, google "man faye" and prepare to have a seizure), then why can't a slim and pretty black lass dress up as a character from Sailor Moon?

[Spindrift]

In similar articles to the one I posted above, the issue of blackface/yellowface/brownface/etc and using makeup/bronzer/airbrush/tanning to change one's skin for a more accurate cosplay was brought up on multiple occasions. The people involved in those discussions were extremely divided. I am aware of the offensive use of blackface/yellowface/brownface/etc in American history, but as someone who belongs to a minority group, I have no issue with it at all in its use now /as long as/ the person who is doing it does not mean to do so in an offensive way (cultural stereotyping as a costume vs getting a more tanned look to cosplay waterbender Korra). Am I in the wrong here? Are people just too sensitive about issues of race? I've noticed that the people who go with the argument that changing any skin color at all for a costume is NEVER okay are of Caucasian descent, but it's hard to tell on other forums.

I know there is a similar thread about this going on over here: http://mernetwork.com/index/showthre...This-Offensive

In terms of mermaiding: should I be offended if a mer tries to make a tail inspired by Asian influences? Or tries to look Asian in their photos? Because I haven't been yet and so I don't understand why other people would get offended if the same thing happens in cosplay. Or am I missing a crucial detail/difference?

[Usagi]

Reading that made me think of how ny dad dressed up for a costume party one year.

You can tell by looking at his hands that he has light skin (he's guatemalan). People loved his costume and certainly weren't offended. Oh he's supposed to be the guy from Pulp Fiction, by the way. Never seen it, so I don't know character names. My mom dressed as the chick, and she's certainly no skinny minnie. People still loved their costumes, though.

Also, I don't know if anyone has seen it (my friend made me watch the show all the time), but there was an episode of America's Next Top Model where they did a photoshoot of the girls dressed and made up to look like they were a completely different race. It was actually really cool!

[Mermaid Momo]

The reason why most black people hate black facing or tanning your skin with makeup to look like a character is because we have to wear our skin our whole life and we face a lot of problems JUST because of the color of our skin and outing on our skin as we see it just for a day is really really offensive as this person wears dark skin ad gets praised for it and doesn't have to go through the everyday problems that comes with darker skin. While people born in darker skin usually get remarks like : you're pretty for a black girl, your really dark, and of course: black people shouldn't cosplay people besides black characters while the lighter cosplay we gets things like: your cosplay is so perfect, I like how spot on you are,nice costume!
Also another thing on blackface and darkening skin with makeup. I can tell you honestly that it hurts. It hurts seeing that people think black people look, and act like that. An that they think its a funny joke. Every time I see a picture my Heart stops for a bit because it makes it seem like that's all other people see us as:a joke.

[Spindrift]

Hi draggersprez,

Your post really affected me. There have been many times in my life where I have been singled out in different countries all around the world because I'm different looking. And I get a lot of questions like "do you have a sideways vagina?" So I can see where you are coming from and I can relate. It is of my opinion overall that in Asia a lot of people think that internationally, the standard of beauty is the Caucasian female. This makes it a big deal when Asian girls make it big in the pageant, modeling, movie, or TV world and a lot of Asian girls undergo a lot of cosmetic transformations to appeal to that standard.

I also receive the same remarks that you mention (except replace black with Asian-looking) so I'm very glad that you spoke up.

One of the things I came across that led me to make the earlier post was through after reading the comments of this article: http://now.msn.com/mom-shocked-her-s...e-is-offensive
which made me wonder the questions of if people were being too sensitive or not. If you're willing to offer an opinion then I would be very appreciative but I will also understand if you don't want to.

These are a little more instigating. I don't know how possible this is to do on the Internet but an informed, cautious discussion could be interesting. Although I have also been warned that even talking about it might be making it into a bigger deal than it should be.

http://blindcaius.tumblr.com/post/29...his-on-my-dash
http://benedictcumberfucks.tumblr.co...-theres-a-huge

[Kanti]

It's a shame the whole race thing is even a problem. I wouldn't mind if people dyed their skin to
achieve a costume because to me that's just them trying to get it to be more accurate. I mean, it's
not the same thing but when I dye myself blue to cosplay a na'vi or a draenei, I'm only doing it to
achieve the full effect. If someone dyes their skin in an attempt to be accurate, that's fine, like Syd's
dad did, where you can see he clearly tried to do a good job, that shouldn't be offensive. Whenever
people do the whole 'blackface' like they did in the old times or whatever, where it's literally SUPER BLACK
makeup and meant to be offensive, well then yea, that's the point where you call that person an asshole.

[Mermaid Momo]

As to the articles, it was SLIGHTLY offensive I say slightly because yes, I'm a bit sad and shocked that someone thought it would be a good idea to dress their son up like that I mean a mustache and a suit would be enough,especially if there's a poster to go along with it and the rest of the class knows who he's supposed to be already. the offensive part is that little kids of color was probably confused as heck, they probably didn't know what to feel (should I be mad or should I be flattered that he's dressed as someone so special?)it doesn't really matter if its in the "mammy" or "darkie" type of usage, just doing it confuses POC. Lets put it this way, your in his class, he walks in with his makeup on and EVERYONE turns and looks at you. And I mean EVERYONE whether they do it consciously or not, that in itself is quite unnerving, but add that to the mixed emotions of everything you were toughs at home about the way it used to be. You start to wonder whether or not they're trying to honor MLK or whether they're making a caracature(sp?) out of him (sorry if I'm going in circles but its hard to explain what goes through your mind as a little kid when something like this happens and you feel...singled out I guess? Like you aren't meant to be there? I know it sounds dramatic, but its really how it feels.)
as for the other half of why its slightly offensive, I'm glad that he's learning about MLK. I would think that everyone should learn about the civil rights movement because it was a powerful movement that changed history, but I swear to god that some boy in my class had stated as loudly as he could exactly this: " why do we celebrate Martin Luther king day? Why does e even have a day? He didn't do anything for us? I mean he freed the blacks or something, but honestly, he doesn't deserve a day for that." (I had an internal conflict over chewing him out but decided against it)

Also, painting your skin to look like a different ethnicity/race that actually exists is completely different then painting it to look like a fictional race or impossible skin color (say blue or gray like trolls from homestuck) the best way I can explain why this is is because blue people don't exist neither do trolls. These people haven't been oppressed because of their skin color, these people havn't been taunted and most importantly these types of skin color don't exist naturally so they aren't really ethnicities with their own heritage and culture.