It’s that time of year.
Well… It’s ‘Con Season’ again and I’ve already seen a few debates popping up on the appropriateness and ‘sexiness’ of cosplay and cosplayers at the various events we are planning to go to. YouTube has TONS of cosplay videos and it’s kind of clear what ‘gets the clicks’ lol. But I did find something that I’ll mention in a bit that I think could be a good/welcome addition to our geek events.
This how they look tho.
First off, cosplay only follows the character(s) for the most part and straight up; Sexy costumes for female superheroes and villains have been a controversial issue for a long time. These days it’s the same ol’ same ol’. It’s empowering and reflective of the female characters’ confidence and strength, ‘OR’ they’re objectifying and perpetuate harmful stereotypes. Then there’s the guys that are also depicted in revealing outfits, so then I guess it’s not fair to hold female superheroes to a different standard. If he butt naked… Let her be butt naked lol.
Of course, we’ll also get the argument that these suits/shows can create unrealistic and damaging beauty standards for young girls and boys, and could contribute to a toxic culture around bodies in general. Those arguments, which are at times are rooted in the family aspect are understandable. Many families come to conventions as their children are captivated by the same characters that we were when we were lil. It can be complex, it can be nuanced, and there really are some valid points all around so what should we do? Straight up? I say nothing. Leave the scene as it is now because I do think that there should be a place for adults to ‘see’ adults and wear the suit(s) how they were envisioned on the page/screen.
Are there other options?
What I think we should do is add are more events like Fairfax Comic-Con Jr. and Sablecon. Conventions that are either built for children specifically or for families specifically. In that case you can have your Wondercon where you may see a lot of skin or even a lot of horror/gore in cosplay, but you can also have a place where people want to enjoy the convention atmosphere and cosplay but just without the adult slant to it.
Strong and Silent with a side of Struggle.
Recently, I went to Fairfax Comic Con Jr. for NERDSoulite’s very first convention and it was awesome. It was of course, just for kids and all the vendors and cosplayers were focused on either child or family rated/related content. It was good to not have to worry about something that would scare him or maybe reveal a lil too much at 5 lol. Now I know people are ALWAYS gonna argue but I think this could be a welcome increase to the scene. I will say I’ve noticed more and more events like Fairfax Comic-Con Jr. and Sablecon to which I say, “The more the merrier”. Then we as geeks, nerds, blerds and fae’s can have our cakes and eat them too.
Where ya’ll at wit it? Am I trippin? Or do you think having clearly defined family friendly events is a good way to make everyone happy?