Sexism, in my geekery?

[sunny_bexster]

I'll likely be rambling in this post. Feel free to skip over it.

Has anyone ever experienced any really bad sexism in geeky fandom that they wish to share.

I think I've been quite lucky. Yes, I've been stared at in RPG Bookshops by men who fit the sterotypical 'geek' profile, but I've also had very intense, respectful conversations with other male

Comments

[silvey]

I think cosplay's a funny one, actually, and that there is a LOT of sexism in it, or at least body politicking. Within the hardcore community it's not as bad as it's about costume constuction for them, but in the anime community in a wider sense there's a definite premium on being a thin woman wearing a revealing outfit. It doesn't take a genuis to work it out, you just need to see who the photograhpers flock around.

It's strange as the cosplay community is also quite inclusive, in that everyone does it and men dress as women and woman as men and fat girls dress as thin girls etc, but there's still kind of this body fascism where we know that this girl is a better cosplayer becasue she's thin then the girl with the better constructed costume because she's fat, or this person is a better cosplay of that character becasue she's a girl then the person with the more faithful costume who's a guy.

You can counter it to some extent by making a really complex costume or just saying screw it and making fur suits so nobody can tell how big you are or what gender you are in there anyway, but there's still a lot of judgement and sexism floating around, espcially from guys who attend conventions who are looking for eye candy.

Personally I tend to think of cosplay as empowering, or I used to. If you want to cosplay someone who dreses skimpily, more power to you. If I want to be a magical girl, I can. It's not about body politics, it's about having fun and showing your love of a show or character, but I think as anime and cosplay have kind of expanded and especially as the standard of coaply in general as gone up, particularly at the big events, it can sometimes feel less about showing your love as a fan and more about being pretty enough and thin enough with a complex enough costume. One of the reasons I want to have a go at steampunk stuff for the next con is that there's no idea there of what a body SHOULD be like in steampunk, it's not one size only like anime bodies can be. Though I still want to be a magical girl.

Then you have the gendering of fandom in general, with things like fanfiction seen as women's fandom and gaming being men's fandom. I think it's breaking down a little, but there's still the expectation there that if you're going to squee about a relationship you're a fanGIRL and if you're going to get excited about graphics and gameplay you're a fanBOY.

[sunny_bexster]

I get where you're coming from entirely.

There's this two-fold issue with cos-playing, especially if you're a girl.

1)Perhaps I shouldn't cosplay at all, because I'll either get oggled/torn to shreds because I don't have the figure/height/breast size for my intended character...

2) ...If I screw the haters and cosplay the character anyway, will I get torn apart BECAUSE I'll get oggled or torn to shreds because I don't have the figure/height/breast size for my intended character.

It's a bit of a double edged sword. I'm sure we've all seen, in photographs and in person, women and men with scarily defined bodies, clad in skin-tight latex looking oh so good. They're what the media and most of a fan community will look at. It's often viewed as cosplay at it's highest form. And if the outfit itself is accurate, then that's just bonus points.

Speaking entirely for myself, I am much more impressed by men and women who really push the boat out on their outfits or their ideas. Oh you're a steampunk Ghosbuster? Man that's hot. Whereas a very scantily clad, albeit stunningly attractive woman or man in a rather generic costume or with no further thought to it leaves me a bit 'meh'.

I'd love to properly get into cosplay, but what worries me is the reactions from both sexes on various issues. What if I don't quite have the time or the money or the resources to get an outfit 100% accurate? Will some die-hard fan snarl at me and make me feel bad?

What about if the character I choose to dress as has a rather revealing clothing style which doesn't suit my body type. Will I get looked down upon for wearing it anyway, or worse, will I get oggled because I wore it anyway?

If I were to cosplay, I'd do Ron Weasley. Some people would find that awesome. Some might think I'm doing it to make a statement. Some might think it's a shame that I'm not getting my na-nas out for the whole Convention centre to see.

Truthfully, I'd be doing it because Ron Weasley is fecking awesome.

Cosplay should be empowering. It should be about escapism. No-one should want to dress as a character but then hold back saying they don't have the body shape for it. In actuality, it's a cartoon or manga character - you won't! Likewise with movies - not everyone has rippling muscles or cleavage you can loose a cat in. This is life, but it shouldn't stop me dressing up as a Ghostbuster or Jareth from the Labrynth or whoever!

It's likely another one of those issues where the shit won't stop till we all want it to. Some geeky men get off on girls in skimpy clothes. Some fangirls get off at laughing at girls cosplaying in skimpy clothes because they're not "suited". Until people just say "hey man/gal, that's cool" to each and every cosplay (issues of decency and taste aside)regardless of suitability and accuracy, we're not going to beat down this rule of 'If you're pretty and thin, then come on in and wear this gold bikini! It might not be accurate at all but you'll turn heads...everyone else, go as a Sith Lord or something, we don't care..."

Man, I'm bitter today.

Apologies for the legnth of my reply, but I did enjoy reading yours. :)