Yeah, I said it. A lot of you probably agree with me too, but you won’t say it. It is time to get real here - let's talk about fat-shaming in the world of Cosplay.
We all like to say we are open-minded, but deep down we all know that we would rather see a skinny Wonder Woman than a fat one. I mean, come on, why can't the fat girl just have the willpower and lose some weight? Doesn't she know she looks pathetic? At conventions we take pictures with the skinny Wonder Woman and not the fat one. The fat Wonder Woman may have actually paid more attention to detail in her costume, but her body type doesn't match the character so who cares?
I do - because I am too afraid to be that fat Wonder Woman. I studied costume design for 4 years in college, but I don’t feel like I can fully utilize my talents to portray the characters I’d like to because I am afraid of being made fun of. I decided to cosplay as Charizard for Salt Lake Comic Con because I am too afraid to dress up as a sexy female character like Wonder Woman. Heaven forbid I post pictures of my fat Wonder Woman on the internet - the trolls will destroy me! I am genuinely excited about my Charizard cosplay because I know I can be the most kick-ass fat orange dragon at the convention, but it saddens me that I am too uncomfortable to play Wonder Woman. Sure, no one will likely insult me to my face if I were to dress up as Wonder Woman, but I would know that I will always be second to the skinny Wonder Woman.
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Ok, I didn't put a ton of effort into this outfit, but I actually felt sexy when my sister took this picture. Then again, how can I compare to this:  |
No contest!
Maybe I’m coming off and whiny here, but I don’t think I am the only one who feels this way. Fat cosplays are met with ridicule as a general rule - as is evidenced by the fact that when I typed “fat cosplay” into my Google Chrome search bar some of the options included “fat cosplayers are gross” and “fat cosplay fail.” There is even a website dedicated to “cosplay train wrecks” with a section called “Too Fat to Wear That”. With all of this fat shaming it is little wonder that some of us experience severe anxiety over choosing an “acceptable” cosplay.
For FanEx in April I cosplayed as Kaylee from Firefly because, although I am heavier than the character, at least she just wears a jumpsuit so I won’t offend anyone with my extra curves. I recently discovered geekxgirls.com and I was so excited to submit a couple of pictures, but when I looked at their gallery and saw all of the beautiful geek girls I was ashamed of my pictures. Apparently a real “Geek Girl” is skinny with big breasts so she can live up to the sexy female characters so prevalent in comics.
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| Seriously, I didn't even post this picture to Facebook because I was too self conscious about my arms and hips. |
The interesting thing is that I am generally comfortable with my body - my husband compliments me and makes me feel sexy - but there is something about the world of cosplay that is still so intimidating. Why is that? Why do I still hear people snicker at the fat Princess Zelda? Shouldn’t geek-dom be a safe space for everyone?
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| Sorry, I don't know where this picture came from. Comment if it is yours and I'll give you credit :) |
*** Do you agree that fat-shaming is still an issue in cosplay, or do you think that it isn't an issue and I'm just too self-conscious? ***
Edit: After I published this post I went to view it to make sure everything looked good and guess what ad Google decided to show? Yeah, liposuction. Thanks a lot!
If it wasn't still an issue, the curvy ladies like yourself wouldn't feel afraid to cosplay whoever. We wouldn't have to keep up the battle of anyone can cosplay anyone ever end of story if there was no one to fight.
ReplyDeleteWhile there are those who will think someone who isn't skinny shouldn't play the Wonder Woman, there ARE also those who look at the costume and admire it. To me, cosplaying a Wonder Woman character as a woman who isn't as skinny as Wonder Woman is only a crime if you try to squeeze yourself into a tiny woman's costume - if it ill fits, that's a problem. But there are people out there who would take a picture with a Wonder Woman who owns her weight AND her costume. The trouble is not listening to those who wouldn't, eh?
Excellent points! I did not focus on the other end of the spectrum, but I have noticed that super skinny people are sometimes given a hard time as well. Men are called "wimpy" if they aren't as buff as a superhero character and skinny girls without any curves feel pressured to pad their chests. I agree that if a costume fits well enough to be family friendly, any cosplayer should feel confident enough to rock it!
ReplyDeleteGreat points!! I have to tell you I feel the same way. Being curvier I have a hard time feeling comfortable in costumes that my less than curvy friends can pull off and I feel that I need to hide under a sheet if I want to do a great costume. It's difficult to share your fandom when society feels you don't 'fit' the part. Last year at Halloween my coworkers wanted to go as DC characters so I fretted over what I was going to do since I wasn't as thin as they were and I would look out of place and feel awkward at a work party. So I decided to make a Lego batgirl costume, it was a success, took the cake from all the other store bought crap that was going around.
ReplyDeleteThat girl in the selfie isn't reality...who knows how long she spent in the gym and not eating. On top of that, if that's not your natural figure, there's not much exercise and dieting (aka torture) will do anyway.
ReplyDeleteIn general, comic book characters aren't reality because originally they were cartoons, and we can't all alter our figures with a pencil like the original artists could. Frankly all the internet is a bridge and there's a troll under every single one, so dress how you want, be happy about it, and smack the ones who have the gall to say something!
Love the Kaylee costume...spot on! My wife is looking for one like that...hopefully she'll let me be Jayne :)
I completely feel you because I'm on the other side of the spectrum. I don't have the curves or lady parts to cosplay some of the characters I'd love to, but I try to do so anyways. I just make my own versions of the characters! Also, I think everyone worries if they can pull a character off of not, whether they are big or small or male or female, etc. Wish we were real life friends because then we could craft and/or game together! I've been dying to find people to play board games with, haha.. Hope to see you at SLCC!
ReplyDeleteI think you look damn good
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