OK about to send this into the Klingon newsletter, thought I would give you all first look for suggestions Costumes, Shame, and Responsibility Mary has been working on her costume, Marvels Black Cat for 6 months. She loves the character and the wonderful “not really a girl friend” relationship the Cat had with Spider-man. She also loves the fact that Black Cat is an assertive independent person. Mary, who thinks shes a bit heavy, also decided to do a lot of yoga and tai chi to get into shape to play the part. Finally the big day came and she donned her white wig she found online and zipped into the costume and headed to SuperMegaWhatsitCon. She steps inside and the cameras start, its great! She gets a lot of attention, but then it happens. “Cat! You wanna do it?” “Hey unzip your top!” “Lemme touch your boobs!” “Arent you a little fat to play Black Cat?” again and again and again. Suddenly she is being embarrassed and shamed for what she is wearing. She retreats to the snack bar area and gets a Coke and sits at a table. She feels very self conscious and like she shouldnt have come. Then a guy wearing a Spider-man tee shirt asks her a question about Black Cat. Mary brightens because she really loves and wants to talk about the character and share what she loves about her. The guy then challenges her to answer a really obscure question. Mary doesnt know the answer. The guy goes into a rant about “Fake Geek Girls” who know nothing and just want to get attention. Mary gathers her stuff, leaves and never goes back to a Convention of any kind. She goes online to read about the con and sees a lot of snide remarks about the “store-bought, inaccurate” costume she wore. This sort of thing happens. It happens often. It happens too often. Thus there is a movement that needs to grow: Costumes are not Consent. Wearing a costume is something the person does for themselves, not for you. Cosplayers do love attention, otherwise we wouldnt wear our costumes, but it doesnt give 14 year olds (often in 50 year old bodies) the right to harass, embarrass and shame the person that has put time and money lovingly into creating and wearing the costume. Its one thing for mundanes (non-fans) to look at you funny – strangely they dont do a lot of harassing – its intolerable for fans to do it. Conventions should be a safe place for people to come out of their shells and share their love for all sorts of Science Fiction and Fantasy. We need to support and protect our own. Something I encourage locally, and should be a common thing, is this: there may or may not be a safe room at a con for people who feel harassed, but I think every Klingon should be a mobile safe room. I want everyone to consider that if they feel harassed or shamed, they can come to the nearest Klingon who will not judge them, but will protect and serve them. There are few things that shut down a hormone driven jerk than a 63” 300lb Klingon looking at the jerk and saying, “Dont you have something better to do?” We have power, with great power comes great responsibility.
Posted on: Wed, 16 Jul 2014 16:52:27 +0000