/cgl/ - Cosplay & EGL

[Anonymous No.8605892]

Are men more passive in the cosplay community?

What I mean is that I seem to notice that guys tend to just simply wear the outfit (or just partial elements of a cosplay) and just spend the convention walking around, taking pictures and other antics. It's as if they're only really concerned with wearing the costume and are less concerned with presentation.

This is most evident in series that do not have males in or have one/two characters. Females are more likely to cross play and gender bend while men will just show up and take pictures from said series. Touhou is the obvious exception here.

Are my opinions unfounded?

[Anonymous No.8606106]

>>8605892

As a broad generalization I'd say because most guys prefer to play it cool. It's more socially acceptable for a girl to be running around hyperactively than it is for a guy to do it. A girl running around fangirling can be seen as 50% embarrassing and 50% cute, but for a guy to do it is considered 100% embarrassing. We have words like neckbeard, virgin, fedora etc. for that.

I would imagine part of it is also internalized, gender stereotypes dictate that females are more appearance oriented than males, so parading around dressed up comes more naturally to women than it does men, if a male does it his sexuality, virginity etc. will come into question.

I'm sure there are other male cosplayers here who have been questioned by family and friends for doing cosplay whereas a female would be encouraged/left alone. If you're a female you might get some shit for cosplaying because it's nerdy/lame/weird, but if you're male almost every cosplay activity seems to rouse suspicion; my parents were so pleased when I made a weapon because it was a masculine thing to do. The fact that I was sewing, wearing a wig, using makeup, cutting wigs, taking an interest in fabric etc. was worrying to them.

I think in many ways you have to be more thick skinned to be a male cosplayer. If you get embarrassed by stuff like buying makeup, shaving your legs etc. or if you have trouble answering to your parents when they start questioning your sexuality for using a sewing machine then you're gonna fall at the first hurdle. Guys who are ripped and do the easymode typical male cosplays are normally the most obnoxious normalfags because they've never had to go through it.

[Anonymous No.8606379]

>>8605892
Because, as a male, you're less likely to get any compliments on your cosplay (no matter how good it is, no matter how much effort you put into tailoring, no matter how much you workout/diet beforehand) compared to a average looking girl who wears cat ears and street clothes and passes it off as cosplay.

Men are all but ostracized from the hobby.

[Anonymous No.8606416]

>>8606106
>I think in many ways you have to be more thick skinned to be a male cosplayer.

What the heck are you talking about? As a guy the worst thing that can happen to me is me being ignored. Females get ripped about for missing minor details on their outfits or simply not looking the part even if they're not pushing for attention.

It's much easier for me to fade into the background and just enjoy the con without many eyes on me

[Anonymous No.8606429]

>>8606416

(not same poster but still a guy)

I'd *rather* get ripped about. I want attention and criticism because then I can improve off it.

[Anonymous No.8606433]

No one cares you whiny faggot.

[Anonymous No.8606439]

>>8606429
But guys still get compliments.

So lets compare

Guy
Worst - Ignored
Best - Complimented/fangirl scream

Girl
Worst - Stalked/Insulted
Best - Complimented

[Anonymous No.8606473]

>>8606416
Part of that is from the cattiness of females. They can't help but tear each other apart. Unknowingly they act the same as the mean girls in school who took pride in their looks and clothes. We're no exception to the tendency to want to look the best, and the easiest way to make ourselves feel like the best, whether we deserve it or not, is to shit on other people. Not saying its right, but you can't deny this is what happens when you have 73822984 people all cosplaying the same characters. You can't help but have a thought cross your mind of "i'm better/worse".

[Beanie-kun !!haFBv+kEAYe No.8606546]

It's hard to find male characters to cosplay unless you're Asian or tall and muscular.

[Anonymous No.8606566]

>>8606546
That's bullshit and you know it. There a huge amount of male characters to go as with a wide variety of body types

[Anonymous No.8606569]

thanks for making a containment thread, OP!

[Anonymous No.8607022]

>>8606379
>Men are all but ostracized from the hobby.

What the hell you're talking about. Even my half assed outfits get plenty of comments on the floor.

[Anonymous No.8607056]

Females cross play by just playing a slutty version of the character.

That's way less interesting if you're a guy unless you're mega ripped.

[Anonymous No.8607524]

>>8606473
The cattiest comments I've received related to cosplay have been mostly from males. Honestly, its not hard to avoid women still living in high school, even in a hobby like cosplay. You just need to be aware of all the red flags and stay out of drama yourself.

[Anonymous No.8607542]

>>8607524
True, but with all the clashing of opinions on what cosplay is/limits of it/who gets to be involved, or the fake friendships just to ride each others fame to be efamous…or maybe thats just my comm?

[Anonymous No.8607553]

>>8607542
----sorry, didn't finish my point, its late here.

With all that, its hard to find real friends who you can trust, and who aren't just using you. So many are fame hungry nowadays and it really is discouraging to put yourself out there on a social level knowing they'll just look at you and either ignore you if you're useless to them, or "recruit" you if you can "help them attain their dream otp cosplay" that is actually 1 among thousands of photo oppurtunities for them to get their vag wet over other girls fawning over them. Excuse the negativity, I clearly have not gotten it all out yet.

[Anonymous No.8607580]

Men are not more passive. It's just that mainstream culture tends to discourage men in learning the details of makeup, sewing, and clothing at a young age.

One could argue carpentry is a "traditionally male" skill that helps for cosplay items like props, but sewing and makeup are essentials for cosplay, and it may take a guy until his "not give a fuck anymore" stage in life to begin to start sewing for himself and not for a home economics class.

Product marketing is already honed for this acculturation. At the first sign of puberty, marketing for young women is "OMG you need makeup and skincare and clothes because your looks will always be judged! Of course makeup and skincare are different product types, are you an IDIOT", whereas marketing for young men is "here is a razor for shaving, and some acne wash if you have zits, go get 'em kiddo". Any young man interested in makeup, clothes, or in any way grooming themselves can easily get labeled as gay or sissy in high school circles and socially ostracized. Of course, most men and women will eventually graduate high school and that mentality, but that time in high school is still a good amount of years during which you could have been honing any skill that applicable to cosplay.

A 18-year-old woman who had been experimenting with makeup and posting selfies to facebook since 12, is more likely to know what kind of foundation shows up well in photos and IRL, and will buy and wear it every day for work, whereas a 18-year-old man who cosplays for the first time may more likely recoil at the thought of makeup at a three-day convention.

Of course, all these skills can be learned with online forums, youtube makeup tutorials, and practice. Thank god for the Internet.

Don't be discouraged. It's never too late to learn new skills.

God speed, male anons.

[Anonymous No.8607601]

>>8606566
Kinda true for black and hispanic guys.

[Anonymous No.8607615]

I think part of it as well is that for women, dressing up is not that weird. Like >>8607580 said, kind of. Women have set wardrobes for different things, I also think it's more socially acceptable for women to dress up at parties/Halloween/etc. because it's seen as hot, whereas if guys do it, it has to be completely casual or a joke, lest they be written off as a try hard dork or faggot. A lot of guys I know have minimal wardrobes, consisting of jeans, t-shirts, one or two smart shirts and trousers, and maybe work out gear. A large proportion of girls will have many more different "types" of clothes for different occasions, and I think can get away with dressing up a lot more than dudes can, so cosplay isn't too far of a stretch.

Also I think a lot of girls, not necessarily intentionally, grew up with this attitude, I know I did;
>my worth is linked to how much male attention I get
>there is a limited amount of this to go around
>if another girl is getting more attention that me, that means I will get less, and therefore be worth less
>doesn't even have to be getting attention, just be better/just as good as me at something
>this cannot happen
>tears her down to make self feel better

And it sucks. And it takes a long time to get rid of. I'm 21 and only recently started to stop feeling like that. I think guys have self-esteem issues and whatnot too, but they're less...linked to what everyone else is doing. And it tends to be just the one guy, whereas some girls see every other girl as a threat to their self esteem.

[Anonymous No.8607748]

>>>>8607615
Just because you're a slut desperate for attention, don't act like most other women are the same as you. A lot of us actually like dressing up for ourselves, I don't appreciate being perved on and most of the clothes I like to wear make all people in general think I'm weird anyway

[Anonymous No.8607763]

These type of discussions sure always turn to shit don't they?

[Anonymous No.8607771]

>>8607763
Yes. A bit unfortunate, really. Instead of making a serious discussion for assisting guys who want to get good at cosplay, it turns into a shitfest of unoriginal insults about how all women are attentionwhore-sluts who turn on each other, or how all men who do makeup must be gay-fags.

Even though there's a slight benefit to the board in that it works as a containment thread, the shitfest doesn't give any advice or concrit to anybody, men or women, who are seriously trying to improve their cosplay.

[Anonymous No.8607796]

Not gonna lie, the secret to great cosplay for dudes is core strength. Once you have a solid core and some bulk, the world of male cosplay really opens up.

Which means, always ignore /fit/ when they say dumb shit like "squats and oats", instead, work on your planks, dragon flags, planche, wind shield wipers, etc.

[Anonymous No.8607848]

Women complain if the guy is not tall, asian or fitting to the cosplay so guys tend to not get into it much cause of presume from the other sex. It is a double standard place by women that cause it cause if we are not hot, fit it to a point, or very skilled at making it ourselves, then we are creeps or ugly and should not do it.

[Anonymous No.8607864]

>>8607848
This is a complete lie. Women salivate over any remotely attractive cis man in costume, no matter how shitty they look. The standards for men in cosplay are way lower.

[Anonymous No.8607869]

>>8607848
That's not just a male thing, that kind of applies to everyone. Most people have a bitch fit if the person isn't A. Like the character they're cosplaying or B. cute. It's not right, but it's not exclusive to one gender.

[Anonymous No.8607874]

>>8607848
Go check out the Sonico thread to see how this applies to women, too. Because there are less dudes in cosplay, they'll get drooled over regardless.

[Anonymous No.8607898]

>>8607580
Passive is the right word.

Guys in general wear the costumes like clothes and go around their daily business. They don't seem to be preoccupied with photoshoots, hunt for their pictures and seem to be more content with selfie or a blurry hall shot.

They just seem to do less and stay out of the spotlight unless someone else shines it on them

[Anonymous No.8607909]

>>8607848
It's definitely not an Asian thing, Asian guys can't pull off cosplay anymore than white guys. The folks who do pull it off spend tons of time either working out for the manly characters, or doing all the stuff girls do for girly characters.

[Anonymous No.8607958]

>>8607796
If you think the secret to core strength is not squatting you are mistaken.

[Anonymous No.8607964]

>>8607864
The standards aren't lower so much as we're given a handicap. Unless we're cosplaying bara guys, cis women or trans men generally do it better because of how anime is usually drawn.

Makeup, lenses, wigs, etc. can only do so much to distract from the fact that you have actual broad shoulder blades and your character does not. Still, they're things that we should be doing for our cosplays regardless of "standards."

[Anonymous No.8607992]

>>8605892
is there really a point to them trying? all photographers go there just to get photos of the girls. why bother trying if you're going to be ignored anyways? + with cosplay is not consent, guys are basically being told (by the extremists) to stay the fuck away from girls at all. period. + with all these feminist/misogyny and similar related panels that spend the entire time shitting on animes/games made for men... yeah. they're not welcome.

they're not welcome at cons anymore, at all. so im not surprised when i see 20 shitty ass kiritos walking around. as well like others said, men are told not to like this kind of shit too. so its sexism rooted in both ways, costume wise, and convention atmosphere wise, that probably discourages them from even bothering.

[Anonymous No.8608124]

>>8607992
You hit the nail on the head here. There's no "normal" guy at a con anymore. The only ones you'll find are:
1)apologists bragging about how non-lecherous they are, and how little they're checking people out
2)Guys cosplaying and being way too in character (just like lolsorandom squee-beast girls)
3) "Gay guys" who think they're the exception when it comes to cosplay-is-not-consent

It's really hard for me to go to cons when I cosplay because I feel like Im being seen as a tryhard, or that Im a stalker waiting to happen.
I just want to wear cute costumes and have fun.

[Anonymous No.8608156]

>>8607992
Some of us just cosplay to get in the spirit of things. I'll do something half ass like wear a simon jacket or grab a suit out of my closet and say I'm a Yakuza member. It just helps me to get in the right mindset of the zaniness of cons. I'm not there to get cosplay famous or sleep with a bunch of girls, I'm there for the events, get some merch and have a fun time

[Anonymous No.8608161]

>>8607898

Do people like that? As a guy you described me perfectly, I'm ecstatic when people stop me and want to take a pic, but I'm always shy about taking a pic with others..

[Anonymous No.8608168]

>>8607992
>>8608124
>go to con
>talk to people
>enjoy panels and dances
>hang out with friends
>not 90% of people, male and female

[Anonymous No.8608173]

>>8607992
>>/r9k/

[Anonymous No.8608188]

>>8607958
Squats are a great exercise, but if you didn't have abs going into it, you're not going to get it coming out. This is not true of the planche or even the humble dragon flag (and other such dedicated core exercises), you will have abs by the time you can hold those positions for a minute.

[Anonymous No.8608204]

>>8606416

You're comparing reaction at cons to reaction in normal life. And lots of guys get insulted, I don't know where you get this idea that they're only ignored.

[Anonymous No.8608239]

Passive is a good term for me. I put on my costume and just walk around the con, enjoy panels, and the dealer room. I put a lot of work into my costume, I want it to look perfect, but once I get there I put it on and walk around. I give zero fucks about becoming "Cos-famous". I'm just there to have some fun and dress up. I love when people stop me and compliment my costume or ask for pictures but if it doesn't happen its fine with me.

[Anonymous No.8608261]

>>8608188

You won't have abs if your BF% isn't low enough. That's it.

You can train your abs all you want, it's going to make a tiny difference in actual size.

[Anonymous No.8608262]

>>8608124
1)apologists bragging about how non-lecherous they are, and how little they're checking people out

Yikes thank god I'm not the only person experiencing this. Every time some guy tries to compliment me and starts/follows up with "sorry but" and "i'm not sexist" or "i'm a feminist" I want to cry tbh. I dont know why people are priding themselves on how much of a fucking pussy they are.

[Anonymous No.8608269]

>>8608204
>"why are you talking about cons on a board about cosplay and conventions, instead of when you normalfag?"

[Anonymous No.8608277]

>>8607864

I'm an unattractive male who can make good cosplays. Now what.

[Anonymous No.8608278]

>>8608261
Muscle mass also matters (at least in terms of how well you look in cosplay), low bf and low muscle mass makes you look super wimpy if you attempt even otter mode characters like Dante or cloud. And if you want to actually do manly characters who can make the lolis swoon, you better do some ohp (or handstand pushups if you're poor) for them shoulder gains.

[Anonymous No.8608284]

>>8608277
Maybe it's just where I'm from, but from my con experience, girls care 400 times more about the quality/accuracy of your wig than your muscles/height accuracy. You can be skinny/chubby and not that good looking but if you've put effort into the costume, that's attractive enough.

[Anonymous No.8608503]

>>8608124
damn anon. I really don't think I fit into any of those categories. Maybe its because I didn't start going to cons until after my weeb phase and actually knew how to handle myself.

[Anonymous No.8608553]

>>8608269

So what you're saying is that real life has absolutely no bearing on what people choose to do at conventions?

The entire reason there are less male cosplayers than female is because it's looked down upon for males to cosplay in normal society. They don't exist in separate vacuums of each other.

[Anonymous No.8608556]

>>8607601

As a dark skinned I had fun with doing a certain cosplay, and it was race swapped so I just enjoyed myself.

I got complinents on the floor and my family has always been encouraging because it's just a part of what we like and every one knows it.

And at the back of my mind I can't help but think, what if i took it to the next level and toned my skin a certain way or that kind of thing.

Now I am looking for dark skinned characters or characters with suits that cover the whole body.

[Jkid !!WvRjzRpXDNp No.8608567]

[Jkid !!WvRjzRpXDNp No.8608571]

[Jkid !!WvRjzRpXDNp No.8608578]

[Jkid !!WvRjzRpXDNp No.8608582]

Those are just some examples of male cosplayers. There are a good section of male cosplayers in my nine years of otakugraphy. But the general rule that I have observed of the anime con scene is that men are photographers, females are cosplayers.

[Anonymous No.8608587]

>>8608582
>men are photographers, females are cosplayers.
This

Also why do girls get upset whenever you spot and say hey dope cosplay im not trying to fuck you im saying good shit and moving on with my time.

[Anonymous No.8608768]

>>8608571

Oh shit, someone did Alex? MEIN. NEGRO.

[Anonymous No.8608815]

>>8608262
Cosplayers want to be seen, enjoyed! NOBODY wants to be stalked, peyed upon or treated with disrespect. There isn't some fine line seperating creeps and other con goers; it's all on a case-by-case basis and it's all supposed to be a smoothly flowing environment. Stunting everything by making statements like "I'm a feminist" or "It's cool, I'm gay" is not okay.

[Anonymous No.8609483]

>>8608553
Because if con experiences prove to be the exception to the norm then that exception would be pushed more

[Anonymous No.8609566]

>>8608284

I've never found that to be the case. If you aren't huge and musclular or clamp-skinny with a triangular jaw nobody will care regardless of your costume quality.