/jp/ - Otaku Culture

Gender, Sexuality, and Cosplay: A Case Study of Male-to-Female Crossplay (2013) by Rachel Leng

h ttps://scholar.harvard.edu/files/rachel_leng/files/gender-sexuality-and-cosplay-by-rachel-leng1.pdf
>The essence of cosplay, or costume-play, involves affective labor where fans transform themselves into chosen anime characters by constructing and wearing costumes, learning signature character poses or dialogue, and masquerading at conventions and events (Okabe, 2012). Crossplay is a subset of cosplay; crossplayers similarly participate in costume-play, except they dress up in costumes modeled after characters of the opposite gender.


Cosplay - Creating or playing identities?: An analysis of the role of cosplay in the minds of its fans (2011) by Henrik Bonnichsen

h ttp://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:424833/FULLTEXT01.pdf
>This thesis analyses the concept of cosplay by critically engaging earlier theories that have claimed cosplay to be a form of escapism for fans of Japanese manga and animé. Theories have so far been concerned mainly with identifying cosplay as a type of theatre. By interviewing active cosplayers in focus groups, this thesis instead focuses on the ways in which cosplay functions as an arena for identity-creation.