New York Comic Con has begun. It is the largest East Coast Comic Convention. It has a message about Cosplay at their convention and in general. It states that “Cosplay Is Not Consent”.
For people not familiar with Cosplay, let me explain it. Cosplay is a combination word for Costume Play. A lot of people like to dress up as various characters that the geek community will recognize. Cosplay has become a huge deal at conventions and it is extremely popular. Some characters have skimpy outfits or sexualized personalities.
One of the challenges Cosplayers face is  assumptions about the cosplayers. Some people have made assumptions if the character some one cosplay is scantily dressed or if the character has loose morality around sexual experiences, then the cosplayer must want to be touched or talked to in an inappropriate manner. This assumption is completely wrong.
Just because someone is dressed as Wolverine doesn’t mean you should shoot them full of bullets to watch their healing factor work. The same is true about not touching the butts of people cosplaying characters like Poison Ivy or Cat Woman. Unless the person has given you permission to touch them, take pictures of them, or make off color comments about them, then you don’t have permission and you should not attempt it.
Just to be clear, there are guys that are harassed as cosplayers too. It isn’t just about one gender. That being said, female cosplayers are more likely to be harassed.
We need to stop all the harassment of cosplayers. New York Comic Con has made a great first step.
Stay Geeky My Friends!
