Cosplay has always been in the underbelly of every city, but recently it has been becoming more socially acceptable. The major way that cosplay is being popularized is by the recent rise of nerd culture, which is allowing the general acceptance of this hobby. This acceptance has led to a dramatic increase in conventions and competitions showing up around North America.
“Cosplay - Short for "costume play" [it is] a type of performance art in which participants don costumes and accessories to represent a specific character or idea. [...] Any entity from the real or virtual world that lends itself to dramatic interpretation may be taken up as a subject. Inanimate objects are given anthropomorphic forms and it is not unusual to see genders switched, with women playing male roles and vice versa.”
Quote from Wikipedia
In recent years this phenomena has become much more widespread through the world. So the question that naturally arises is how exactly is cosplay being incorporated into our society?
In the essay An Anime Fan’s Take on Cosplay Culture in the Philippines [1], it states that before the 21st century anime had always been clustered in with other sorts of hobby conventions, cosplayers were few and far between. However, in 2000 anime had its own independent convention, and since then cosplay has started becoming more mainstream in the Philippines. The more concentrated event drew in the anime fan masses, costumes and all. All of a sudden there was an entire social circle developing, drawing the attention of the masses, and with it instant social awareness. A similar situation is developing in Australia as well, as shown in Mapping the Relationship between Industry and Fandom in the Australian Cosplay Scene [2]. The paper outlines many things about the political correctness of the origin of cosplay , but also states that: “In Australia, cosplay communities developed within many anime clubs and have often attracted sensational media coverage during fan conventions.” [pt.2]
Cosplay in Australia is portrayed in the media as a very organically occurring phenomena, growing naturally with the anime industry. It makes sense that this is a naturally occurring outlet for fandom. Lets take for example the sports fan; Sports fans will readily outfit themselves with jerseys and face paint in support of their favorite team, go to events and scream the name of the team over and over. So why does it have to be viewed as so socially strange if people do the same for anime?
The article, Anime Cosplay in America: A Fantastic Regalia [3], shows that there is one vast difference shown between North American cosplay and that of Japan; The competitions. The cosplay fashion shows are a highly formal event in the east, with participants acting through an entire photo-shoot and then promptly removing their costume and going about their day. The North American side is outlined as a more chaotic version of the Japanese, with cosplayers wandering around the convention, posing for pictures when approached. This leads to a much more social atmosphere, maybe even adding more speed to the cosplay train. However, the competition side of North American conventions is just beginning to snowball in popularity, having spawned formal judging and strict rules.
“These “masquerade” events are overall lighthearted in nature, with less emphasis on competition and more on being a performance. High emotions do exist in some of the larger contests” [pg. 2]
Intertwined with all of these competitions is the inevitable invasion of the fashion industry. According to Peter Gutierrez in the article, Frock and role; Is dressing-up child's play or a vital branch of fashion? [4], the cosplay industry is just a strange branch of the fashion industry. One of the questions presented in the article is if cosplay really that differs that much from some of the stuff we see on the runway today? The answer to this question is no, demonstrated very well by some of the post modern, and sometimes extreme outfits that models strut down the runway. It seems that cosplay is becoming a popular hobby of a lot of up and coming fashion artists, allowing them to get a taste of something out of the norm, while gaining a unique set of skills that will greatly improve their craft.
The cosplay scene is still a budding industry. But you can see that it is most definitely gaining speed in North America. The growing number of fan events and competitions is directly related to this growth. May it be a natural evolution of expression, or just the sheer force of anime as a medium, there is no denying that cosplay is on the rise.
Bibliography:
1. Stalker Chronicles. “An Anime Fan's Take on Cosplay Culture in the Philippines”
http://catchronicle.blogspot.com/2006/06/essay-anime-fans-take-on-cosplay.html
2. Norris, Craig, and Jason Bainbridge, “Selling Otaku? Mapping the Relationship between Industry and Fandom in the Australian Cosplay Scene”. http://intersections.anu.edu.au/issue20/norris_bainbridge.htm
3. Benesh-Liu. P. R., “Anime Cosplay in America: A Fantastic Regalia”, Ornament v. 31 no. 1 (2007) p. 44-9 *pdf
Guttered, Peter. “Frock and role; Is dressing-up child's play or a vital branch of fashion?”. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdlink?Ver=1&Exp=03-27-2015&FMT=7&DID=1871168061&RQT=309
5. The Cosplay Project. “What is the Cosplay Project?”. http://www.thecosplayproject.com/about.html
6. Random is God. “Jenshin’s Cosplay Research Project”. http://www.randomisgod.com/Cosplay/
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