Sexuality in cosplay: Thoughts

It is no new news (alliteration!) that characters in cosplay are highly sexualized. Not just in the sense that many of these characters are written that way in their origins, but many cosplayers themselves are sexualizing characters that aren't initially presented that way by their creators.

We are seeing more and more bikini cosplay as well as adult versions of underage characters as well. This topic incites a lot of loud opinions from cosplayers, and many tend to be split on the issue of revealing, lewd, and sexualized cosplay.

My Thoughts:

I think its completely wonderful!

People who are delving into their own sexual prowess and expression now have a way to channel that into something that they may not have had access to before. People who were already highly sexual and open about their body get to show us a version of cosplay that we may not have thought of (or perhaps... always wanted to see done).

This community gaining more and more sexual expression leads to sub groups that I believe are much needed in the cosplay community. Sub groups such as sexual education, BDSM, LGBTQ, are all finding place within cosplay though sexually liberated characters.

Having been active in the geek community for the chunk of time that I have been, education in these various subjects is still very much needed.

The geekdom is still rife with sexual expectations and idealizations that are unhealthy as they stem from everything from ignorance to full fledged sexism. Sexuality in cosplay allows for avenues of growth and breaking barriers of taboo. It allows for many perspectives to come together and co exist even if not everyone decides to necessarily participate.