((Editor’s note: I did have stronger language in this article when I was first writing to show how I feel about these sub-human animals who would sexually abuse or victim shame another person is such ways, but out of respect for those women who agreed to contribute to this article I toned down the language a bit. But only just a bit.))
(Cover photo courtesy of 16bitSirens.com)
Cosplay is NOT Consent
Is it just me, or did it seem that the abuse that cosplayers were being subjected to this year at Comic Con International has reached new levels of misogynistic barbarism? I mean, cosplayers always seem to suffer some kind of abuse at most conventions: from people being unmindful of the placement of hands when taking picture or unwanted stares and looks or even disgraceful catcalling and other forms of verbal abuse at the hands of those who assume that cosplayers “want this kind of attention” – but several instances this past show really illustrate just how far things have sunk when it comes to the abuse and dangers cosplayers face at the event – and how little it seems that the organizers of Comic Con Int. are doing about it. These are highly publicized issues as well, so the fact that all I have heard coming out of the Comic Con Int. camp is a couple of Facebook messages and no formal press releases or calls in the media really are a bit unnerving.
The first case actually involves famous cosplay icon Adrianne Curry. This one has definitely made the rounds among social media and has received a lot of attention since it occurred in the streets around the event. Cosplayer Alicia Marie was viciously assaulted when some perverted sadistic asshole tried to yank off her tail and pull down her pants while dressed as the Marvel character Tigra. Adrianna Curry, cosplaying as Catwoman with bullwhip in hand, then chased down the assailant and began to beat the guy even punching him across his face before he was able to get up and flee the scene. This attacker brazenly went up to Alicia Marie, in the middle of the day and in front of the large Comic Con crowd walking around the Downtown and Gas Lamp areas of San Diego, and assaulted her the way he did with no reservations about what he was doing. I would say that it takes a pair of balls to attack someone like that during the day in the middle of a crowd, but this is more the act of a chicken-shit coward who has to resort to this kind of action to prove his chauvinistic masculine superiority over his victim. His sexual assault on Alicia Marie – and make no mistake about it the way he attacked her was nothing sort of a sexual assault – is a disgraceful act and criminal in nature.
In the same post, Alicia Marie also describes another form of abuse on another cosplayer at Comic Con Int. where Amanda Orion, cosplaying as a Trek Bunny, had to have a guy kicked out of the event because he shoved his camera lens between their legs as they were walking out of the San Diego Convention Center. What kind of sick, pervert gets his jollies from taking unsolicited and unwanted pictures of a woman between her legs (a “pantsu” or “upskirt” as it is more commonly known). Even worse than that, he forcefully tried to shove his lens between their legs, completely violating them in the process. Again, this is another brazen attack on female cosplayers by testosterone laden freaks who feel that woman are simply there for their pleasure and they have the right to act upon as they will without regard or respect for their victims.
There was also believed to be a third highly publicized assault that had taken place in San Diego directly tied to Comic Con Int. but as the investigation by San Diego Harbor Police later revealed the incident was nothing more than a tragic accident. Thankfully the young woman in question was not assaulted in anyway, but we do wish for her to make a speedy recovery.
But back to the topic at hand: the levels of inhumane treatment cosplayers, both male and female (even though I am focusing heavily of females here), is getting completely out of hand. Even the comments to some of these attacks have elicited from online responders is downright sickening. In a response on Alicia Marie’s Facebook page by Jim Jorgensen, someone who obviously has followed her, he writes, “What do you expect for dressing like a half naked comic book hoebag? Your bound the get creeps doing stupid shit. And besides, he went to grab your tail… Not your hoo ha… Cosplay as SuperDramaGirl at next years con. Much more fitting.”
What kind of nonsensical kind of victim-shaming bull is that? That’s the equivalent of telling a sexual assault victim that “she was asking for it.” Oh, wait a minute; Alicia Marie was sexually assaulted. So pretty much what Jim Jorgensen is saying in his comment is that Alicia Marie was asking for it. She was asking that some perverted animal go up to her and yank her cosplay tail off and pull down her pants. Alicia Marie must have known that at some point during the day some creep would come up behind her and violate her rights and sense of humanity and treat her like nothing more than a sexual object there for his own personal amusement. Give me a break. That is the biggest load of shit I have ever heard. And Jim Jorgensen’s victim-shaming response is as much the problem as was Alicia Marie’s attacker. Jim Jorgensen is pretty much justifying Alicia Marie’s attacker’s action.
In the case of the young female cosplayer found by San Diego Harbor Police, the initial reaction by some online readers has been to call the whole incident nothing more than some kind of hoax. Though it has since proven otherwise, the sexual assault of a young woman is never any kind of hoax and should never be made light of. Even after the San Diego Harbor Police Department issued their press release, some people still were of the mindset that it was still a hoax or that if she was sexually assaulted somehow the victim put herself in a situation to be assaulted and discarded the way she was. That is just plain apathetic, people. Where are these responders’ sense of compassion and humanity? Again, their reactions are not only making light of a horrific situation for the young woman and her family, but they are again justifying the actions of the attacker.
As someone who I deeply respect and admire, and someone who I know to always be a strong and intelligent woman, I asked my friend and the Pop Cults Editorial Director, Tiarra Joslyn, for a comment on the situation at Comic Con Int. and here is what she had to say:
“The fact that there were any assaults like this at SDCC, let alone more than one, makes me seriously question what Comic Con International is doing to protect their attendees. Codes of conduct should be more than just a footnote in the registration packet, only to be ignored by not only the con-goes, but the staffers themselves (who, according to some reports, were very blasé when various cosplayers reported harassment).
There is another issue here as well: better educating men about their conduct. A survey from Bitch Magazine reported that 25% of female con-goers report harassment, and 8% reported groping, assault, or rape. A University of Illinois at Chicago survey of 11-to-14 year-olds found that 51% of the boys questioned thought that it was okay to rape a woman if they ‘spent a lot of money’ on the girl. UIC also surveyed male college students; one in 12 admitted to committing acts that met the legal definition of rape, but 84% of these men who committed rape did not label it as rape.
What this says to me is that we need to spend more time looking at what we teach young people of both genders, to change our patterns of thinking and acting. Instead of teaching women how to not be raped, we should work harder to teach young men how not to rape. Many people scoff at the ‘why I need feminism’ and ‘cosplay does not equal consent’ campaigns, but if anything, these assaults at SDCC, and the rise of assaults at cons nationwide, prove that we need movements like this now more than ever.
Comic Con International needs to work harder to provide a safe place for con-goers to enjoy their conventions, but our society on a whole needs to step up as well and work toward understanding that dressing in a certain way, such as a provocative cosplay — or simply existing as a human being who happens to be of the female gender — does not automatically equate sexual consent. Women do not ‘deserve/ to be raped. Nobody does.”
I also had a chance to grab a quote on the matter from Chastity Irizarry, the Executive Editor here at Pop Cults and one of my oldest friends.
“When I first heard about the attacks coming from comic-con I didn’t know what to think. On some level it didn’t make sense. Why would we hurt one another? I think I wanted to believe as nerds and “geeks” we were somehow above hurting one another, most of us were bullied right? But it’s a flawed, idealistic notion. First, we don’t live on a higher plane and second, the people attending comic-con aren’t just geeks anymore. Ultimately I think greed has won out and making money has trumped common sense. There aren’t enough cops or security patrolling and the city simply can’t handle the event. Each year the number of tragedies rises, and it rises quickly. What is going to take for things to change? Never mind, don’t answer that….”
Because of the severity of the Alicia Marie attack, how brazen and disgusting an attack of that kind is, I wanted to speak directly to Alicia Marie and get a direct statement from her regarding the incident. Not having known her before, I had to find her via social media and make the introductions and explain to her why it was urgent that I get a statement from her. Luckily, she is a strong a proponent of respecting the rights and boundaries of cosplayers and others at shows and events.
“Considering what happened to me and what keeps happening as the events get bigger and bigger, I think it is past time we address conduct, respecting personal space – respect in general. Conventions aren’t strip clubs. Cosplay for myself and for many of us is ‘performance art’… a way of expressing our creativity and appreciation for characters in pop genres. We welcome attention in respectful forms. This is in no way saying we are naive or ‘stupid’ for not realizing that in any crowd there will be people that don’t know how to act around others. I am disgusted by the fact that a stranger tried to use his hands on me while I was taking photos with convention fans. I think if and when incidents do occur that we should not be afraid to speak up… to say ‘No, that was NOT ok or expected.’… Be the squeaky wheel. Being silent as if ‘expecting’ barbaric behavior wherever you go does not move the needle forward.” – Alicia Marie “Tigra” SDCC14
Through our correspondences, as short as they were, I got the feeling that Alicia Marie is an intelligent and genuinely friendly woman and, though through unfortunate circumstances, have had the pleasure of meeting.
All courtesies aside, the recent attacks at Comic Con Int. have only highlighted the need for awareness of the issues – not just for the cosplayers who may be subjected to this kind of behavior at other shows, but from the show and event attendees who witness this kind of behavior and do nothing about it – worse yet, those who participate in it. Despite how these cosplayers may be dressed, that is not an open invitation to do with them as you will. That is not consent to let you touch them inappropriately or grope and fondle them for your own pleasure. That is not permission for you to try and have your way with them; to assault them in ways that violate their very rights as a human being.
And hell, I am not saying don’t look – I am guilty of that. I am not a white knight in shining armor telling you to avert your eyes or not to lust or covet… stars know I am very guilty of that and my wife knows this. But for the love of humanity, can you show some sense of decorum, of decency around these people. I look at cosplayers like Adrianne Curry, Yaya Han, Jessica Nigri, Linda Le, Riki LeCotey, Vivka, and, yes, Alicia Marie and others and definitely let a thought or two cross my mind (and sorry to my cosplaying friends for admitting that but it is the truth); but that is where I draw my line. These are beautiful women, yes; but just because they are dressed in skimpy outfits, many times designed by the very artist we also come to admire at these conventions, doesn’t give attendees the right to sexually assault them. Because in all honesty, when you put your hands on someone in that manner and it was an unwelcome touch, that is sexual assault; and in every corner of this country that is illegal. Beyond legality, it is also simply amoral. You wouldn’t go up to a woman at the beach in a bikini and forcefully strip her of her top – you’d be arrested on the spot for that. You wouldn’t go to a bar and try and cop a feel of a woman’s leg in a short mini-skirt – you’d get your ass beat at the bar then arrested. So why do some feel that this kind of behavior is appropriate at shows like Comic Con Int.?
Tiarra brings up a great point that educating men about their conduct – what is and what is not appropriate – is the biggest underlying issue here. There is something about what men feel is theirs and what they can do in public to women that needs to change. This isn’t the dark ages anymore, women are not our property – and that kind of change needs to start one place first and foremost; with you reading this. Think about the way you act with women in your everyday surroundings. Things may not seem like a big deal to you, but you never know how it will make others feel. Being mindful of that is a huge step in the right direction. With that in mind, next time you are at a convention, think about those things as well, be mindful of what you are doing – respect the person in the costume. Man or woman! And while I am primarily focusing on the conduct of men towards women here, the same rules apply vice versa. I have seen some women act just as brazenly and disrespectfully to male cosplayers as well. But as a whole, the conduct of men towards women at conventions is a bigger issue.
Conventions like Comic Con Int. are a place where people like us – comic book fans, anime nerds, cosplayers, LARPers, gamers – should be able to go to and feel safe and secure. A place filled with people with common interest that should be fun. But when incidents like these and countless others occur at these shows, it makes them less fun and certainly less entertaining and secure for a good majority of people. I am not saying that geeks and nerds and fans are better than the rest of society; as much as I would like to think that is the case, it is a naïve thought and I know better – but we know what it is like to already be ostracized by others, so why do that to our own kind?
