Prejudice against costumers

[nancylebov]

I just saw yet another account by someone who was put off the idea of conventions because there are people wearing costumes. He was convinced to attend and found it worthwhile and fun, but I'm left wondering.... why are costumes such a turn-off for so many people?

I'm not a costumer myself, but I think costumes add to the fun in the world. I'm disappointed by conventions that don't have much hall costuming, and I think the world would be a better place if, say, 10% of people on the street were costumed. (Up to fan standards, not cheesy Halloween costumes.)

I suspect it's a matter of people who are so afraid that mundane personas are so unsatisfying that if people were allowed to try anything else, they'll never go back, but this is only a guess.

Is there comparable prejudice against cosplay at anime conventions?

Comments

I hope it's not so bad....

[still-asking.livejournal.com]

I've been thinking of taking up some costuming myself.

In part, I may as well admit, because of the whole socialization thingie - it has clubs, and part in the hopes of seeing more of some friends and meeting new ones - certainly NOT as a way to become further sundered from current human society!

So, now, being me, I'm asking - Is this such a good idea? The work itself sounds so satisfying tho, I want the answer to be yes.

- Karen

Re: I hope it's not so bad....

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure what you're asking.

There's a lot of fun to be had in costuming. I hear people talk about costumers as sort of a proof that conventions are too weird to be respected, but I haven't heard of the prejudice actually resulting in a cost to costumers.

If you go to conventions, you've already got costume cooties.

Re: I hope it's not so bad....

[still-asking.livejournal.com]

Well, I shu'nuff got's them cooties!

I not only go to conventions, talk to costumers, ask questions about costumes, but my kid is a costumer already.

One custom button please - I'll pay and pick up at Darkover.

Costuming is hereditary insanity, I got it from my kid.

Thank you.

[supergee.livejournal.com]

It is not a new issue. Forry Ackerman wore a costume at the first Worldcon.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

I know it's not a new issue, but I'd have hoped that as the general culture becomes more fannish, it would have faded out. It doesn't seem to have.

[twistedchick]

The sense I have of it is that people who object to costumes being worn want to be *serious* about their SF and F or whatever, serious and *literary* and self-important and ... well, as far as I can see, boring.

I'm not sure that the general culture would recognize itself as fannish in the terms we think of it. Real fandom generally includes a bit of laissez-faire give and take, and I don't see that much of it in the nonfannish people who don't realize they're in a fandom.

[kiya]

I know back before I totally burned out on fandom, when I commented on my perspective on the "literary"/"media" divide I got at least one lurker-support in email saying, basically, "Yeah, I hear the exact same things about people who do costuming."

[nellorat.livejournal.com]

I think wearing costumes is seen as something kids do at Halloween and then mostly have to give up, so anyone wearing a costume is being somewhat childish. Halloween can sometimes mitigate this for adults, but to do so NOT AT HALLOWEEN--no way.

[redbird]

This is an odd angle, and may mean I'm posting too early in the day, but I wonder whether a piece of it is an equation not only with Halloween and children, as nellorat notes, but with masks. Someone dressed up as a queen is one thing: someone dressed as a storm trooper or alien, with their face covered, is doing something different and potentially scarier. They aren't "my friend Jim in a jester costume" or even "this tall stranger in a long gown and a crown on her head," they're hard to identify and thus scary. Mask=disguise, in many contexts: the bank robber covering his face so the witnesses can't identify him, or the (possibly romantic) illicit lover doing the same.

Whether or not this happens, someone might be thinking "five guys dressed as Darth Vader, what if one of them attacks me? I won't be able to tell the cops which one it was."

[thatcrazycajun.livejournal.com]

Personally, I have a theory that those who dislike costumes and events where one finds them because they then feel out of place because they aren't/can't wear one themselves for whatever reason. (Gods know I do, but that doesn't stop me liking them on others.)

[tashadandelion.livejournal.com]

I think it's a "big umbrella" problem. There are people at all ends of the spectrum of possible interests, and everyone in between. Some folks are really into the dress-up and imaginative expression in a visual sense, and some want to read deep books and discuss philosophy, and... and... etc.

Some overlap, some don't. I think it's normal for folks who have entirely divergent interests within the umbrella of "sf/f" to not really have that much in common with each other.

I'm one of those folks on the much-maligned "literary" end of the spectrum -- I don't go to cons to dress up, but rather to interact with writers and their panels on things deep and analytical, and to see friends. I don't mind the costumes, but it's not my interest in that setting. I am in the SCA though, and I do dress up there, but I also do it in a context of trying to do it with as much historical accuracy as possible -- again, a bit of an academic, "serious" approach. I guess it's my personality. And, I don't think it's worse or better than another type of sf/f interest. It would be nice if folks didn't run down the folks who weren't in their particular interest-group.

[tashadandelion.livejournal.com]

I think the world would be a better place if, say, 10% of people on the street were costumed.

Heh heh... I think the world would be a better place if everyone learned some social dances, like swing dance, salsa, or waltz. I think our wishes spring from the same well -- the desire to see people let go a little and communicate through more expressive, imaginative means. (Dance, even those with codified steps and moves, is very creative and expressive and best of all, communicative.)

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

I dealt with this years ago with my relatives, when I hit a family gathering on the way home from Renfaire. Costumed people are deemed to be crazy--with them anything can happen, and will. Maybe it's the total lack of expected social cues according to clothing, etc.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

That's exact match for what I heard at a play by mail convention.

[avram]

I'd guess they're confusing people who wear costumes with people who adopt a fantasy persona and never leave it.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure whether you're talking about people who believe they're non-human, snarking about mundane personas, or something else.

[avram]

People who believe they're non-human, or in Starfleet, or whatever.

I haven't run into a lot of these at cons, but I think it's a common belief about people who go to cons held by people who don't.

[(Anonymous)]

Quick two cents: it seems to me that there's a lot less costuming at "baseline" cons than there used to be; a whole lot at anime cons.