Starfest has come and gone, and my con season along with it. This year was considerably better than last year, as I actually got out of the room and got to hang out with my chosen family, and actually see the convention. And amidst my fond reflections, one big thing jumps to mind, making me smile. "Cosplay =/= Consent." And that smile holds a touch of schadenfreude.
First, for a bit of a illumination. In early April, 16-bit Sirens, a group of self-proclaimed "entertaining, genuine, and approachable ambassadors to geek culture" started a movement called CONsent. This was inspired by the #INeedFeminismBecause trend/meme/whatever that had spread like smallpox across Facebook and the rest of the web. Personally, I think it was also inspired by our buddy Tony Harris's super-thoughtful discourse on male/female relations as they pertain to the geek subculture (see previous entry).
Needless to say, the internet white knights came out in full force. Cosplayers (shudder) making posts about how they only cosplay characters they deeply care about, and only do sexy costumes is the character is sexy get an insane showing of support from guys shouting "your so beutiful" and fellow cosplayers cyber-chest-bumping with "Oh I love you, you're my bestie," all under the gloriously colorful "=/=" banner. It's a touching movement, for someone.
Now I, being me, have seen where all this altruism and white-knightery leads. And it ain't pretty. So admittedly, I was a little on edge about how my beloved Starfest would change under the new unofficially-official bosses. I mean, I complement pretty girls in well-made costumes. I like to talk to people at cons, and I tend to flirt a little. We all laugh, are loudly inappropriate, and have an insanely good time. How would this change?
Not a damn bit.
Our first day there, K and I were hanging out down in the atrium, waiting for a friend and people-watching. The costumes were out, but not in full force. There was a group of mid to late teen girls off to our right in the obligatory skimpy for skimpy's sake costumes, hanging out in the same group they have been for a few years, taking a picture for some random con-goer. Then they all gathered and sat on a brick planter. And people walked by. Continually. You could see the looks of confusion and disappointment building on the girls faces as people gave them a wide berth. No one was rude, they were just totally uninterested. And K was laughing. "Here's what your internet bitching gets you," she says. And she was so totally right. Others have seen the cosplay drama, and decided not to feed into it. And these teenage girls, whether they ever had anything to do with it or not, represented the demographic that has caused all the commotion. And your average con-going geek is tired of it. White Knighting on the internet is easy, but in real life, those same guys go into hiding. Granted, as the con burned on and more and more kids (this year had a a LOT of newbies for some reason) showed up, the status quo returned. I watched one girl in a good Black Cat costume pose for at least 15 minutes for 2 or 3 drooling guys snapping literally hundreds of pictures apiece.
But for one all too fleeting moment, it was fantastic.
There was a group carrying around a crude sign reading "Cosplay =/= Consent" sign, and asking people to take pictures holding it. The album went up on a Facebook page for the con, and there are 30 pictures. Most of the same 4 or 5 people. The two comments on the album are "Sad that anyone needs reminding/telling" and "Sad that there were supposedly still some there who did not get that." I did not see this sign once at the con. And were I asked to hold it for a photo (as usual, I was in my theropod-slaying best), I would have politely declined. Not because I believe that cosplay IS consent, but because I believe that no, we don't need reminded. Most of us are rational thinking people who know the difference between right and wrong, and have proven it. And as for the "still some who did not get that" comment, the one thing I heard of was a female friend getting rufied at a party where her bitter, nasty ex-girlfriend was serving the drinks. (And the only reason nothing was done by any of us was because we didn't know about it until after the con was over, and no proof could be obtained.)
So, barring one awful event, con was pretty good. 3 years in the Jurassic Park gear, and people still love it, and are still wanting pictures. I had a random girl ditch her friends Saturday night to come tell me how much she liked it. Thursday night was like a family reunion of us old timers, and we went through 4 gallons of Carl's bloodwine (and by we I mean maybe 5 of us). Nobody was hurt, everybody had fun.
So, yeah. Faith in (geek) humanity, restored.
-The Dinosaur Hunter
