Cosplay: A Nonviolent Sport

Video games have become as pervasive an aspect of our society as television, with many people spending more time playing video games than watching television. There are many perspectives with which to gauge videos games’ effect on society, from a functionalist, conflict or interactionist perspective. (Schaefer, 2011) Each of these sociological theories can provide a different view of video games, how they affect society and the subcultures that develop around them.

Video games are prevalent among impressionable children and teenagers. There has been a great deal of controversy surrounding the violent themes used in video games. Teenage shootings in schools have led society to question the relationship between video violence and criminal activity. After considerable research, expert opinions, and research findings, the American Psychological Association found that there is no link between gaming and criminal behavior (Casey). With this, the pursuit of video violent games continues to grow in our society. With games that show execution style murders, blood oozing from gunshot wounds, and victims moaning from wounds, it certainly is gratifying for the indulgent player. The ongoing concern about aggression and violence has once again been proven to be non-existent (Alert). My thoughts are that this cartoon like violence is appeals to the need for violence in an artificially designed environment. In this manner, violence is contained within the boundaries of fantasy. This is unlike “The Crucible” which occurs in with real people, events, and situations. Thus, directing violence in the realm of societal dysfunction that has endured with

Video games are progressively becoming a crucial medium today, despite the light connotation of its initial categorization. Today they are a business that produces billions of dollars and employs engineers and artists alike in an art form connecting interactive games, to virtual societies where millions of people dwell. However, like all human products, our same emotion, flaws and injustice show in the games, with the impression of hatred, racism and stereotypes that are our everyday background. What are the creators of these video games real intentions in the desire they produce in the human?

Tough Guise provides a stunning look at the violent, sexist, and homophobic messages boys and young men usually receive from virtually every corner of the culture, from television, movies, video games, etc. What does it takes to become a “Real Man?” Boys and men show the world parts of themselves that others define as manly. My initial reaction to Jackson Katz’s, “Tough Guise: Violence, Manhood and American Culture,” movie is I truly believe that video games and movies are a big part of violence.

As video games become more and more popular, we will inevitably see an increase in amount of video games being produced. The growth in popularity of video games is facilitated by the creation of a website known as Twitch.com. This website allows gamers and content creators to stream themselves playing video games online and interact directly with a live audience via chat. This new platform makes gaming both more accessible and more acceptable. The social stigmas that accompany video games are diminishing; in fact there has been an increase in competitive electronic sports as well. Logically, the growing interest in video games encourages programmers to make more and more games. Melinda Burgess et al presents an interesting perspective about video games. She explores the prevalence of racial stereotypes and how their effects are detrimental to society as a whole. In Burgess’s essay, “Playing with Prejudice: The Prevalence and Consequences of Racial Stereotypes in Video Games”, she provides fantastic commentary on how top selling video games show “overt racial stereotyping” (Lunsford et al 551) and negatively affect how we think. By providing statistics and data about the videogames that she is critiquing, she effectively shows that there is may be a correlation between video games and how we think and interact with the world around us.

Dominic Rodriguez's “Fursona”, a 2016 film, documents the misconceptions faced by Americans who believe in the “furry” lifestyle. A group of people who dress in elaborate animal costumes as a means of typically light-hearted leisure would mostly consider themselves to be furries. Each furry develops a “fursona”, a play on persona and the documentray’s namesake, and the members have coolectively named their following “The Fandom”. However, these people have faced aversion by the public based on the media. This negative appearance has forced the community of furries to rally behind “Uncle Kage”, who may have negative intentions as well.

Otaku Aniverse interviewed cosplayer friends of what does cosplay mean to you? The cosplayers that answered this question were all women. Their quotes were very inspiring and powerful as well. It makes you even want to do cosplay yourself

To begin, the gender lens can expose many different perspectives to Halloween, especially when it comes to the exploitation and sexual stereotypes of women and men, more specifically through the marketing of costumes. For instance, Scott Gilmore states “Jim from accounting with the nervous tic and therapeutic shoes always wanted to be a member of the SWAT team. He leaves the costume shop with a tactical vest, a holster and enough swagger to break down a door. Julia from the Jamba Juice? She gets ‘Sultry SWAT’, which is just knee high boots, fishnet stockings, a micro mini and a halter top that helpfully explains SWAT.” To any feminist, Halloween is always quite aggravating, since women are always over sexualized yet men are deemed as masculine as possible. Why does Halloween continue to define and market women’s costumes as ‘slutty’? The author of the article may be male, but he persists to recognize the fact that women are pressured to exploit themselves on Halloween. Society continues to follow the old stereotype of women, especially young

Headscarves are an essential part of a Muslim woman’s identity, due to its representational value of her religious credence. Normals within this context, are the people within society who do not subscribe to the Islamic faith. When they interact with Muslim women they perceive what Goffman referred to as a virtual identity, this is a preconceived notion of a person’s attributes generated by external influences. Concerning Muslim women, they may be attributed to being violent, repressive and threatening to society. In turn, attributes like these have compelled countries like France, Belgium and the Netherlands to place a ban on the Burqa (Reference). What normals cannot typically understand is that these women are ordinary human beings, their

Connections often exist between fan involvement and gendered expression. My experience is often that fanworks considered feminine creative works like crafts, fanfiction, costumes and fanart are devalued in the face of more masculine acquisition of information and item collection. The results of which are often harsh gatekeeping barring women from being ‘truly’ fans. In my experience the male fan experience is very different from the female fan

Many people also state that cosplay hides one’s real personality. There is nothing wrong with wearing a costume, but if cosplayers wear it to gain confidence, when they take off the costumes, they will spring back to their original low esteem self. Instead of allowing young people to express their true personalities, they pretending to be someone else by hide behind masks in order to gain confidence. In this way, cosplay becomes a form of escapism.

When I was in 11th grade I was given an assignment to choose and discuss something that I believed was a counter-culture. What I chose to discuss were cosplay and the cosplay community. Cosplay is something that I hold very near and dear to my heart, and so when I was able to write about it in a manner that had a lot of freedom I enjoyed writing the essay it was the first and probably only essay that I've genuinely anticipated. There are times even now, that I think back on the essay and I remember it fondly. I believe that I'm able to do this because I was able to choose a topic of my own well and I was given very fake instructions on what to do. All we were told to do was discuss how as a counter-culture, a counter-culture being something

What do you think of when you hear the word entertainment? Do you ever wonder why it’s the way it is? Have you wondered what forces, ideas, and people have molded and shaped it over time? How does entertainment affect culture and a society? These are questions that might have many different answers of varying explanations and magnitudes. For centuries, people have looked to a multitude of different things to do as a way to escape their normal lives and to have fun. So then came various forms of entertainment. Although it may not seem so at first glance, taking a more critical look at the similarities that our society shares with the Brave New World’s society may yield some shocking discoveries.

It was the third day at Florida Supercon, and cosplayer Stella Russotti was having problems with her costume.

“In video games, the category of “first person shooters” has been controversial with critics concerned about what that means to players who actually perform acts of violence within the games. Instead of merely watching a character perpetrate a violent act, the player is actively encouraged to participate. Gamers will often refer to their characters as “he” or even “I.” “This suggests some confusion is brought on by the intense identification players sometimes feel towards their avatars. Players typically remain attached to a single character they can control; thus they have a very strong following pattern. Game designer, Will Wright, has argued that games may have a unique ability to make players experience guilt for the choices their characters have made in the course of action. Because players are making choices, they feel some degree of responsibility” (242-243).