Cosplay gender gap"Cute" characters such as Doraemon, Keroro, and Pikachu are popular with the general public, yet few cosplayers try to dress up as them since those characters are not human. Such a costume would have to cover a cosplayer head to toe--not only would it be stiflingly hot inside, but the cosplayer's face wouldn't even show so there would be little point. The most common costumes for cosplayers are based on main characters from popular anime and manga, especially those who are young and attractive.
Nyssa says that cosplayers all have "a love that knows no bounds" for the characters they dress up as. When they see someone else playing their character poorly, they can't just laugh it off--they feel angry that their idols have been insulted. But in these circumstances, there's little they can do. They'll just slide up to the offending cosplayer and say, "Your outfit stinks. Get serious."
Gender is an interesting issue in cosplay. In theory, a cosplayer is free from the restrictions of everyday life when in costume, but there is some gender discrimination even in the cosplay world.
In Japanese cartoons, male characters are traditionally effeminate and even "pretty." That means they are a perfect match for female cosplayers. The result is true to the image of the character, and there is an aesthetic ambiguity. But a male cosplayer trying to dress as a female character faces problems of body shape and appearance--only more effeminate males can do it well. But even if he gets high marks from fellow cosplayers for his look, outsiders to the scene will still say he looks "queer."
Actually, more than 70% of cosplayers are female. Hsiao Chen believes that this due to the fact that females are already acculturated to wear makeup and dress up. Males, on the other hand, are brought up to think they have to maintain a tough exterior, so they might think cosplay is something shameful.
Rabbit thinks that there is a difference in how men and women are treated at cosplay events. Even though women are in the majority, the events are male-oriented. The men are either trying to take racy photos or pick up girls.
Sometimes perverts will show up and try to take voyeuristic pictures. They don't just take pictures of the women's chests, they take the whole scene as being sexual in nature. Photos of a cosplayer dressed as a nurse made their way to an X-rated website, contributing to misconceptions about the nature of cosplay.
Taiwan's cosplayers mainly dress as Japanese anime and manga characters. A few dress as characters from Hollywood films like Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Star Trek, but they are a small minority. Taiwan does not have a strong animation industry, so few cosplayers draw their inspiration from locally produced works. The notable exception is the Taiwanese puppet shows by Pili.
Pili combines traditional Taiwanese puppetry with modern effects into a bold, innovative style. The plots are fantastic and bizarre--even aliens and vampires have shown up. The shows are very popular among Taiwanese youth. Because traditional puppet theater is more cultural, most of the cosplayers who dress as its characters are Chinese or drama majors who can really do the moves, repeat the dialogue with the proper accent, and sing the shows' theme song: "The upright is not upright forever / Evil's not always evil / Everything evil will become upright / Everything upright will become evil...." These players are injecting some local flavor into cosplay.
The "fan culture" that has sprung up around Japanese cartoons is now a major youth trend in Taiwan. Pictured are fans at a comic convention (left), and fans selling their own manga-inspired works (right).