Cosplay: Costumes Aren't Just for the Kids Anymore

In this article, thousands gather at the LA Comic Con to cosplay. What is cosplay you may ask? Cosplay all started in Japan and is basically when people who are in their teenage years and up create extremely detailed costumes of their favorite video game, comic book, or TV show characters. People can put years into costumes and hundreds of dollars into them if they decide to professionally cosplay, just as Monika Lee did. Monika Lee is a Georgia Tech college student who has become a cosplay celebrity fairly quickly. She has cosplayed everything from Elizabeth from "Bioshock: Infinite" to a "steampunk" Poison Ivy. Lee has even been on the new TV show "Heroes of Cosplay." A popular show that shows cosplayers as they get ready for different conventions around the country, or even around the world in some cases.





 Cosplay has quickly climbed in popularity and is still becoming more and more popular everyday. Conventions are beginning to spring up in more and more states and more and more people are going and competing in the competitions being held. Even one of my good friends went to AnimeNext, an anime and gaming cosplay convention in New Jersey. Now with this growing popularity, there are always complaints. Due to Japanese animes tending to draw women with limited clothing, many cosplayers will replicate these characters. This has made many who attend conventions annoyed with these people and even caused some to say that they are "ruining cosplay." Some who do cosplay in that manner argue that if they enjoy the character and want to cosplay them, then it is their own business and they should be able to do as they want. This lack of clothing has caused other issued as well. Sexual harassment is a major issue at larger conventions. Women say that they have been followed, had photos taken of them that they did not agree to, and were even groped. While I do not agree with sexual harassment, I don't think it helps that some of the costumes women wear basically leave them naked.  Cosplay is another extremely popular piece of pop culture that has spread from Japan. Cosplay has become extremely popular in recent days and will continue to become more and more popular in the future.