The Current Events Thread

[BurntToShreds]

I just don't understand Mandy Caruso's logic. What did she think would happen if she went to a comic book convention dressed as a scantily clad female comic book character?

[Madican]

I just don't understand Mandy Caruso's logic. What did she think would happen if she went to a comic book convention dressed as a scantily clad female comic book character?

People admiring the costume, some ogling, but asking a random stranger their cup size is asking to be maced.

[BurntToShreds]

It still makes no sense to me that she dressed up as a comic book character well-known for being a sex symbol and did not expect to be treated as such at a comic book convention well-known for playing host to a slew of male-dominated hobbies.

I understand that making crude remarks like that is wrong, that's why over here I said

Cosplayer Chloe Dykstra posted an article about that and I believe that the points she makes in her article (in regards to men looking at women dressed in provocative outfits) fit just as well in this situation.

[Mr. Mander]

OK, imagine you're dressed as batman. You love Batman! You are having an excellent day.

Now imagine that random strangers are coming up to you and asking about your dick. You ask them to stop and they continue asking about your dick.

Naturally, this is YOUR fault for wearing those black underpants outside your tights. Batman is, after all, a paragon of male sexuality. You deserve to be asked about your dick. Right?

[BurntToShreds]

But Batman is not known for being a sex symbol. Black Cat, on the other hand, is well known for bringing fan-service to the male readers of the Spider-Man series. That's the point I'm making here; if an individual dresses up as a fictional character that is often portrayed as a sex symbol attractive to the opposite sex, then that is most likely the way that people are going to look at said individual. What the people said to Mandy Caruso was indeed harassment, I am not arguing about that. But getting angry at people for ogling you while you willingly dressed up as a character well-known for their sex appeal is wrong.

[Mr. Mander]

I was attempting to get you to look at this from the point of view of the woman being harassed, but okay, whatever.

[BurntToShreds]

I can understand that what Mandy Caruso went through was a hurtful experience, but she still willingly dressed up as a character that is well-known for their sex appeal.
Let's think about it this way: Mandy Caruso is a fashion designer. That, in all likelihood, means that she knows what catches a person's eye and what doesn't. She went to a comic book convention dressed in a Black Cat outfit and, armed with all of her fashion expertise, was surprised that there were fans ogling her for her provocative outfit that "has a fair amount of cleavage", as the article says. That doesn't make any sense.

[wordNumber]

I don't feel like what she dressed up as matters because walking up to people one does not know and asking their cup size is something one does not do, especially if they request against questions about their cup size.

If the man in the article was actually making a feature on fans, his actions were grossly unprofessional anyway.

There is the whole "don't dress that way if you don't want it," thing, but if somebody tells you to stop, you kinda have to stop, regardless of dress.


What I mean is, under the "Sex symbol," there is an actually human being that one actually need to respect.

[Omnithea]

Batman, not a sex symbol? I must have misread all that fanfiction. And hallucinated the muscles which are apparently visible through layers of kevlar.

[BurntToShreds]

I can't tell if you're joking around or not.
Batman's muscular appearance is to show the readers/viewers that he is strong, not that he is sexy. On the other hand, Black Cat's is often dressed provocatively in a skin-tight suit that shows off her athletic, slim feminine features as fanservice.

[Omnithea]

There's a line. The gawkers crossed it. They considered their sexual teasing more important than the comfort and security of a human being intentionally or through negligence. We have to hold this line, because we can't pin down a sex symbol's status as such in this day and age.

[Syobon]

First off, the issue at hand is not whether she knew what would happen, but that it happened.

Now, I don't see any harm looking, or in lewd commentary, even if I think it's coarse and unseemly. It's harassment that this is about, which would be repeated unwanted and hurtful comments clearly against the wishes of the receiver. If that was the case here, which I can't judge since I wasn't there, the blame would lie on the harassers and it would be the duty of the convention organizers and security to remove them to keep the con enjoyable for everyone.

[Kamak]

Pretty much every male and female super hero in comics are idealized men and women. To most male readers, Superman/Batman/Spiderman/etc. isn't "the hot studly man I want to fuck" but rather the man the reader kinda wishes to be, strong, commanding, respected, fighting the good fight, etc.

The women, however, exist largely as fan-service for the male readers. Hence the big breasts, hourglass figures, art putting them in "sexy" or compromizing positions, etc.

However, female readers can see this in the opposite light. To them, the females, while unrealistically endowed (much like people like Supes), are the paragons of womanhood. They're smart, they're sexy, they're capable, and oftentimes the plot puts them as rivals or even lovers with the main male superheroes, males, who can often seem like an idealized partner. For a female fan, dressing up as Black Cat would be just as natural to them as a male dressing up as Spiderman. Maybe they're uncomfortable doing it because of how sexualized the character is, but daisies it, they're a fan of that female character, and they don't want to be "one of those cosplayers" that doesn't try to dress accurately and gets bitched at for not being accurate. Maybe the people in the con will be more impressed with the cosplay rather than the fact that they have tits and a vagina.

The point is though that just because someone came to a con dressed scantily does not mean they are "asking" for that kind of attention. They should be able to say "I like Black Cat so much that I wanted to dress like her" without people harassing them.

And frankly, what female character in comic books isn't sexualized? Aunt May?

[creakyAccordion]

I can understand that what Mandy Caruso went through was a hurtful experience, but she still willingly dressed up as a character that is well-known for their sex appeal.

But the point is in our society women are most commonly the objectified sex symbols, because the world sucks and is terrible.

Also your logic makes Mandy not the victim but the one who sort of started the problem in the first place, which I'm sorry, is just backwards-booty logic.

The question should not be whether or not Ms. Caruso knows whether or not to choose a provocative costume, but whether or not people around her can stand not to sexually harass her. You're taking the power out of the hands of the harassers and into Mandy's, which is the exact opposite of what the situation is. It's not hard to not sexually harass a person. It's not like every single fiber of your body is telling you to do it, and even if it WAS, you're still expected as a member of society from refraining to do such things.

[Reyo]

I know that's why most of my female friends dress up as half of the characters they go as. The other half is because they just wanted to make the costume and why not? It's like a process no different from completing a video game, or playing a sport, the dopamine rush. As for why a specific character and not another, it comes from their fan base, like Kamak said. They most definitely aren't dressing up as Sora, or Luffy because they're "very sexualized characters", it's because they like Kingdom Hearts and One Piece. I'd dress up as Ezio to cons if I had the attention span or skills or cheddar to acquire a costume. It's not because I see Ezio as a hot mancicle and would hope to be coated in women by the end of it, but because I think Assassins Creed is amazing.

If you've been to a con, you'll realize that there is quite a degree of "sex" at the con. There will be both males and females getting excited over members of the opposite sex in "hot" clothing. I know that the same friend I talked about who would dress up as Luffy will go absolute apeshit if anyone is dressed as the Joker. At the same time, however, the limit is usually "OMG I love your cosplay it's so hot!" and that's it. If the guy/girl is willing, then maybe a couple of pictures will be taken, but note I said "IF THE GUY/GIRL IS WILLING!" If they're not, we leave it at just the compliment. So yeah, those media guys went too far. While it's untrue to say that there's no level of "visual appreciation" at cons, most of it is respectful/in good taste.

EDIT: I will say, though, that HOW you wear your cosplay does have some effect on how people will and should react to it. Just looking at the "sexy darth vader" costume on the source, that I'd say is a little iffy. With that you can't say "I'm doing this because I like Star Wars GHAH!" because had you just done so to dress as Darth Vader, then you wouldn't be wearing essentially lingerie with a Darth Vader helmet. The guy's missing all of his limbs and has massive scarring on the parts of his body he does have. He's not going to be going anywhere in fishnets. With that, I'd expect at least some level of attention.