RE: CosModel Drama Has to Stop

DeLaDoll

DeLa Doll is a culture writer, cosplayer, and artist based in Florida. She has been writing professionally since 2016, with some of her work being featured on sites like HuffPo and /Film. She is an advocate for meaningful diversity and representation in media, a gamer, a mom, and an avid user of DIY hair dye.

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  1. Anonymous says:

    So, I totally agree with you on all counts except, I actually read the article in question. Yes I saw some gate keeping etc. etc. I absolutely love that cosplaying is all inclusive. But to claim that the countless people who go to cons dressed as a character they know absolutely nothing about except that it would look good on them, doesn’t harm cosplaying community you are clearly ignorant or one of these people.

    Let me list the countless ways it harms cosplaying community as it ORIGINALLY was before all these wannabe “nerds” started flooding us “real nerds” world.

    FLASHBACK: It’s the 90’s. A young boy/girl is super enthralled by (insert socially unacceptable childhood fandom here) Gets ridiculed horrendously for years and years and years. Ridiculed for being a “nerd” Beaten and even stabbed and expelled for “threatening to [defend him/herself]” to the people who ridicule them as they have grown tired of it.

    FASTFORWARD: The years go on the atrocities continue. Then one day, the now grown up fanboy/girl cosplayer is ecstatic to see that it’s no longer a cringe worthy activity to the rest of the world. Decides to go to a convention and sees all the people in costumes. Excited, the “nerd” runs up to what he/she thinks is a fellow “nerd” to innittiate a conversation about how amazing their outfit is and that the character they are cosplaying is one of their favorite characters of all time in any fiction. Then said cosplayer turns around just as excited about the compliments but is confused when the “real nerd” starts going on about certain events in the characters story. Suddenly the “real nerd” realizes they’re talking to a brick wall. No big deal on to the next one. Sees another character, yet another person who has no idea about the character they are dressed up as. “Real nerd” wanders off disheartened but still with some hope, only to have those hopes dashed when they can’t find a single person to talk to about their passion because it’s flooded with all the bullies and pieces of shit who insulted and caused irreparable damage to the “nerds” psyche dressing up as the characters they made fun of him/her for. Person decides this convention is a bust and goes home to await the next one in hopes of it being better only to find out its the same every fucking where.

    Cosplayers back in the day: Loved talking about the character, cried/laughed/raged with the characters they love. Dressed up, met up, conversed with other “nerds”

    Cosplayers now: Has no idea who they are dressed up as, just enjoys the attention they get from the “real nerds” they use to make fun of or hurt relentlessly.

    Thats just one reason “elitism” and “gatekeeping” exists. And it exists for a damn good reason. We had almost all of our childhood social experiences ruined by people who thought it was stupid or lame. Had our outfits cut up in fights. Had our feelings stomped on by these fucking assholes. Now they dress up as our favorite fucking characters because it’s cool today?! Fuck you. Fuck you and all that you stand for because you want us to forgive and forget and be “all inclusive” when all we wanted our entire childhood was for it to be inclusive but we were hated for it, for seemingly no reason.

    If you were a “nerd” as a child you are a “real nerd” in my book. You took the bullying, the beatings, the insults, then the parents and councilors and authoritative figures telling you “just give up on it” but you stick with it through the hardships. You took the bullshit and kept up with your passions despite it. THATS A REAL NERD! The word originates from my time as an insult. Now I wear it as a badge of honor, and as a reminder of all the bullshit we took in pursuit of our passions.

    And now today everyone takes up the word, having forgot it’s meaning. Having never experienced the horrendous pile of shit we did. Who never fought that battle.

    It’s the fucking equivalent to me calling myself a Veteran, but having never been alive for the war, or better yet having been the one who started it.

    Do you get it now? Why us “real nerds” have to differentiate ourselves? Because you didn’t earn the fucking name. You didn’t god damn suffer like we did. I had one of my best friends kill himself from the ridicule. So hell yeah I’m gonna have a gatekeeper. Hell yeah I’m going to call you a fake. Hell yeah and fuck you.

    That said, I have no problem with cosplaying being all inclusive. That’s all us REAL nerds wanted as children. For everyone to be in on it so we can stop being hated. Now we have it, and we are genuinely happy. But you phony fucks are going to be called out. Don’t like it? Blog about it. However IF YOU DO NOT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER do not consider yourself a nerd. Don’t you dare, you haven’t earned it. I will fight to the death if need be to make sure the bullies and assholes out there get blasted for their fake ass behavior.

    You wrote this article in response to the other article but all you focused on was the one paragraph about “real nerds” There were legitimate complaints in there about other things besides that. But seeing as you only paid attention to that one part (obviously some sort of attempt at attacking someone you don’t like as a person by degrading everything she wrote due to one small part which was bad in YOUR opinion. and it’s absolutely immature) I’m going to only pay attention to this “elitism” you speak of.

    P.S. Elitism isn’t why we call fake people out. It’s not that we think we are better people than you. There are a lot of shitty “nerds” who weren’t as strong as I was/am. It’s that you haven’t earned the right to be called a nerd in any way shape or form unless you grew up in my generation or before it and were a nerd during those times. And seeing as my generation was one of the last ones to ever hear the term “nerd” as an insult, if you’re younger than me you aren’t a nerd. Find your own badge because you don’t get to wear this one.

    • Anonymous says:

      Lol i got angry at the “real nerd” bullshit and forgot to mention why the fakes who know nothing of their character are ruining cosplaying.

      Here are a few examples.

      Coswhores: (A minority but they do exist as male or female)
      Costumers:; (doesn’t know anything about the character but liked the costume)
      Bullies of nerds, turned nerd: (Self explanatory)
      Cosplay Diva’s: (The ones who look down on other cosplayers for not being good enough, or someone also cosplayed as the same character so they flip out on them, you know if you read the article with an unbiased opinion, you’d know what this was)

      Now before I dive into how these groups of people harm cosplaying (although I shouldn’t have to as the damage is obvious) the first two are not necessarily bad people. I just think they should go to a different convention and let us nerds meet up like it was intended.

      These and many more flood the floors of conventions now. Further and fewer between do I get to meet what I consider a “real nerd” (see previous post about this ^^^). Cosplay as we knew it in the 90’s, was made for “real nerds” by “real nerds” as a place to get together and be NERDS together. After all, everyone else hated us and our hobbies or were just plain indifferent. Cosplay as it is now, is all about who looks the best and how many social media posts they get.

      I’d call that harm to original cosplayers. Where do they go now that the halls are flooded with these groups? I know quite a few people who don’t go to conventions any more because they simply can’t find someone to talk to about their characters. The lines to meet the authors of our favorite books/movies/comics/etc. are flooded with people looking for attention on their twittersphere, the halls are blocked by everyone trying to get a picture with someone who knows jack shit about the character.

      Let me put it to you this way. Cosplay used to be fun for nerds to meet up with other nerds. Now it’s about getting attention. Which is fine but it should be about both. Obviously you don’t cosplay if you don’t want/like attention. I’m not so foolish to view attention as a bad thing. Everyone likes it. But now those of us who just want to meet the authors, or talk to other fans about their fandom have to sort through all the bs that are the fakes.

      Look most of us aren’t assholes. Even if you think we’re being elitist or whatever. We don’t think we’re better than you. Period. Hell that would be kind of hard to do considering the “real nerds” had their confidence torn to shreds. Maybe some overcompensate but the vast majority of us RN’s don’t give two flying fucks about the rest of the world and just want to be surrounded by fellow RN’s. In fact I’ve never met nicer people then when I started being social with people like me. But the fact remains, and I’m going to drive this home with every person who thinks “everyone can be a nerd,” that Nerds are either candy, or an insult used on my generation and those before me to describe people who’s fandom or hobbies differed from what was “normal”

      And by that definition none of you are nerds. You did not earn it. I’m not being a dick. I’m not insulting you. I’m just excluding you from the list of people who should use it. It’s not socially acceptable to claim you were at the twin towers on 9/11 when you werent… and a lot more people died in just my generation alone than in those attacks due to bullying for being a “nerd” so why is it acceptable to take on this word of victims, when you weren’t a fucking victim?

      I was one of the first to take on the name as a badge of honor, and only because by that time things were starting to turn around. Thousands upon thousands had already suffered before me. And a lot of people commit suicide over it. You insult those poor souls by claiming “nerd” as your title. Countless people suffered from bullying and hated this word with a passion. But alas it was used so widely as an insult that there was no way to “label” us except with this word. Unless you experienced our battle please, if for no other reason than what I’ve stated here… find a new damn word or stop hating on us for wanting to differentiate, because psychologically you are not us. Everyone suffers one way or another, but most claiming this badge of suffering, did no suffering at all at the hands of the “cool kids”

      P.s. i digressed again feel free just to read the first post haha.

      • DeLa Doll says:

        Hooooly fuck that’s a lot of words. I read the original article and addressed it as such. I don’t even know the author of the original article. I’ve never met her in person or held a conversation with her beyond a few comments. Literally hadn’t heard of her until I read her article. I don’t write out of a sense of personal vendetta or other petty motivations, but thank you for that lovely accusation and for your incredibly lengthy reply! Check out my other article on how nerds aren’t a race or an oppressed group; it may prompt you to write even more. Ultimately, I’m super glad my article made you feel something. That’s like 50% of my goal when I write; to provoke thoughts and emotions. The other 50% is to be understood, which obviously didn’t happen in your case, but that’s ok! Can’t win them all. I don’t really appreciate being accused of not reading the article I wrote a response to (something I feel strongly about. I hate when people don’t fully read and examine the media they consume before forming an opinion), nor do I appreciate being accused of writing out of personal feelings towards the author, who I don’t even know. But it’s cool, I know the truth and you will think whatever you will. Thanks for your feedback ^_^

      • DeLa Doll says:

        Also, I’m not sure if you’re using the general “you” or directing that pronoun specifically at me? Could you possibly clarify?

    • Notyourmartyr says:

      And what generation are you from that you think you’re the last of the nerds? Christ the elitism.

  2. Cystrocity says:

    Your commentary is always fun to read! ^^
    It’s a really prejudiced thing to assume a lot of women are ‘coswhoring’ as well, when a lot of the time, it’s just their favourite character’s extremely provocative design. >< Calling out cosplayers because of their approach to the art is just blatant disregard for someone else's belief!

    • DeLa Doll says:

      Aw, thank you! And yeah, I wasn’t digging the vibe of that article at all. Very judgmental and mean spirited

  3. Sadie by Design says:

    I find their article really funny actually because I find more drama in the people who consider to lump themselves into the “true” cosplayer group than in the “cosmodel” group. It’s funny because this article is nothing but drama, further proving my point since the author clearly doesn’t consider themselves a cosmodel.

  4. The thing with girls cosplaying is that very often it goes beyond just portaying a beloved character; there’s a lot of showing off their bodies and making themselves feel good thanks to all those people admiring their work, sure, but also themselves as they are posing for pictures and stuff. I’ve witnessed dozens of times at several conventions some girls with insane bodies who are just, let’s be honest, showing their boobs under the pretext they’re cosplaying, or others who look down on your own cosplay thinking that theirs are “more professional”.
    I sense in that article a good deal of jealousy, maybe even some insecure feelings about the author herself. But she has a point when she says that the cosplay divas exist. Heck, pick any field and you will always find some! The important thing to remember here though is the fact that cosplay remains above all a passion and everyone has a right to express it the way they want, as long as it doesn’t hurt others. After all, haters gonna hate and it would be a shame to let them ruin your hobby 😉
    I am very happy to have stumbled on your article, heep having fun with your blog! ^^

  5. Anonymous says:

    It seems you really didn’t understand the article at all. It’s pretty clear that you ended up focusing on one factor (a single section) of the article instead of viewing it as a whole. The writer clearly seems to write about cosplayers who are, indeed, causing problems in the community. Those shit talking online.

    • DeLa Doll says:

      I disagree. I addressed each section of the article, so I don’t see how you think I only focused on a single section. Different strokes for different folks, though. I stand by my work. I understood the article entirely; just didn’t agree with it.

  6. Mahogany says:

    I read the original article earlier today, thinking it was going to be a rant against snobby cosplayers, but no. Gatekeeping and judging is all it was. That author’s saltier than a Canadian highway in winter!

  7. Amazing. Perfect. Spot the hell on. Now where’s my broom to sweep up all the salt from that old article…

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