Cosplay Representation

Today we'll be discussing how cosplay has helped people feel represented, so I went out and asked some people. 

Me:

              "Has cosplay ever helped you or someone you know in terms of dealing/helping with different forms representation, and if so how? Do you feel this is important?"

Haylie Asher:

               "HELLOOOO~ Cosplay honestly helps almost every person I've met in some way. Personally, it helped change me to be a more positive person. Before I started cosplaying I was always frowning and a very angry person. When I started to dress up as a specific character (Ibuki from Dangan Ronpa) who was always happy, it slowly made me become happier. Because the people who I interacted with had started to see me as a happier person, even though I really wasn't. It was the whole "fake it til you make it" deal. It also help me build confidence in interacting with strangers. At my very first convention when people came up to me I was nervous to talk to them and usually would have my friend talk to them instead. But the first year I went to a convention by myself, dressed as the same character I brought up previously, I met people from the same fandom and opened up to them in character. Once I realized that people liked that, i was happy to talk to anyone in character who wanted to get a picture of me, or with me, or just wanted to talk. It all went uphill from there.
Because of cosplay I've gained so many lifelong friends, more friends than I had before by the triple. I'll always tell people to never be afraid to cosplay because it will change your life and the lives of those that you'll meet."

Mary Ellis:

                "Cosplay has helped me with my creative mind and my personality. A lot of the characters I choose to cosplay, tend to be characters that have some similarity to me, but also they have traits that I would want to have. A good example would be Pyrrha Nikos from RWBY. I feel like I can relate to Pyrrha a lot in the show making me want to dress up as her more and be like her for awhile. When people complimented my Pyrrha cosplay, it was a huge confidence boost. I'm normally socially awkward but in costume I feel like I can handle social interaction and talking to others who have similar interests. Cosplay has also introduced me to many new friends and people that I can nerd out with which makes me really happy. Furthermore, it has helped me creatively. When I create these costumes, sometimes I have to problem solve to figure out how I make certain pieces to my cosplay, which can be difficult sometimes depending on what I'm making."

I also went out and searched for further publishing that others have had with cosplay and its importance with representation.

One of my favorite posts that I've found is at: "https://geekdad.com/2016/10/representation-in-cosplay/" and it tells the story of a young boy feeling inspired by seeing a hero he recognized but that looked like the boy (having a different colored skin that the one the hero is typically portrayed as having) and how that helped the boy.

Further reading: "http://www.xojane.com/healthy/why-i-think-representation-is-important-in-comics-and-cosplay"