Tag: cosplay

Dear white cosplayers

Alex Heberling

yamino:

I have several friends/acquaintances who are white and also cosplay! And there is nothing wrong with that.  Unfortunately, I’ve seen some popular cosplayers I admire put on “brownface” to cosplay characters like Korra, Katara, and other people of color.  That is not ok.  What seems like innocent dressup to you is a tradition rooted in racism which dehumanises real people of color.  Skintone is not a costume. 

There’s a cosplayer I used to follow who has been doing this a lot lately.  I have sent them private messages explaining why that was hurtful to people of color in the past, when I saw them giving tips on “how to tan to look like Korra.”  My messages to them were ignored.  I have seen friends of mine who pose with them, condone it, and turn a blind eye. In a way I did that myself after my messages were ignored, I just quietly unfollowed because I couldn’t support it but I didn’t want to call them out publicly and cause a huge fuss.  But these cosplayers and former friends of mine are  still doing it, and I’m getting asks about it, saying “I know you are a huge fan of so-and-so! Why aren’t you commenting on their brownface?”

So I’m making this post now to help clarify the brownface issue for white cosplayers who Don’t Get It, if they would actually read about this instead of ignoring those who bring it up to them.

Because I am a myself a white person, I’m really not the best spokesperson for brownface and whitewashing. Instead, I’ll like to some posts from PoC that explain why slathering on fake tan or makeup to look darker is racist:

If you are a cosplayer who does or has done brownface, that is bad and you should feel bad.  But there is a silver lining.  Now you know!  And you can change for the better.  Nobody is saying you can’t cosplay characters like Korra- just stop wearing her skin color as part of your costume.

And if you have white friends who cosplay using brownface, talk to them about it.  Show them this post. Show them them the brownface tag. Don’t just turn a blind eye to systematic racism.

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Alex Heberling

[Images: Photoset of a young woman of color cosplaying as Princess Serenity.]

yamino:

sailorfailures:

x-cupcakegeisha:

Compliation of my Sailor Moon cosplay :D

It’s been my dream to cosplay Sailor Moon for years and this past weekend at AX 2012 it got to come true :D You may be wondering why I chose to go with a black color for the wig, and the reason is, cuz I’m black LOL XD

I wanted to do a version of Sailor Moon that looked more natural for me, and I think it still turned out well :]

This is going to sound cheesy but I hope that me cosplaying shows girls who may think they can’t cosplay because they have a darker skin tone (because 90% of characters are light skinned) or a curvier body type that they don’t have to be afraid to be their dream character! You can adjust the character to suit yourself while being as true to the original as you can :]

Photogry credit goes to my friend http://jwillson.tumblr.com/ He did an amazing job! Thanks again :]

You look incredible! Your wig is flawless and it makes the whole cosplay look amazing. I also love the accents, like your flower and pearls.

<3

Stunning! ^__^

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Alex Heberling

[Image: A photograph of a woman cosplaying as Korra on a sunny beach.  Her bare back is covered in a large henna tattoo, and she’s walking away from the camera towards the water while in the motion of removing her fur-trimmed buckskin from her waist.  Her shirt and armbands are already discarded on the sand in the foreground.]

mamasam:

Early morning swim <3

I fell completely in love with this water tribe tattoo design and 2 layers of henna (about 4 hours total) later, it’s mine for the summer! Yay!

Oh my.

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Alex Heberling

[Image: A photo of three cosplayers from Legend of Korra in an arcade. Two chi-blockers are riding a tiny carousel, and Amon watches them with his arms up as if to say, “What the heck?”]

yamino:

bloodbending:

talks-in-tongues-and-quiet-sighs:

therandomgirl:

This is literally the best thing I’ve ever seen. 

More like the most canon thing I’ve every seen.

this is actually what they would have done if they had cancelled the championship game

“they listened to our ominous threat Amon sir”

“aww yiss dave n busters and ice cream for everyone on me”

:’D

PERFECTION.