So I love the notion that cosplay is for everyone, it really is, and I actually love when people realize the hate that goes on in the community and try and do something about it, that’s really great.

But what I get frustrated at, more so than the hate, is the blindness.

I saw a post that said something along the lines of, “Why is it that when white cosplayers cosplay outside their race, they get bashed, but when people of color do it, they get praised?”  And just… h-huh?  

Now, I’m not saying that it doesn’t happen, I’ve seen it happen, but from my experience it’s more of a, “Why are you cosplaying a person of color when you have so many choices and we have so few?”  From my experience it’s a genuine feeling, because I feel like when we do see people of color in our geekery we get so excited because there’s not that much representation, so there’s this moment of, “FINALLY!”  Now I personally don’t mind who cosplays what, but I’m not going to pretend that when I saw Tiana for the first time my thoughts weren’t, “OMG,” and, “FINALLY,” and, “GONNA COSPLAY THE HELL OUT OF THAT,” and even, “A princess for me after all these years!”  It’s a thing that happens, because representation is important, I can tell when I see that little black girl staring up at me when I wear Tiana, and her dad is smiling just as brightly because… finally!  So I get it, and I hope white cosplayers can see where the “bashing” comes from.  It’s not so much “bashing” as it is… disappointment?  But ultimately its your cosplay, and my only advice is to be respectful about it, and just understand where those feelings are coming from. And, for the most part, I think white cosplayers do get it, and understand, some have even asked me my opinion on the matter to which I say, “Do what you want, just be respectful, and understand why someone might have an issue.” Cosplay is about showing love for a character you love, and we should respect each other along the way.  

Which leads me to the other part of that statement I quoted in the beginning because… since when have people of color NOT been bashed for cosplaying outside their race?  I wish, WISH, I could stop seeing ignorant posts in regards to black cosplayers cosplaying outside their race… or cosplaying in general. This is what I consider blindness.  In the argument of “one gets bashed more than the other” that is just some serious “I choose not to see the truth” because there can’t even be black fanart without some harsh comments.  And, in my experience, the hateful comments I see are bashing, straight up bashing. Where a person of color may be like, “Why cosplay that one character when there’s a million others,” the comments I see on the flip side are all about “ghetto” versions of characters, or “nigga” versions of characters, or terrible fried chicken jokes, or watermelon jokes, or just a wide variety of racist statements.  There’s no, “Why cosplay Belle when you can cosplay Tiana,” it’s a flat out “har har ghetto princess” with no purpose other than to hurt the cosplayer. 

So yeah, if you think that people of color don’t get hated on for, well, being people of color… I’m here to tell you that that’s not the case.  Sadly, it happens, a lot, it happens too much, and it needs to stop.  It’s nice to think that everything is right with the world but… it’s not the truth.  The truth is that we are working on it, and are always aiming to make things better, and to highlight why such comments are uncalled for and to promote the fact that cosplay is for everyone, key word being everyone.  And I genuinely think that people do want this, they do want cosplay to be this thing that everyone does, but in order to do that you have to take the blinders off.  

The hate is real, and it needs to stop.  

theblackamericanprincess:

bubblysaur:

FUCKING

THIS

Yesssssss

OMG CAN WE TALK ABOUT THIS?!?!?!?!

Yes, yes, I am fat, I am, I know this, everyone knows this, but:

1.  You do not need to tell me this, because the way you’re saying it is obviously meant to be condescending. 

2.  I may be fat but I am not an animal.

3.  I may be fat but I am not lazy.

4.  I may be fat but I am not disgusting.

5.  Stop telling me I’m going to die WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE SOMEDAY I DO NOT NEED YOUR REMINDER!

Yes, I am happy with myself and who I am, and yes, I love inspiring others to not be afraid to be who they are, but that doesn’t mean it’s open season to make fun of me.  Just because I have sassy comebacks doesn’t mean I like the fact that I have to make said sassy comebacks because of some jerk who wants to make fun of someone they don’t even know, all because of some extra weight.   

You know what else drives me nuts? (sorry ranting a lot today). 

All right, so you assume that fat people just eat all sorts of unhealthy foods, but we don’t! I love fruit. I love salad. I love vegetables. Love them! And the thing that really drives me insane is that if someone does see me eating these things, “Oh good! You’re trying to lose weight after all!" 

Can’t a big girl just like salad? 

So let’s review.

The assumption is that all I eat are fried foods and cake, to the point that if I even look at a slice of apple pie there’s that judgmental look, even if you have no idea what’s inside my fridge at home, if this pie is even for me, when the last time I had pie was, and you know damn well that I’m not the only person in the universe eating apple pie. 

If I say that I do eat things like fruits and vegetables it’s not because I like them, its because I’m trying to lose weight.

So in other words it doesn’t matter what the hell I eat you already have your insults at the ready. 

Hence why I just stopped caring. No matter what I do haters already have an image of what my fridge looks like. They’ll never get out of my fridge, they’ll just keep it stocked with whipped cream and pudding pops. If they’re so bored that they have to comment on what they assume another person eats, then that’s their problem, not mine, and not my fellow fat men and women. It’s none of their business to begin with, but if they’re lives are so dull that they have nothing better to do than to be like, "Ha ha ha fat people like to eat,” then that’s what’s truly pathetic.

I’ll be busy living life.

These quotes are all things that have been said to me in regards to my body and my race.  It’s not everything that’s ever been said to me, oh no, not even close, but they’ve been said as recently as last month.  

Don’t let the negatives take over, don’t let them weigh you down and dictate who you are.  Don’t let them cover up the things that make you, you.

<3 Brichibi Cosplays

Person:  Fat people are just lazy, they need to get out and do something.
Fat Person:  *gets out and does all of the things*
Person:  Ugh you’re so fat you need to stay inside so we don’t have to see this shit.
Fat Person:  ………..

See. This. This is why it’s not worth stressing about. 

So you know the drill, smile on the count of three: 1… 2… 3!

Man I thought I was done ranting!  It’s Sunday morning!  

But a friend on Facebook posted this to make a great point so I’m going to do the same.

I dislike it when I see things like this (which is the point she was making, too).  I dislike it when someone decides to support someone who is plus sized by bashing skinny people.  That’s not supportive.  Skinny people have done nothing wrong.  And furthermore, what kind of example is that to set?  We want people to support us, but then we bash the people we want support from in the same breath? 

I have nothing against skinny people.  At all.  I have skinny people in my life and I’m not jealous of them or making snide comments about them, because they love me for me, and I love them for them.  But I think this is a thing that happens to show support for someone who is plus sized and it’s not cool.  And I will admit that, back in the day, I use to laugh at stuff like this and had this whole, “Skinny girl just needs to eat a sandwich,” mentality, like waaaaaaaaaaaay back in high school, but looking back… how terrible is that?  Especially if your friends are skinny, or even if they’re plus sized but smaller than you.  My partner is smaller than me.  So is my mother.

The point of this whole plus sized acceptance thing is to show that you shouldn’t make fun of us because of our size, NOT that we’re BETTER because of our size, but that size shouldn’t be a factor period in defining who someone is.  This whole idea irritates me with all… are these battles?  I don’t really want to call them battles.  But, you know, when you’re trying to support a group and you decide to do it by saying mean things about another group to do it?  Or you decide not to include them?  For example: I have heard (on tumblr) people in the GLBT circle bashing the likes of Macklemore and telling him to stop singing about things he doesn’t understand (i.e. his song, “Same Love.”) 

First of all: it’s a song SUPPORTING US.  AND IT’S IN MAINSTREAM!  Do you know how blown my mind was when I heard that song on the radio?  Do you realize how amazing that was?  A song that hit number one status that has a positive GLBT message?  And it wasn’t like I needed to read between the lines, no, it was flat out about us.  

Second of all: who is it that we want support from?  Straight people, right?  So there’s one, right there, being supportive.  Why is this a bad thing?  For the most part people in the GLBT family are supportive of each other (I said “for the most part” because I know there’s people within groups who bash each other and that happens in every group but I’m not going to dwell on that), we aren’t outside yelling about equality to appease each other, but to show people outside of the group that we should be in this, too.  So when someone outside of the group is like, “Yes you’re right,” the correct response should not be, “You’ll never understand so stop speaking for us,” it should be, “Thank you.”

Third of all: he never said that he understands where we’re coming from, he never said, “I can relate because I’m gay too.”  He’s not gay.  But just because someone isn’t something doesn’t mean that they don’t have feelings about the issue.  Otherwise, who are we even talking to in regards to this battle for equality?  I mean should we bash Beyonce for tweeting things like being for same sex marriage?  Should we be like, “No sweetie you don’t understand, shut up.”  

Good people understand that bashing someone or denying their rights because of race/gender/sexuality/size/whatever is wrong, and that everyone deserves the same rights and the same common courtesy.  They’re on our side, so let’s not step on their toes.  Let’s not be like, “Oh man I love a lady with curves skinny girls are a waste of anyone’s time.”  And I’ve heard that in regards to my cosplay, and honestly, your compliment loses meaning when it’s, “You’re beautiful, way better than this person.”

So in case you missed it (though it’s been on my blog all day) I got some pretty racist/fat bashing remarks about my Princess Peach cosplay, ranging from calling me a whale, to Precious, to using the frying pan to fry chicken, and all sorts of things.  It’s been blowing up quite a bit since a bunch of you are apparently amazing individuals who I want to snuggle, because you’ve been reblogging and commenting and all sorts of things.

So in honor of this I made fried chicken, you know, since that’s all us fat black gals eat.

Here’s all sorts of links:  

The post with the fried chicken comment and other un-creative cracks at me.

My actual heartfelt response to provide encouragement to people who are afraid of this happening to them.

I would post everyone’s responses but there have seriously been an overwhelming amount, so thank you all  :)

Edit:  Added some cosplay pictures so you can see the costume and such  :)

Edit Number Two:  My Cosplay Page, I can’t believe I forgot to link it!

sonofagorgon:

m-trollacicconesboobs:

batmandracula:

A straight, white woman, from a middle class family, whos good looking. It must be real hard being you Madonna.

yeah! because Madonna has had the EAAASIEST live of them all right?? some of the funniest parts where things like when her mother died when she was 6 and she had to take care of her younger siblings! (dreamy right?) or  when she moved to new york and didn’t have enough money to buy food! (right? sounds INCREDIBLE!) and when she was raped by a guy at knifepoint??? OMG HOW FUNNY is to see your best friends die of AIDS and see  how everybody says they deserve it because they are gay! (hillarious!) and specially when her then husband Sean Penn abused her for several months that concluded with her 8h bound to a chair raped and beaten by a baseball bat! then  OMG the media has always been so kind to her! (they never called her slut, bitch…) and let’s not forget her 2 miscarriages in a period of 4 years!(OMG how does she dare complain?)without forgetting that every day she wakes up to Little monsters sending her death treats and reminding her that she is old and should die (SWEET!) 

But the thing that irks me the most is that this bitch has done nothing to deserve what she has, because she hasn’t worked hard in her entire life, I mean only 600 hours of rehersal for her last tour SHAME ON YOU, and obviously it’s AMAZING to see how the media dimisnishes your talent and accomplishments in a 30 years+ period by calling you talentless ( I mean she only writes and coproduces all her songs, WHAT A DUMB BITCH) and most of all her lack of compromise with the LGBTQAI community, that lead to criticism from all the conservative groups even nowadays! because she hasn’t built herself as a person at all.

the conclusion is you don’t have the right to complain if you are not from a minority right?

#how to sit someone down: a guide

This this this this this THIS THIS THIS!  Like o.k., I get if you want to be all supportive of minority groups.  That’s awesome, o.k.?  Keep doing that.  However, I’ve said it like a thousand times and I’ll keep saying it, the way to support us is NOT BY BASHING ANOTHER GROUP!  Do NOT bash white people, or straight people, or men, or anything.  Anything. ANYTHING!  DO NOT BASH THEM AND DO NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS OF THEIR LIVES BEING EASY because they aren’t minorities.    

Now is white privilege and male privilege things like that exist?  Yes.  But that does not give you the right to tell these people, “Pfft your life is soooooo easy,” because you don’t know them personally.  I have a lot of great white friends, straight friends, male friends, skinny friends, they are amazing people I would never, NEVER go to them and say, “You don’t know what it’s like to be black/lesbian/female/plus sized,” just… no.  That is COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE TO YOUR CAUSE!  They are my friends because they love me for me and when someone is racist, or sexist, or homophobic, or fat bashing, or whatever THEY ARE THERE FOR ME.  I am NOT going to be like, “Get out of here you don’t understand because it’ll never happen to you!”  

I mean fuck my partner is a white girl, jesus!  Should I hate her because she “will never understand what it’s like to be a black woman,” I mean… just… stop being supportive by bashing others, that’s not support that’s anger.