I think plus size women (and men) need to see positive, beautiful representation of people who are their size. I also think they need to see plus size people being happy with who they are. The stereotype of the unhappy, fat loaf who sits on the couch being lazy is such a lie, and it kills me that that’s what some people expect when they think of a chubby person. I hate that it’s such a surprise to some people to see a plus size person wearing nice clothes and looking good, so I’m really glad to see positive representation out there.
Honestly, I think it’s just a great thing for everyone to see, not just plus size individuals. Society has such a skewed view on beauty. It’s always changing and the things we see aren’t always truthful (Photoshop, etc.) I get support from all sorts of people, not just plus size. There are plenty of people who are smaller than me who feel encouraged to love themselves when they see me. I feel like body positivity is something that’s beneficial to everyone. I feel like everyone has their insecurities, so seeing people embrace who they are is such a huge confidence booster.
My interview with The Curvy Fashionista went up today and I haven’t stopped smiling since :)
Pretty sure I reblogged this at least once already but I don’t even care. FOREVER REBLOG.
*slow clap*
I have a lot of messages to catch up on and pictures to post while I recover from Convergence, which was ridiculously fun :) But before I do I wanted to share a message.
A lot of people over the weekend loved my cosplay, but something else that was neat was hearing people say that they’re happy that I’m out here cosplaying. That’s so great and means the world to me. I mean I know I speak the cosplay words of go out and have fun, and I truly mean that, and I know that when I get hate on I always have a positive outlook and try comment on how foolish it is to waste your energy on bullying someone, and I mean that as well.
But here’s the honest truth.
Words can, and do, hurt, and no matter how strong you are there’s a moment where you feel a pain in your heart when someone takes time out to try and hurt you. Or maybe it really doesn’t bother you, but there was probably a time when it did. We’re human and we feel things, and when I get hate there’s a moment of sadness, exhaustion, and just this voice of doubt. It goes away when I remember the positive or hear the positive, it’s a reminder of, “Hey, you’re great.”
So besides the whole being here because I want to be, I’m also here because your encouragement keeps me going, and because if someone needs to hear that, “You’re great,” I would be more than happy to say it.
Seriously though, I always find it bizarre when people feel the need to tell you what you are. “You’re obese.” No way, really? I had no idea I was extra large, thanks for the reminder? Though in all honesty if you’re here to tell me I’m fat and you’re following me just to do so then I’m sorry that you don’t have anything else to do during the day then to tell fat people that they’re fat. I mean next you’ll tell me I’m black *gasp*
I guess it was a bit clever with the whole “eating yourself to death” bit, but I’m wondering if people just get their insults from a book that was written before cosplay even existed, because stuff like that has been said about cute chubby folks for ages. I’ve been called my fair share of names before I bestowed my large body with a hoop skirt and dress so reminding me of my juicy bits isn’t news to me, or to anyone on this page who follows me, but again if you feel the urge to shout FAT then just keep preaching to the choir around you, I’ll just keep wearing whatever I want and having a good time.
Brichibi out. *mic drops from chubby hands*
Let’s create a couple of scenarios.
Let’s say I decided to cosplay Catwoman. Someone might tell me, “You’re too fat to cosplay her” or “fat cat.”
All right, fine. Let’s say one of the women I follow, who is skinny, says they want to cosplay Catwoman. Except their black. Someone might tell them, “Catwoman isn’t black” or “Check it out, ghetto Catwoman.”
All right. Fine. Let’s say that another woman I follow, who is skinny, and white, says that they want to cosplay Catwoman. Someone might tell them, “That cosplay is too slutty” or “attention whore.”
This right here is why there’s no point in stressing about such negative comments. Same character in each scenario, only different levels of negativity. This is why, my number one advice, is to smile and cosplay who you want
So here’s a smile from me to you
***
Bonus scenario: So then you may start to envy the male cosplayers of the world, thinking that they must have it so easy. Then you see a picture of a male cosplayer with a caption like, “He tried, I guess?” Or even see statements like, “Male cosplay is so boring” “Superman really let himself go, huh?” “What’s up with this Wolverine?"
So, everyone? Smile, on the count of three: 1. 2. 3!
I want to bring your attention to the #notacosplayer project run by Eddie of Food and Cosplay (facebook, tumblr).
Pretty angry at those photos right? Yeah, me too. The top one is me and six of the other cosplayers are extremely close friends of mine. (I’ve tagged their pages if you click on the photos!)
#notacosplayer is here to tackle the bullying within the cosplay community and especially that from outside. A lot of people, too many people believe that you have to be a thin, white woman with large boobs and an incredibly attractive face to be “allowed” to cosplay, and then what? If you are you’re brandished a slut/whore, a fake geek and only doing it for male attention. Yes there are a small handful of people who do infact cosplay for attention and have no interest in the characters, but for the people with a genuine love of what they’re doing, this is massively hurtful.
Comments like the ones above are received on a daily basis for a lot of cosplayers, whether it be a sly remark from another convention goer, on a facebook page where “well its just a picture on the internet” or some other form of online forum, the comments are read and they’re upsetting.
Cosplayers spend countless hours picking costumes, hunting down where the best place to get them from is or locating the most realistic parts for a costume. They send off designs and reference to commissioners to ensure that their piece is perfect and just how they want it, constantly giving feedback and input on their item. Some other cosplayers spend hours and hours slaving away with cuts and burns to create something they’re proud of and love.
They take a picture and hang it with absolute pride at how awesome they look, how they replicated their favorite character in their own way. They show it to their friends who all say how awesome it is and they share it around.
And for what?
Definitely not for some random person off the internet to feel the need to comment and chip in, ignoring every ounce of effort and accuracy on a costume. Friend, you found this image probably because you’re a fan of what I’m cosplaying from, could you comment on my costume please? No, straight for the jugular, right in the “you’re not good enough to cosplay because…”
“You’re #notacosplayer because…”
Well I am. And Everyone else who says their a cosplayer is a cosplayer. The rules of cosplay aren’t written on attractiveness or likeness, they’re written on costume play.
So stand proud guys. Bullying will not be tolerated anymore. Share your stories and lets stop this horrible taboo where we never speak about the nasty comments we receive. Its a major part and its driving out incredible members of our community. Negativity won’t be tolerated anymore.
You’re all amazing and incredible and you can do whatever you set your mind to. Don’t let these comments put you off doing that dream character or starting cosplaying. Stand up proud and where that costume, show bullies and negativity that you don’t care…
Someone always finds something to poke at, you know? It’s not even worth worrying about because someone is going to find something wrong if they really want to. You can’t win with everyone, which is why it’s best to just win with yourself. You can look quote, unquote, “perfect” on the outside but still feel like shit if you’re not happy with yourself and who you are.
Happy is attractive. Happy is beautiful. Happy is as close to perfect as we’ll ever get.
Someone always finds something to poke at, you know? It’s not even worth worrying about because someone is going to find something wrong if they really want to. You can’t win with everyone, which is why it’s best to just win with yourself. You can look quote, unquote, “perfect” on the outside but still feel like shit if you’re not happy with yourself and who you are.
Happy is attractive. Happy is beautiful. Happy is as close to perfect as we’ll ever get.
I woke up to a loooot of anon asks (and a few very sweet logged in ones!) about my Jessica, some good, some bad, but two in particular stood out and were kindly worded!
First of all, apologies for appearing to speak for everyone! That post was a series of personal anecdotes about my own experiences. It was never meant to be a manifesto for plus-size cosplayers!
I am over 200lbs, I am considered more than a little overweight for my height (5’11”) medically speaking, but it’s very true that my weight distributes itself in a way that’s seen as ‘socially acceptable’ fat by the tumblr fat-positivity wagon at large. For every derisive comment I’ve gotten about my weight, I’ve gotten plenty “hot fat girl” comments and people (usually men) expressing surprise at “how fat I really am”. People who come up to me in Jessica from the front and then see me from the side and get alarmed that I’m secretly thick, like I deceived them.
I guess the thing is, I don’t see those comments as positive. Alarm that an overweight girl could POSSIBLY BE PRETTY just sucks, but it’s also the concept of me ‘fooling’ them. Like I’m masquerading as skinny to trick them into finding me attractive. That is NOT why I wear a corset under my Jessica cosplay.
I love my tits, I love my ass, and I love how cute I can make myself look with no body shapers involved once I started embracing my body and stop trying to hide it. Jessica Rabbit is a cartoon, I wear a corset because that sort of cartoonish figure is not something I can achieve without some steel boning, but I don’t wear a corset to hide myself. There’s a cosplay me, and a real me, and the cosplay me has definitely helped me rediscover that I can, in fact, love my body — but when I say that, I don’t mean ‘my body in a corset’, I mean MY body.
Sometimes it takes putting on a mask or some crazy makeup or, yes, a corset, to find yourself physically. That’s what it took for me. For you, or anyone else, it might be a very different road. Just remember that it’s one we’re all walking on together.
I feel like there’s so many levels to what “plus” or “overweight” is, and everyone has a different definition of it. Like I look at this girl (even without the Jessica Rabbit) and think, “how is she fat?” But that’s because I’m comparing her to my own size. But the same goes for me compared to my partner, and even my own mother. To me I think, “How can people see you as being overweight?” But it happens, you know? We were just at the doctor yesterday and my partner got the “you need to lose some weight” speech. But she’s smaller than me so my immediate thought is, “How?” Then I realize that according to her height and all these other factors, yes, she’s overweight.
When we think of thinks like “plus sized” and “overweight” I think we think of our own size, so when someone is smaller than us we think, “Wait hold up, you’re not plus sized.” Like my partner? She can find her bras at a department store versus me who can barely find it at Lane Bryant, and that’s IF they have the highest size possible at that location. Again, same with my mom. She shops at Lane Bryant and I think, “But wait you’re not plus sized, are you?” But she’s big in certain areas so, yeah, she is.
You also can’t really speak for someone else’s experience. Just because someone is smaller than you in weight doesn’t mean people haven’t called them names. That’s one of the big things I learned when I wrote my article about plus sized cosplay. People came to me and shared their stories, and I would think, “But wait what are you like a 14? 16? Is that really plus?” But yeah, they had been picked on, called names, and everything. I even remember some girl told me that she was LOSING weight and getting crap because she wasn’t losing it fast enough according to the people around her.
I also feel for that whole idea of you somehow deceiving someone because they don’t see your size? Like I remember being told I was “cute in the face,” like my cute face was deceiving them because I’m fat? Like, “how dare you be a cutie when your stomach is large,” what does that even mean? My face is attached to my body I’m not hiding the fact that I’m fat, kinda hard to do that. I’d hate to disappoint you but fat people aren’t always those people you see on the diet commercials who don’t wear cute clothes and do their hair until the power of Jenny Craig compels them.
This is the story of a geeky anime/gaming gal by the name of Chibi. Please fasten your seat belts and prepare for... some sort of ride? Oh! I love to write, and I also love doing crafty things. I go to conventions with my partner and sell woodburned things, clocks, mirrors, and more! So expect to see those on here too :)
