The Male Gaze & Fem Cosplay

The Male Gaze is a concept in which every aspect of human existence is viewed from a male perspective. For example:

This is the case for both a female and male audience. Woman have been made to aspire and emulate woman as portrayed above, when it would be much more realistic to advertise comfort and support as the defining factor in underwear. Because I can guarantee that the women shown above are NOT comfortable.

Defined by the male gaze, woman have lost their authentic voice. We don't have a predominant female gaze. Our holy books are written by men, our leaders are primarily men (politically, religiously, within the "family structure".  Women are "help-meets", accessories to men. Women are taught to see themselves as men see them.

Fem Cosplay

In recent years, an activity called cosplay has become more popular. Cosplay is short for "costume play", an activity in which participants wear costumes and accessories to represent a specific character or idea from a work of fiction. Cosplay is often done at conventions, parties, and special events. There are so many options and freedom of expression in cosplay. 

There are straight forward costumes of fictional characters:

Link from Legend of Zelda

There are mashups, like this: 

Nothing says unlimited self-expression like a storm trooper/Minnie Mouse.

There are concept costumes, like this:

Which is a representation of:

   

The Tardis!

But one interesting bit of cosplay that has interested in me is Fem-Cosplay. This is when a cosplayer takes a a feminine approach to their costume, resulting in a Fem Captain America, a Fem Doctor, a Fem Darth Vader, and a Fem Han Solo. 

This gender flipping of these classic characters are usually dramatically over-sexualized (follow the links above for examples) and Fem-Cosplay often deteriorates into a reference to a character + heels + boobs.

There are so many options for female cosplayers, with strong female characters in literature, science fiction and history, and yet they still feel the need to shed their female identity to participate in this activity. It is also interesting to note that there is no mainstream male equivalent. Men are not allowed to explore any aspect of femininity in this way. The gender double-standard strikes again.

There are also creative expressions of characters in an alternate style, such as steampunk also gives cosplayers the option to create alternate realities. One of my favorite examples of this is a Steampunk Star Trek Officer. 

This cosplay has so many different levels. Star Trek was originally created in reference to traditional British and America Navy culture. The Steampunk version takes this post-modern version of a classic culture and turns it on it's head in a Industrial Revolution aesthetic. 

Cosplay is a very interesting opportunity for self-expression. Shows likes Heros of Cosplay on the SyFy Channel have given voice to this new trend. Unfortunately, even cosplay has been subjected to the male gaze. Girls are still being socialized and educated that their value lies solely in their appearance.