I've experienced several personal incidents of cosplay hate. And those really hurt me. Almost to the point of where I didn't wanna cosplay anymore. I will continue to cosplay till I can no longer. I do feel like some of those need to be addressed.
#1: My Cosplay Isn't Handmade
No, my cosplay isn't handmade. Most of my cosplay are bought offline or made from various pieces of clothing I can find cheaply to modify. This doesn't make my cosplay any less then cosplay that someone spent hundreds of dollars making. I will not deny the fact that there is usually a difference in quality. But that doesn't always apply. I've seen magnificent cosplay made from old clothes people had in their houses or bought at yardsales/flea markets/second hand stores. I've also seen huge failures from people that have spent hundreds of dollars on their cosplay.
#2: You're Not This or That
My physical appearance is of no concern of yours. If I'm white and cosplaying a black character, shut up. If I'm black and cosplaying a white character, shut up. If I'm fat and cosplaying a skinny character, shut up. If I'm skinny and cosplaying a fat character, shut up. If I'm flat chested and cosplaying a character with huge tits, shut up. If you only wanted people that looked exactly like the character to cosplay said character, there would be very few people cosplaying. Nobody has the right to criticize someone for what their body is like. So what if someone has tattoos and the character doesn't? Get over it! There are very few people that look exactly like the characters that people cosplay.
So, some people modify a cosplay to suit their needs. Big deal. Some people have to wear glasses. Some people aren't comfortable wearing a dress that short. As long as they know who they are and people can recognize them, it doesn't matter. I know I've cosplayed characters and my cosplay wasn't to a T accurate but people still knew who I was, so no big deal. And if you can't tell. Ask. It's not that big of a deal.
#4: That's An OC And It's Stupid
People like to cosplay their OCs. There is nothing wrong with that. Who cares? It isn't hurting anyone. Let them have fun. No, it is not insulting the show/anime/manga/comic. Personally I like to ask people about their OCs. People have told me really amazing things about their characters and I sometimes enjoy OC cosplay more then I do actually cosplaying a character from something.
The point of this rant is that cosplay is for fun. It's meant to allow fans to show how much they love the characters and shows and to allow them to interact with other people that are just as crazy about the same thing. Cosplay is a great way to make friends. I've made several friends through cosplay and I love them dearly. Do not take it seriously. I mean try and be accurate with the character but it's all fun in the end.
Feel free to add things if I missed something. And I know I left out a lot of stuff but this was a quick thing that got put together after having someone criticize one of my cosplay. Extremely harshly. And with lots of foul language and rude comments.
