2018 is the year I decided to throw my voice in the mix and talk about cosplay community issues such as race, cosplay politics and overall share my experience and observations as a African-Caribbean Cosplayer.
I’m sure we’ve all seen by now that NikkieTutorials came out in a tear jerking video that she is a trans-woman. If you’re unfamiliar with NikkieTutorials, she is a Dutch make up artist and beauty vlogger. In 2015 her video, “The Power of Makeup” went viral and her online fame soared. As of Oct. 2019 her Youtube channel has 12.4 million subscribers and over 1.1 billion views.
Too many people assume that creating “sexy” content is easy. “All you do is look cute and take naked pictures of yourself! That’s not real work,” is something that is said frequently about “NSFW” cosplayers and artists and it couldn’t be further from the truth.
Once again, if you got past the title then you’re either intrigued or ready to get mad, but either way thanks for the views!
People truly don’t understand why women create not-safe-for-work (NSFW) content. I’ve gotten more messages about being an “Attention-seeking whore” than messages asking, “Why do you do this?” People have been trained to believe that a woman who uses her body for herself is vain. Women have been taught to perpetuate the idea that a woman’s body is only okay if it’s serving something or someone else.
The hardest thing for any self-employed content creator to do is ask for money. The second hardest thing to do is not attach your self-worth to your financial success.
QuirkCon was probably the best and smallest con I've gone to in a while, and I honestly can't wait to head back next year. Held in Durham, North Carolina from May 31-June 2, QuirkCon is a celebration of black, nerdy and gay cosplayers and creatives. For three days, attendees experienced anime trap music parties, emo karaoke, panels about black music in k-pop and so much more.
If you made it past the title, congrats! You are on the journey of learning about racism, and all its subconscious context. As a cosplayer, I really enjoy it when artists take it upon themselves to humanize some of my favorite non-human characters.
Last month cosplayer Yakfrost posted on their Twitter account a Google Docs list of known black face/race face cosplayers, and asked the community to block them from their social media. Upon hearing about the list, the cosplayers listed and their followers retaliated through misgendering, calling Yakfrost "the real racist," Nazi and other terrible things.