The Impact of Black Cosplayers in the Cosplay Community
The beauty of cosplay is that it can let a fan’s dreams become a reality at the moment when they choose to embody their favorite characters through this popular fashion and fandom medium. Unfortunately, for Black people and other groups, the cosplay community can make this enchanting dream turn into a nightmare.
How so? Although cosplay extends to all fandoms, some of the most popular cosplays come from anime characters. There is nothing wrong with cosplaying anime, but due to most characters being white, some cosplayers have felt shut out and not valid enough to embody their favorite characters which are very saddening and wrong due to their skin color or facial structures. Many Black cosplayers have received negative feedback when posting cosplays because “they don’t look like a specific character due to their skin tone or their curly hair.” With hateful and racist comments like these spread around the internet, it has caused Black cosplayers to feel excluded from the cosplay community.
However, Black cosplayers took a stand against these discriminatory situations and used their cosplays as well as their skin color and hair texture to embrace the beauty of diversity in this form of entertainment as they created unique and incredibly stunning cosplays that welcome not only Black cosplayers to continue embodying their favorite characters, but also inviting many other groups to follow in their footsteps to make the cosplay community a place that is safe and loving to everyone. As a fashion enthusiast and cosplayer, some of the best cosplays I have seen have been by Black cosplayers.
One of my favorite Black cosplayers is Shell or more commonly known on Instagram as @shellanin_. Shell is the creator of the #curlycosplay hashtag. Her Instagram page is filled with the most beautifully executed cosplays that I have come across, not only does she embody each character that she is cosplaying perfectly, but the most beautiful touch to her cosplays are the curly-haired wigs that she uses in each cosplay. I think that the use of the curly wigs makes a very powerful statement against negative comments said about hair textures in the cosplay community because not only does the curly wigs pull the cosplay look together, but it also gives each of her works a very unique touch and proves that any hair texture goes very well with any kind of cosplay. It also sends a reassuring message for anyone who wants to cosplay: It doesn't matter who you are or where you are from, if you want to embody a character, embrace your own qualities and characteristics as well. Shell has also shared on her Instagram stories with images of many other incredible Black cosplayers by mentioning the hashtag #28daysofblackcosplay which is a hashtag used to celebrate black cosplayers every day in February in acknowledgment of Black History Month.
Another Black cosplayer that has really caught my attention is @princessangelinacosplay on Instagram. Not only does this incredibly talented cosplayer personify her favorite characters wonderfully, but she also crafts all of her cosplays from scratch. Her Instagram page shows many of her finished works as well as her craftsmanship processes, she is also a designer and has posted some of her own constructed designs. Her fiance is also an incredible Black cosplayer and the two attend many conventions to show their love for cosplay and their love for design. These two cosplayers mentioned are part of the many talented black cosplayers who are every day proving to everyone that cosplay is not exclusive to people with a white or paler skin complexion, they have shown that anyone who is passionate about anything should pursue that passion and make a difference, bring community and acceptance in a place where these factors are absent.
As a Latina fashion designer and cosplayer, I felt very inspired to never give up on something as freeing and fun as cosplay because of skin complexion or facial features. The contribution of Black cosplayers to the cosplay community has changed how to cosplay gets viewed and has taken this form of entertainment in a very positive and revolutionary path which declares that cosplay is not exclusive only to a certain group of people which means that anyone is welcomed to make their dreams of embodying a specific fictional character of any genre a reality but the true beauty and fun of cosplay is only possible when we begin to love our own personal character as well as the attributes and characteristics of others who also desire to cosplay. Community means unity and Black cosplayers have made the cosplay community a more loving and welcoming one by bringing awareness and embracing who they are which teaches a lesson about self-love and love for others.
