Can women dress as Male characters?

[ShadowSoldier]

This sounds like a stupid thread, but I'd really like your guys' input and see how other people think. So I just seen this video on Kotaku:

Spoiler

And to be honest. I love it. I think it's an awesome video. But then I read comments on the site that was obviously a troll, but still:

"Link is a GUY. Not a chick.
If a girl wants to play dress-up, then put on a bloody princess dress or something. Is that so hard?!"

"I...just can't hack male characters being cosplayed by females. JUST. CAN'T! hnnnnnnnnngggg. Can't stomach it. Looks so wrong. Even for the prettyboys. I applaud their efforts and aims etc but blerrrghhhh. It's like... you're a girl, just cosplay females so it doesn't look weird."




Now, to me, I don't care if a girl dresses up as a male. I mean, for example, when it comes to Link. I always thought of him as a character that any gender can relate to. We all want to be that Hero. We all want to do great things and such. It just so happens to be a guy who plays the role. But even girls want to be like that (some, I'm sure). And I don't understand what's the big deal. Personally, in that video, that girl would have me head over heels for her if I saw her at a cosplay convention.

For guys to dress up as girls, lets be honest, a lot of them do it just for fun just to get some laughs. Some actually go out of their way to look as girly as possible and try and be serious about it. And that's cool too. Who cares, you're dressing up as a character you like.



So what I'd like to know from you guys, is what is your opinions about women having to dress as women, men having to dress as men, and vice versa. Does it creep you out or make you feel weird that women are dressing up as male characters and men are dressing up as women?

 

[Guild McCommunist]

I don't really get the question.

Like, I dunno, take this female character:

She's not wearing "guy's clothing" but she's not dressing in a princess outfit by any means.

Men dress like male characters, women dress like female characters. But that doesn't always mean masculine or feminine.

I'm talking in a realistic sense here, no Chuck Greene in a waitress outfit.

 

[ShadowSoldier]

I'm talking about say, well, a girl dressing as Link, a male character. Is that allowed without it being creepy or anything?

And Alex Vance, forgot about her, that's an interesting point to bring up..

 

[DinohScene]

Just do what you want and do what ever makes you happy/comfortable.

 

[qwertymodo]

I'd say in general, yes, especially if they pull it off well. Also, girls dressing up as male characters > guys dressing up as female characters.

 

[Guild McCommunist]

Link always seemed a bit gender neutral so I don't think that's the best example. Like his outfit is kinda generic, it doesn't scream "male". In fact I can't really think of any characters who do off the top of my head. Hell they even threw a chick in that big ol' Gears of War armor.

As long as the clothing is properly adjusted for gender then I don't really find it offsetting unless it's men dressing like women (like skirts, blouses, whatever).

 

[Foxi4]

Being a woman has the benefit of being "allowed" to dress whatever one feels like wearing - men are more so constrained in this area of life... so I suppose so, yes. Depends on the perspective.

Accurate cosplay should in my opinion reflect the gender of the character, so women shouldn't go for a "Link" costume unless they're just going for the "cute" factor... because you gotta say that looks cute, c'mon. It's also a matter of the character itself - a Link can be made "attractive and feminene", a Mario? Not so much, unless you like girls with mustaches.

Spoiler

This is bad. Very bad... unless it's for the "funny factor", but still... bad. (Exaggerated Photoshop, but it shows the point)

In such instances, the costume should be altered to reflect the wearer's gender properly - it only enhances the overall effect rather than diminishes it.

Spoiler

I mean, c'mon! Wouldn't you let her handle your pipe?

 

[astrangeone]

The only problem I have with cross-play (that's what it's called) is that most male/female characters have very masculine or feminine traits. Most anime dudes are topless (that's a hard look for female cosplayers to pull off, although I've seen very good examples), and some female characters are just...too sexualized - either their costumes or similar.

I don't mind cross-playing because it's fun and shows a love of the character. (Also, I'm in cross-play in my avatar...)

I do drag in my spare time, so I'm comfortable with crossing gender divides. Most of my halloween costumes are male/masculine because I hate the fact that most female popular culture is highly sexualized - eg. the female X-men and their weirdly sexy poses.

Also, that video must have been a blast to make. Although, why is Link wearing the blue tunic in the video?

 

[Hells Malice]

My girlfriend seems to prefer dressing up as male characters...and I don't really see any problem with it at all.
It's not really that surprising considering girls tend to gravitate towards liking males, and guys towards females. The only difference is a girl dressing as a male character really doesn't look too bad most of the time...like that Link video...gets a little weird when guys cross-gender, but eh, I don't actually care if guys do that either. I'll think you're weird, but who gives a shit if I do or not.

It's dress up. Do whatever you want. As long as it's a appropriate of course. There are some female outfits guys just...really should not attempt.

Also blah blah most anime males look like females blah blah.

 

[Guild McCommunist]

The only problem I have with cross-play (that's what it's called) is that most male/female characters have very masculine or feminine traits. Most anime dudes are topless (that's a hard look for female cosplayers to pull off, although I've seen very good examples), and some female characters are just...too sexualized - either their costumes or similar.

I don't mind cross-playing because it's fun and shows a love of the character. (Also, I'm in cross-play in my avatar...)

Anime is a rather bad example since everything is overdone and horribly sexualized most of the time.

Also, fact is that most gamers are straight men. Games are made with an appeal towards straight men. That usually means attractive women.

 

[astrangeone]

Anime is a rather bad example since everything is overdone and horribly sexualized most of the time.

Also, fact is that most gamers are straight men. Games are made with an appeal towards straight men. That usually means attractive women.

True, but I would like some other body type to be sexualized. This goes for male characters as well - why must we have guys with giant biceps and pecs? (Unless you are talking about fighting games - which makes more sense, since most characters train for them.)

Most females in anime/gaming are sexualized to a weird extent. I mean look at Chun-Li or even the Metroid series.

 

[Guild McCommunist]

True, but I would like some other body type to be sexualized. This goes for male characters as well - why must we have guys with giant biceps and pecs? (Unless you are talking about fighting games - which makes more sense, since most characters train for them.)

Most females in anime/gaming are sexualized to a weird extent. I mean look at Chun-Li or even the Metroid series.

Macho male characters are for power fantasies. Every guy wants to be tough, strong, powerful. Playing as some muscular buff guy let's you do that. Plus it does fit the setting mostly. If you're in the middle of a warzone as a soldier, you're not exactly gonna be looking like some average Joe. You're gonna look like a guy with military training and athletic ability.

It's all just how culture views body image and gender roles. Until that changes (which is very unlikely for quite some time), this won't.

 

[Gahars]

Being a woman has the benefit of being "allowed" to dress whatever one feels like wearing - men are more so constrained in this area of life... so I suppose so, yes.

As noted by Shania Twain in her groundbreaking exposé on the gender barriers:

Oh, oh, oh, go totally crazy-forget I'm a lady
Men's shirts-short skirts
Oh, oh, oh...

Quite.

 

[astrangeone]

Macho male characters are for power fantasies. Every guy wants to be tough, strong, powerful. Playing as some muscular buff guy let's you do that. Plus it does fit the setting mostly. If you're in the middle of a warzone as a soldier, you're not exactly gonna be looking like some average Joe. You're gonna look like a guy with military training and athletic ability.

It's all just how culture views body image and gender roles. Until that changes (which is very unlikely for quite some time), this won't.

It's kind of funny, because gender roles vary by culture. What's considered masculine in one culture, isn't. And I mention this because most games come from Japan (over-generalization), but we either see the overly buff dude (Ryu/Haggar/Zangief) or the pretty boy (Link, Sheik, Cloud) but not the flabby, but buff dudes that exist in real life.

It's a big problem because I know some guys in my university who spend far too much money inflating their muscles over anything else. (And if you think about it, guys who look like bodybuilders don't have much range of motion...)

 

[ShadowSoldier]

It's kind of funny, because gender roles vary by culture. What's considered masculine in one culture, isn't. And I mention this because most games come from Japan (over-generalization), but we either see the overly buff dude (Ryu/Haggar/Zangief) or the pretty boy (Link, Sheik, Cloud) but not the flabby, but buff dudes that exist in real life.

It's a big problem because I know some guys in my university who spend far too much money inflating their muscles over anything else. (And if you think about it, guys who look like bodybuilders don't have much range of motion...)

Actually these days, a lot of games are Western now. But, also for the "pretty boy" characters, the thing with them is they're all superhuman basically. Basically like Dragon Ball Z characters, not might have big muscles but can still lift a truck or jump 30 feet in the air. Anyways, this is all a bit off topic.

 

[astrangeone]

Sorry, dude for derailing your topic!

 

[ShadowSoldier]

As noted by Shania Twain in her groundbreaking exposé on the gender barriers:



Quite.

Call me weird, but when I see a girl wearing a guys shirt, depends on the style and if there's like any print on it... I find that girl to look so beautiful. Like my one friend, she'd wear my shirts all the time. She was so damn beautiful wearing my Mario shirt, or my "Free Hugs" shirt.

 

[Taleweaver]

She's not wearing "guy's clothing" but she's not dressing in a princess outfit by any means.

She's not? But...but...I have a jacket just like that!

NOOOOOOO!!!!!





Ahem...

@thread: why the hell do we even waste time on trolls? There are plenty of guys who play as female characters. Should they stick to male characters, then?

Worse: Link is white (or perhaps Azian-influenced). Aren't black people allowed to play Zelda, then?


And the best reply: Link is also an elf...ish character guy...something. In any case: not human. As such, humans aren't allowed to cosplay as them.


The best way to thwart that sort of thinking is just riding their train of thought until it goes off the rails.


@video: it's awesome.

 

[NightsOwl]

My thoughts?

Whoever you are, dress however you want.

For people who aren't okay with that? Stop being a bigot.