Women cosplayers talk about the harassment they suffer at events in the geek world

“Can I take a picture with you?”. This is certainly the phrase that cosplayers hear the most, especially at events like Comic Con Experience (CCXP)which started last Thursday (6).

The biggest pop and geek culture fair has been an important stage for those people who love the idea of ​​honoring characters – from series, movies, games – by dressing like them. However, this moment of fun does not always go as expected, especially for women.

An example of this is the story of Nubia Marques, aged 19, who was dressed as Pennywise, in a female version, at the event. The young woman said that when dressing up as Harley Quinn previously, she suffered harassment.

“When taking a picture, the person puts his hand on your ass. And it’s not just physical harassment, but also speech, moral. ‘Oh, delicious. If I saw it, I’d hit the…’” she explained.

The same happened with Thamires Valache, aged 23, at the last event he participated in, the Brasil Game Show (BGS). “The person hugs you to take a picture, grabs your waist without asking permission and then harassment begins. Then she will come out of the pose and put her hand on your ass. It slides, you know?”.

The young woman, who was dressed as Raven (from “Young Titans”) at CCXP, said that the shock in this situation is so great that she did not know how to react. The way out she found was to ask the following people not to touch her when it was time to click, with the excuse that the cosplay was sensitive.

As with Núbia and Thamires, dealing with harassment is never easy and it can often turn into trauma. Who lived this in the skin was Keisy Constantine19 years old.

At CCXP, being dressed as Ahri Star Guardian (from the game “League of Legends”) meant her return to the world of cosplays after two years without dressing up even once.

That’s because the young woman went through an extremely embarrassing situation. “I was in Blair, from the anime Soul Eater, and I was in a very short dress. Then a guy picked me up and ran with me. Then everyone saw my panties and it was horrible.”

The discomfort with what had happened was so great that she took off her cosplay as soon as the man released her.

Just like Keisy, who felt vulnerable when being harassed, Rayanne Dias, aged 23, went through something similar, only more serious. She had to go to court to defend herself.

When we met her at CCXP, her cosplay was inspired by “The Purge”, but at the time of the harassment, her costume was Catwoman.

“Some of my photos ended up on a Zentai website, a fetish with whom I was wearing lycra. First it was embarrassment, looking at my photos on a website where several men were ‘fetishizing’ something that for us is so common, it’s a hobby and they put an end to it. So first came the embarrassment and then I appealed to my rights, ”he said.

Women cosplayers are constantly fighting against this sexist scenario, so it’s worth highlighting advice from Núbia: being dressed as a character doesn’t oblige anyone to take a picture with everyone else. It is permissible to say no.

the same states Ana Cezimbra23, who debuted an amazing Poison Ivy costume from the 1996 version of “Batman & Robin.”

“Ask to pull over, ask to hug to take a picture. I do not mind. I take a photo kissing you on the cheek, I basically take any photo you want. It only asks to be able to pull over. Because not every cosplayer likes it. Not every person likes to come and be grabbed like that”, he pointed out.