When I discovered the hobby of costuming back in 2006 and made the decision to try it, I was incredibly excited and told all of those closest to me. I had been reading comic books since I was 11 years old and was watching television shows like the Lynda Carter Wonder Woman series and the Superfriends. As I grew older I not only began collecting comics, but toys as well and watched super hero themed films religiously (mostly Superman I & II and Batman Returns. We had limited comic movies back then). When I reached my teen years, I began writing fan fiction and drawing fan art. Now that I was an adult, cosplay seemed like the natural next step in expressing my fandom. Surprisingly enough, one of my closest friends (at the time) flat out said something rather shocking; I couldnt cosplay because I had tan skin. Thats not something you expect to hear from one of your best friends and I was literally stunned to hear such a racist remark. But it turns out, he wasnt alone. Several people were telling me that I could not cosplay because I was a Latina.
Racism is nothing new and neither is hatred. I, like many, have dealt with both my whole life. Although things are better now than they were when I was growing up in the 80s and 90s (yes, Im that old) it still exists. People judge you based on the color of your skin before you even open your mouth and speak. They hate on you, treat you bad, bully you, threaten you and try to do everything in their power to make you feel inferior. Nobody deserves to be treated like that and I definitely did not deserve to be told that I wasnt allowed to express myself because of the color of my skin. I had a very rough time deciding what my first cosplay character would be because according to my friend, I could only dress as characters whose skin tone I matched. I had to stay away from the pale skin ones. I decided to push the prejudice aside and put together my first costume; Aerith Gainsborough from Final Fantasy VII. I wore it to a local con and upon seeing me, my "friend" said:
"Oh nice. You do look like Aerith. Except with tan skin." Needless to say, the friendship did not last due to this and many other reasons.
Apparently my skin color was a huge deal to him and it didnt stop there. Upon finding a photo of me on Flickr from the con, someone left a comment saying that the colors of my outfit clashed horribly with my skin tone and I should have never dressed that way. Only white people should dress as Aerith. On a video game forum, someone said my Aerith looked "dirty" because of my skin color. The moderator refused to take the comment down upon my request ( it was Game F.A.Q.s) Over the years I have read many hateful comments. One person said that I did not deserve to wear Supergirls S crest because I was a "Sue Storm ruining Jessica Alba looking chick" (actress Jessica Alba is half Mexican and a proud Latina). My boyfriend actually stumbled upon a photo of my Catwoman posted on a message board and was enraged when he read the following statement: "She would be a good Catwoman if she were white." A MEME was made of me and several other cosplayers saying that all Latinas fail at dressing as Hatsune Miku.
Im going to be completely honest and human and say that it did get to me. The negativity and racism gave me moments of weakness and I wanted to give up. Every hero, every princess has that chapter in their story where they want to walk away but in the end, they pick themselves up and keep moving forward. Thats what I did. I wasnt going to allow racists cowards who hid behind their computers dictate what I should and should not do, who I should and should not dress as. The color of my skin is not a "problem". It is not a disability. I have every right to costume just as much as anyone else no matter their age, race, gender, religion or weight. And I costume for one person only; myself. This is about my self expression and my creativity.
It literally makes me laugh and shake my head when I think that people have told me that Latinas Cant Cosplay. Heres a big, fat middle finger to all the racists. Dont let anyone ever tell you, you cant cosplay because of the color of your skin and know that even though we may not know each other or ever meet, you have my full support. This Latina proved that you can become whatever character you want to be.
Im going to be completely honest and human and say that it did get to me. The negativity and racism gave me moments of weakness and I wanted to give up. Every hero, every princess has that chapter in their story where they want to walk away but in the end, they pick themselves up and keep moving forward. Thats what I did. I wasnt going to allow racists cowards who hid behind their computers dictate what I should and should not do, who I should and should not dress as. The color of my skin is not a "problem". It is not a disability. I have every right to costume just as much as anyone else no matter their age, race, gender, religion or weight. And I costume for one person only; myself. This is about my self expression and my creativity.
