Cosplaying recently has become a widespread phenomenon, especially in the west. A big factor in its recent success is the Anime and otaku culture revolutionization in the west.
However, this doesn’t mean that cosplay is only associated with Anime culture, rather it’s an amalgamation of all fictional and non-fictional characters into personification. It’s a hobby that’s turned more into a way of living.
However, is it just a hobby? Or is it something deeper and more primal? What are the psychology and themes behind why a person chooses to spend their time, money, and effort on assuming a character, Read along to find out.
Why is Cosplay so Important?
If anyone wants to publicly pay homage to a character or persona they can connect with on a spiritual level, then cosplay is for them.
Cosplaying is mimicking the personification of a character of your choosing. However, cosplay itself is a personification of your inner desires, passion, and sheer love for a character or franchise.
It’s All-Inclusive
Few feelings in the world compare to being in your hero’s shoes.
It’s pure authority and everyone is free to cosplay as whomever they desire, it’s freedom in all senses of the word.
It is a powerful force that erupts your creativity and motivates you to create things you would never think of doing in your everyday life.
It goes beyond the long-established criteria associated with traditional modeling. Cosplaying, contradictory to what is occasionally portrayed in the media, has no restrictions. It defies traditional beauty standards and what society considers an acceptable body type.
It gives you power, authority, freedom, and perhaps most importantly, a sense of belonging.
Fellowship
It can bring people together. You can approach someone dressed in a costume and discuss that persona with them.
Dressing up has always been a big part of conventions, so it can be a great way to meet local fans who share your interests.
Most are also willing to share their costuming tricks and tips.
So, go ahead and ask!
Finally, cosplay should be about having fun. So, in this short, cruel life, make sure you do what makes you happy. As It won’t be long before you stop because it’s no longer fun for you, after all, people and interests change.
We as cosplayers must understand that having fun is the most important aspect of costuming.
Mental and Physical Health
Let’s face it: most of us work dead-end regular 9-5 jobs that aren’t particularly exciting. This can provide you with a much-needed break from the monotony.
Cosplay is also about escaping your daily routine.
Many people said it was also an excellent health and fitness motivator.
This is also a fantastic confidence booster. I’ve seen my friends and acquaintances completely reform personality-wise when they put on a costume, It’s shocking to see how expressive one can be when one is doing what one love.
Even though they don’t feel obligated to bulk up or slim down for the character. It inadvertently motivates them to exercise.
Because exercise is essential for good mental and physical health, they eventually feel better about themselves.
What are the Values of Cosplay?
Cosplay is a lot like acting.
You can be whoever you want to be, and that’s what makes cosplay so great. It’s a way to express yourself and your personality through an act of self-creation. You get to wear whatever you want and make your own costumes, which means you can literally be anyone or anything (provided it fits within the rules of the convention).
Cosplayers also have a huge sense of community—they’re always supportive of one another, no matter how different their characters are from each other or how different their costumes are from one another.
There’s something about being in a costume that makes people feel safe enough to be themselves and express themselves fully; it’s kind of like an escape from reality into this magical world where everyone is accepted for who they are and can do whatever they want!
It really is an incredible experience—it’s amazing how much joy people bring into their lives by dressing up as their favorite characters!
What role does cosplay play in mental health?
It provides an opportunity to feel visible and validated. It also allows for the processing and discussion of emotional reactions to narratives and parasocial interactions, such as the processing of sadness and loss when fictional characters die.
In my opinion, donning a costume can truly alter your behavior. Northwestern University scholars Hajo Adam and Adam Galinsky invented the phrase “enclothed cognition” to describe how clothing alters people’s psychological processes.
They discovered that individuals who wore a lab coat described as a doctor’s coat outperformed those who wore a lab coat presented as a painter’s coat on attention-related activities.
Why are people drawn to cosplay?
Most people begin cosplaying because they adore a particular character, series, or game and want to express their admiration for it.
People continue to cosplay in order to test their abilities, as a sort of escapism, and to be a part of a community.
On the surface, cosplay appears to be a form of fun dress-up for adults, but it is much deeper and more meaningful for the members of the community. Costumes are labors of love for many people. It’s something you won’t really understand unless you’ve experienced it.
What is the Psychology behind Cosplay?
As we have discussed previously, cosplaying is an expensive hobby, to say the least, and if you wanna cosplay without going into debt, then you’ll have to make your cosplays from scratch. Which easily takes anywhere from 5-80 hours depending on the complexity, material, and character. So yeah, good luck.
Which makes one wonder, why would someone spend so much time and money, on a costume that they’ll probably only wear once a year at most?
Well, it’s all because of two major reasons listed below.
Individual Reasons
According to Robin S. Rosenberg, a clinical psychiatrist at the University of California, San Francisco: “When a cosplayer chooses a specific attire, they are often trying to tap into a particular character, or amalgamation of characters, because something about that vocation resonates with them on a personal level“.
“Psychology tells us that we all play different roles throughout the day and week,” Rosenberg said.
Rosenberg told Live Science that she grew interested in cosplay upon seeing cosplayers at convention centers where she was giving talks.
According to Rosenberg, certain costumes can help some people work through personal issues. For someone dealing with trauma, Batman, for example, can be an especially meaningful cosplay choice.
The dark superhero experienced devastating trauma as a child, witnessing his parents’ brutal murder, which he overcame to become a hero.
“You’ll notice that when people put on a costume of a hero, such as Batman, that has faced similar trauma as them, they’ll naturally begin to open up about their own experiences,” Rosenberg said. “He prevailed and found meaning and purpose in his experience, which inspires them.”
“Wonder Woman is yet another everlasting and popular choice that resounds with many women”, according to Rosenberg. “Partially because she continues to hold her own in the men-dominated world of costumed comic book superheroes.”
“On the other hand, it can bring something out of you that doesn’t usually come out.”
Dressing up as Wonder Woman is indeed a way for those cosplayers to celebrate and embrace her feminine power, according to Rosenberg.
“A significant social boost was noticed when they rocked their costumes,” Rosenberg said.
She explained that wearing a costume can help people get rid of shyness in real life.
Having to put on a costume transmits a noticeable and public statement about the dresser upper’s devotion to an identity or fandom, and it frequently moves strangers to contact the character for conversation and photos.
Rosenberg was surprised to learn from her discussions with cosplayers that many of them identified as introverts.
“When you do any kind of costuming, especially cosplay, it allows you to step outside of yourself,” Rosenberg explained.
Community
Humans are inherently social creatures, we crave each other’s attention and approval. This feature can also be viewed in a newborn child, so it’s not surprising to hear someone wanting to find a community that they resonate with.
Let’s be honest, even today most cosplayers are viewed as “weird” and “cringe” which is all the more reason the cosplay community is so bonded with one another, if society won’t give them the attention they desire, they’ll have to make do some other way, enter the vast cosplay community.
According to Michael Nguyen, a cosplayer and costume design journalist for the “Star Trek” news website trekmovie.com, cosplay plays not only bestows powers on individual people but also foster a sense of community.
According to Nguyen, “Star Trek” was his introduction to cosplay.
And by making and wearing “Star Trek” costumes, he discovered a large and diverse network of people who shared his fascination with the characters and the world they inhabited.
“There’s this idea of diversification and unification in ‘Star Trek,'” Nguyen explained. “It depicts a future that many people want to believe in.”
Conclusion
- Cosplaying recently has become a widespread phenomenon, especially in the west. A big factor in its recent success is the Anime and otaku culture revolutionization in the west.
- Cosplay can bring people together. You can approach someone dressed in a costume and discuss that persona with them.
- Cosplaying, contradictory to what is occasionally portrayed in the media, has no restrictions. It defies traditional beauty standards and what society considers an acceptable body type.
- Cosplayers can devote a significant amount of time, money, and effort to creating or commissioning one-of-a-kind head-to-toe outfits, and one of the reasons why they do that is they resonate with them on a personal level.
- Humans are inherently social creatures, we crave each other’s attention and approval, this feature can also be viewed in a newborn child, no it’s not surprising to hear someone wanting to find a community that they resonate with.
Other Articles
- What Is Cosplay: Exploring Japan’s Subculture
- The Concept Behind Cosplay: Where Did It Start?
- What Does Cosplaying As Someone Mean?
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