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[Riku-Risa]

I came to think.. personally I'm sick and tired of people making "gender-bender cosplays" of a character, where there is no reason at all to do so, but showing skin.. (ex: it makes no sense to turn Sasuke from Naruto into a girl. but Naruto makes way more sense, since it's in the anime. another ex: Shizuo (Durarara!!) is just a no go to make into a girl cosplay.. but Izaya (durarara!!) is far more accepted; since it's connected to the anime.. it could also go the other way around (girl to boy) but I rarely see that)

Your opinion?

[Bisected8]

Well if someone wants to cosplay a character but doesn't like crossplay I think it's fair enough...but yeah doing it just to make it sexy's a bit irritating.

[Riku-Risa]

But if they don't wanna be that gender, then why choose that character? That's the part I don't get

[DingDing]

Well my next cosplay is sexy no jutsu Neji haha. I think its fine, but I agree it shouldn't be just to show skin. I'm not doing it for that anyway.
I think it can be so much fun as well, creating a boy or girl version of a character!

[Reinna]

People spend time and money on whatever costume they want to make, and all the more props to them. I've never done it before, but I can think of a lot of characters for whom it would be a lot of fun to design an opposite-gender costume, boys and girls, and I've seen people pull it off fantastically... and not so fantastically, but that's generally the case for all cosplay.

[MissLunatic]

Originally Posted by Riku-Risa

But if they don't wanna be that gender, then why choose that character? That's the part I don't get

Cause they love said char? Sometimes ppl have a problem to find a female char they like from certain series just regarding personality. And I have to admit concerning some series it is really difficult since there are simply less well developed female chars than males...
But still they wanna cosplay with friends and/or just love that fandome... and if you have a problem with crossplay it can be really difficult.

I personally don't really like genderbender versions where they make no sense either but then again I don't mind crossplaying at all, just as I like to cosplay females.
So I rather prefer to cosplay the "real" char not an alternate version.

Besides some ppl also just do it for fun once in a while. You can't be absolutely serious all the time with your chars I guess. I love to make fun of them as well just in another way.^^.

[Reinna]

Originally Posted by Riku-Risa

But if they don't wanna be that gender, then why choose that character? That's the part I don't get

Because they like the character? I mean, purely aesthetic reasons aside, there are a lot of reasons for why a girl might not want to cosplay a guy and would rather cosplay the girl version of him. Binding can be an incredible pain (literally!) for some people, some people don't have face structures suitable for passing as the other gender, some characters have open chest outfits and open chest binding is a big hassle, etc.etc. On girl-to-guy characters, some female characters wear very little and maybe the cosplayer would rather have an excuse to cover up. Maybe it's a winter con.

[touchmon]

Personally, as someone who is going to be doing a genderbend, the reason I do is because I love a male character in the show more than I do a female one. My example is that I love Exorcist but the problem is all the females in the show annoy me to some extent or wear skimpy clothes. The guys I feel have more personality and omph to them. And personally I have no interest in crossplaying, it just doesn't appeal to me. So all that's left is to take one of the guys and genderbend them. Of course I believe genderbends have to be done with care with making sure the outfit is what the character would wear if he/she was the opposite gender and still keeping the core parts of them like if they wear a specific design or have a special pin ect.

[Tangledinblue]

I've made a few gender bent cosplays in the past, and still have a few planned for the future. The reason why I like do them because I find it fun to be creative and think how would this male character look as a female. And I don't do it to show off skin. To me it is all about fun and being creative.

[kaligoddess]

Originally Posted by Riku-Risa

I came to think.. personally I'm sick and tired of people making "gender-bender cosplays" of a character, where there is no reason at all to do so, but showing skin..

That last part is what gets me. I think gender-bends can be a lot of fun, but it's a pet peeve of mine when femme!whoever ends up looking like stripper!whoever without a good reason.

It's one thing if the male version is a walking shirtless scene and you give the femme version a bikini top, but if you've got a stodgy male character with cloth head to toe, his femme version probably wouldn't wear a belly shirt, mini-skirt and stripper boots.

[doxiequeen1]

I'd rather see a good gender bend then a bad crossplay, if that makes any sense.

BUT 90% of the time girls just use "gender bend" to slutty up the mens default outfit, and that really bothers me. It comes of as lazy and slutty and is somewhat pathetic.

If the character your gender bending isn't slutty, your outfit shouldn't be.

But I do like gender bend versions that are really creative while still being recognizable, or if they are official like this, or this.

[smoreface]

Originally Posted by doxiequeen1

I'd rather see a good gender bend then a bad crossplay, if that makes any sense.

BUT 90% of the time girls just use "gender bend" to slutty up the mens default outfit, and that really bothers me. It comes of as lazy and slutty and is somewhat pathetic.

If the character your gender bending isn't slutty, your outfit shouldn't be.

But I do like gender bend versions that are really creative while still being recognizable, or if they are official like this, or this.

This. This 100%.

I don't really blame girls who want to show off their body (I really wonder if it is just for the sake of cock-teasing) but there are plenty of characters that already do that.
I wonder if some do it because its easier to gender bend than trying to do someone who is already sexy but with more effort in the costume.

[tifaia]

There's nothing wrong with gender-bending. People can cosplay as they see fit. If their reason to gender-bend is to make a sexy costume, that's their choice. If it's because all of the female characters in a show/game/movie are lame and the men are dominant figures, that's fine if they want to transform them. It's not our place to judge a person on how they wish to cosplay.

I plan to do a femme-version with a costume group that we're working on for a few reasons: 1. I am not an 8 year old boy. 2. I don't have the body of an 8 year old boy. 3. I can only bind so much before it really becomes painful, and I still have chesticles. 4. I think my idea will be very true to the character, and cute at the same time.

I'm not doing it in order to "slut up" an outfit. It's for me, my enjoyment, and my comfort. People will still be able to clearly recognize the character, but it won't be done in a manner to make it intentionally full of skin. When done well, gender-bending can be fantastic: http://www.cosplay.com/photo/2810140/

[Neko.Oni]

Also, I'd like to point out that in a few instances (such as pokemon) characters' gender is not always give. (while not cosplay I know it was always fun in fanfics for pokemon to turn out being the opposite gender that people thought --- yes Ash's Pikachu was usually female) On that same note it can depend on which version of the anime you watch if the character is very femanine, on occasion you run into "cleanup" on americanized Anime where it turns out She's A Man In Japan

[Shimi]

I say it depends. In most cases, it kinda bugs me. I won't completely shun the idea, since sometimes it works (I've seen a damn good gender-bender of Oerba Yun Fang from FFXIII)
Or maybe some people just can't pull off a crossplay?

Aren't most gender-benders "female-version-of-whoever"? (that's technically the part that bugs me, but then again, I am a crossplayer)