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| Our waitress at Weber Grill. She was seriously that excited. |
I should start this off by saying my attitude towards anyone who dresses up in costume at a con is that you are in fact doing it for some level of attention. That attention may not be on a personal level ("Look at me!" vs. "Look at how much work I put into this fantastic outfit!"), but you are putting something on display and need to accept some of that one way or the other. Not that it is ALL okay, of course, but the looks and everything are just going to be par for the course. So with that in mind, as someone who has never done anything really on par with this, I have to say I found the sudden constant stares a bit unnerving. I think anyone who does this their first time and either doesn't adjust to it (I did, eventually) probably shouldn't repeat the experience. Anyone who keeps doing this and complains about people staring or asking for photos, though, is being a bit obtuse.
I got to the hall a little past 10:00am and walked in. I think I settled into the pose without thinking about it, since the heavy black gloves just make you want to curl your hands into fists. Right off the bat, I had people walking by and putting their hands up for a high-five. People would turn and watch me walk, stopping what they were doing, or just stare as we passed. They would stare openly, which would be creepy if I were in street clothes, but I accepted this might happen. People began singing various songs from the production at me, which was kind of neat, and a few folks stopped and politely asked me to take a photo with them in various pose requests.
So here's where it began to take a bit of a dark turn.
Like I said before, I understand that on some level, you become a bit of community property in this situation. As someone who is a familiar face for a small gaming company at this con and at their regional tournaments, I'm used to this some. But it was that taken to the nth degree for certain. 90% of the folks were nice, cheerful, enthusiastic, but respectful. They'd say "Oh, hey, can you stop so I can take a photo," or "Can I take a photo with you," or "Hey grab that guy in the white coat and goggles and smile real big while you punch him repeatedly!" That last one did not actually happen, but I was constantly hoping it would. I'd set my bag down, do as I had been asked, shake hands or exchange some comments about the show or costume and be on my way.
The other 10%, though... well, they stuck out a lot more. On several occasions, people would literally shout and/or order me to stand still so they could get a shot. They weren't doing it in a loud, "I need to get your attention over the crush of people here," way. They were doing it in a "WHY ARE YOU MOVING JESUS CHRIST STAND STILL HOW DARE YOU BE WALKING" way. I'll be honest, I tried to be good-natured about it (and again, if I went off on someone here, I didn't know how that would play out for my second job), but the first couple of times I complied out of sheer confusion and feeling a bit stunned. Some among this group of jerks would even pat me on the chest like I was working for them and give me a "great, buddy" in a condescending way before they wandered off.
And then we had three super weird instances that made me stop and think about how difficult women in costume have it. Keep in mind, the Captain Hammer outfit is almost completely body-covering. Some of your forearm and elbow is really all that sticks out. The pants are bulky combat style things. I guess the shirt is a little form-fitting, but that's about it. There's nothing even mildly sexual about this outfit, and yet:
- One young woman asked to take a photo with me, and her friend took out her camera. As soon as I agreed, she ran over, wrapped a hand around my waist, and sort've... I dunno. She turned towards me and kinda did a weird press-and-slide sort of move. I am not a crazy person for thinking that the bits of her she decides to rub on me made this really forward. After the shot was done, she gave my backside a firm squeeze, and ran off with her friend.
- A guy about my age (30-ish) asked for a photo in the same way, his friend taking it. He slung his arm around my shoulder immediately, did a thumbs up with his free hand, and the shot was taken. Once that was done, he let his hand drop down, gave my bits a friendly pat with a smirk, and wandered off not even having the good grace to giggle off embarassedly like the girl had.
- In the dealer hall, a couple of folks behind a booth asked for photos, which I was happy to do (trying to avoid the traffic of people in the booth lanes). After that, one of the women asked me if I had ever considered doing a Malcolm Reynolds costume because, "you have the hair for it." She said this leaning forward and whispering it in a weird porn-sexy sort of way. I laughed, thinking this was some sort of joke, but she was seriously just coming on to me like something out of a tape you don't leave marked.
These were interspersed through the day along the really positive experiences** (our waitress at Weber flipped out over the costume, it was hilarious), but those three really stood out and - even with a few days passing - seem to just sour me to doing it ever again. It really made me think of what some girl in an Aerith costume or something relatively neutral like that has to deal with. I don't think I'm specially enlightened or more perfectly understand the problems women gamers have to cope with, but I thought I might want to share that. I know a lot of folks really understand that there's an acceptable line, even for the folks we dismiss as attention whores - no one (sane) is saying this sort of behavior is ok. I was just a little surprised by how easily and flippantly that line gets crossed.
(**I didn't consider that the company meeting was that same day, and I have yet to know if showing up to it like that raised or lowered my capital)
(*sidenote to this, there was a woman dressed up as Captain Hammer, and the question was asked "So... so... what IS the hammer, now?" I don't think she got it, she looked real confused)
