Marshall University Marshall Digital Scholar Theses, Dissertations and Capstones 2018 "This Isn't for You, This Is for Me": Women in Cosplay and Their Experiences Combatting Harassment and Stigma Christopher M. Lucas [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://mds.marshall.edu/etd Part of the Gender and Sexuality Commons, Social Psychology and Interaction Commons, and the Sociology of Culture Commons Recommended Citation Lucas, Christopher M., ""This Isn't for You, This Is for Me": Women in Cosplay and Their Experiences Combatting Harassment and Stigma" (2018). Theses, Dissertations and Capstones. 1145. https://mds.marshall.edu/etd/1145 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Marshall Digital Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses, Dissertations and Capstones by an authorized administrator of Marshall Digital Scholar. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. “THIS ISN’T FOR YOU, THIS IS FOR ME”: WOMEN IN COSPLAY AND THEIR EXPERIENCES COMBATTING HARASSMENT AND STIGMA A thesis submitted to the Graduate College of Marshall University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Sociology by Christopher M. Lucas Approved by Kristi Fondren, Ph.D., Committee Chairperson Robin Conley Riner, Ph.D. Jess Morrissette, Ph.D. Marshall University May 2018 ii © 2018 Christopher Matthew Lucas ALL RIGHTS RESERVED iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The process of writing a thesis is nothing if not daunting, arduous, and sometimes overwhelming. That this thesis turned out as well as it did is due in no small part to my truly exceptional committee. I first wish to thank Dr. Kristi Fondren, chair of my committee and primary editor of this work. Dr. Fondren has truly been everything one could hope for in an adviser: her guidance, her advice, her constructive criticism, and indeed her support have gotten me through my thesis and through graduate school. She put me in charge of all the big decisions of this study, so I really feel responsible for its creation, even though she has remained mercifully present and influential the entire time. I could not have asked for a better thesis adviser, teacher, and mentor. I wish also to express gratitude to the members of my thesis committee. I thank Dr. Robin Conley Riner for introducing me to gender studies, for being so helpful during the writing process, and for being a superb mentor during my graduate career. Appreciation is also due to Dr. Jess Morrissette, who I thank for not only being a terrific adviser during my undergraduate career and for fostering a love of studying popular culture but also for lending his perspective to this project. In addition, I wish to express the deepest gratitude to Dr. Marty Laubach. While he did not serve on my committee, his contributions to my academic career and to my life are almost too numerous to mention. I credit him with introducing me to the discipline of sociology, guiding my first year in the field, encouraging me when I felt like I just could not do it anymore, and just being a wonderful mentor and friend since I began graduate school. Words are empty, of course, but I consider myself fortunate to have been taught by all of you. As outstanding as my committee and all of my mentors may be, I am lucky enough to say that my cohort is equally so. For their great camaraderie and friendship throughout my graduate iv career, I offer thanks to the following friends and colleagues in sociology and gender studies: Paul Blazer, Caitlin Greaf, Zach Montgomery, Danielle Mullins, Autumn O’Toole, Jennifer Parsons, Shane Pierce, Heather Sprouse, Allison Stamper, and Jared Thomas. You have all been terrific classmates and support systems, and I am proud and happy to know each of you. Ardent gratitude is also due to my friends who sustained me and forgave me my absences while completing this thesis. I am lucky enough to have so many friends I love that there is not room to list all of them here, but you know exactly who you are. I also offer heartfelt thanks to my family, particularly my sister Renau and my mother Rose, who have always been my greatest supporters. To the thirty women who graciously donated their time and their voices, this project would not have been possible without you in the most literal sense. From the bottom of my heart, thank you all so much. I hope I have done justice to your stories. Finally, I thank Marshall University—for the financial support, for the community, and most importantly for being my home lo these many years. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Approval of Thesis .......................................................................................................................... ii Copyright ....................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgments.......................................................................................................................... iv List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. x Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... xi Chapter I: Introduction & Background ........................................................................................... 1 Trajectory of the Text ......................................................................................................... 5 Chapter II: Review of Relevant Literature...................................................................................... 7 The Convention Space: A World in Four Days .................................................................. 7 Cosplay and Gender Performance ...................................................................................... 8 Motivations to Cosplay ..................................................................................................... 11 Rape Culture ..................................................................................................................... 12 Communities of Study in Rape Culture ................................................................ 13 Rape Culture, Gender Norms, and Technology .................................................... 14 Sexual Harassment ............................................................................................................ 16 Varying Definitions of Sexual Harassment .......................................................... 17 Women’s Experiences with Harassment .............................................................. 18 Sexual Harassment and Social Discourse ............................................................. 18 Consent Customs .............................................................................................................. 20 The Cosplay Community as a Microcosm of Society ...................................................... 21 Chapter III: Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................. 23 Presentation of Self: Dramaturgy and Impression Management ...................................... 23 vi Stigma ............................................................................................................................... 26 Gender Performativity ...................................................................................................... 28 Resisting Gender ............................................................................................................... 30 Concluding Thoughts: Goffman, Butler, and the Women who Cosplay .......................... 33 Chapter IV: Methodology ............................................................................................................. 34 Participant-Observation .................................................................................................... 34 Selection of Locations........................................................................................... 35 Perspective in Participant-Observation ................................................................. 37 Recording Observations ........................................................................................ 39 In-Depth Interviews .......................................................................................................... 41 Selection of Participants ....................................................................................... 43 Sample Characteristics .......................................................................................... 44 Data Analysis Procedures ................................................................................................. 46 Chapter V: Findings ...................................................................................................................... 48 “I Look to Her for Strength”: Choosing the Character to Cosplay ................................... 48 Personal Connection to the Character ................................................................... 48 Appealing Character Design ................................................................................. 51 Similar Physical Appearance ................................................................................ 52 “Creating a Totem”: Crafting and Exhibiting the Cosplay ..............................................