Cosplay does not equal consent.... Yeah ladies... keep your hands to yourself. (male victim harassment story)

kragshot · 2013-04-13T20:49:08+00:00

Okay, I can speak on this particular subject with some genuine authority. I am a member of a group that consults for/organizes/performs as event security as a number of anime and SF/Fantasy conventions in the US. I have seen both sides of this discussion. I have seen a lot of the harassment that goes on which victimizes both males and females and I have seen both males and females indulging in the harassment.

We normally only hear the stories where the females are subjected to harassment by males. I can tell you those all day. What people never talk about are the ones where the males are the targets or the females are the perpetrators; until now. I can't give names for obvious reasons, but I can give conventions and years. Here are a few choice situations that I have had to deal with.

One generally disturbing thing are the "flash yaoi mobs" of fan girls. At Anime Central 2005 (Rosemont (Chicago), IL), we had to escort two guys cosplaying Squall and Seifer (from FF VIII) to their rooms for their protection after such an episode. The guys were posing for a random photo shoot when this group of about 25 girls came up to them and began the incessant chanting. Until you see a group of fan girls screeching "KISS! KISS!" at two guys at the top of their lungs and either screeching "SQUEEEE" orgasmically if they do or howling like banshees in anger if they don't; you don't know the meaning of terror. The two guys who were not gay refused to kiss and then the girls started throwing things at them. It got real ugly real quick.

That same year at the same convention, we found a couple having sex in the Soap Bubble (the convention's major dance)...not exactly a rare occurrence but the catch was that the guy had been roofied, sat in a chair and the girl was riding him for all she was worth. He was totally unresponsive and when we brought this up to the girl she said; "...he was hard; he wanted it." I suggested to the guy that he charge the girl with rape. The girl threatened to sue claiming defamation of character. The guy got a bus-ride to the hospital and Rosemont Police refused to charge the girl.

OhayoCon (Columbus, OH) 2011; A couple was brought into con security for "inappropriate displays of affection in a no-access area." They were making out pretty hot and heavy in one of the hotel/convention center's back corridors. So, when we decided to get their information, we found out that much to the guy's (24) horror; the girl was quite underage (14). The girl admitted lying about her age to the guy and she even had a fake ID. So, we let them both go, but confiscated the girl's ID. This happens far more often than anyone would like to admit. These girls know what they are doing and don't care. The girl in that particular case did not look her age at all and then added to that the fact that she was cosplaying in the "Gothic Lolita" style and you just can't tell more times than not unless you know what to look for.

Anime Milwaukee (WI) 2013; The Saturday evening of the con, two guys and two girls were brought into the convention security office. The report came over the radio that one of the girls was the victim of having an "upskirt" pic taken of her without her permission. The two girls were both dressed in pretty revealing clothing and the guys were dressed in normal clothing. So folks were pretty ready to read the two guys the riot act when one of the girls points at the other girl and screamed; "SHE SNUCK AND TOOK A UPSKIRT PIC OF ME!!!" So, when we looked at the other girl she shrugged and responded; "Well, I like fine asses, so when I saw her's I decided that I wanted a pic of it...."

But that isn't the end of the story; as it turned out, the assailant did sneak and take an upskirt picture of the victim. But then the victim allowed her to take a second shot of her bottom. The "assailant" had two pictures of the girl's ass on her camera. The first pic was slightly blurred as if she was trying to snap the picture on the sly. But the second picture was crystal clear and in fact, you could tell that the girl had posed in such a way to make sure that the photographer got all that she wanted in the picture. We discovered that she only protested after her boyfriend saw what was going on. Yes...the two men were the significant others of the respective girls. Needless to say, the "victim's" boyfriend was pretty pissed when the truth was revealed.

TL;DR:

The stuff that "Fan Service Renji" was talking about in his video is quite typical of the behavior that happens at anime conventions. Males and females indulge in inappropriate behavior at these cons, but like everything else, when men are the victims, it does tend to be glossed over.

ObsidianOverlord · 2013-04-13T04:19:44+00:00

Please do not touch the Cosplayers, the cosplayers are not here to be touched.

masuabie · 2013-04-13T06:18:15+00:00

As a cosplayer, I always have extreme respect for other cosplayers. I always ask before taking any pictures and especially before touching anyone. Unfortunately, the con scene does have a lot of people who lack social etiquette and don't know their boundaries.

Pharmakoza · 2013-04-13T02:00:59+00:00

There is a girl I have the displeasure of knowing who touches me whenever she sees me. At first it wasn't too bad and I kind of liked the attention, but it quickly escalated into something that makes me extremely uncomfortable. She'll grab my hair, rub my legs, arms and chest. I tell her to stop with varying amounts of success. A mutual acquaintance informed me that this girl has asperger's and is transgender (yet still likes men), so he/she does not pick up on social cues well. She is very into anime and hangs out with a group of people who will be attending an anime convention in August. I wonder if anime attracts those kinds of people.

Exactly_what_I_think · 2013-04-13T04:23:13+00:00

I'm not saying I don't believe him but some cuts to the video he is refinancing would be incredibly helpful to his movement.

Women harass my gay workout find on a regular basis. I'm stating to get some physically harassing female attention because of my gym activities only once has it been scary. I'm quick to pull out my phone after saying "Don't touch me".

KonDon · 2013-04-13T09:25:54+00:00

For some reason this video cracked me up. Any feminists would just say "this is a result of the patriarchy" which is retarded.

oneiorosgrip · 2013-04-13T15:39:51+00:00

You know, one should be able to expect women to know better than this, if one were to base one's expectations on feminist assertions about harassment and sexual violence.

After all, if being harassed and subjected to sexual violence is the common female experience that feminists claim it to be, then should women and girls not be so sensitized by that as to automatically understand that doing it to someone else would be hurtful, intimidating, and embarrassing?

The double standard in attitude which many women have toward this type of behavior ("You can't touch me, but I can touch you.") really highlights the hypocrisy inherent to the feminist treatment of harassing behavior, and their treatment of behavior they don't like as if it were also harassing behavior (OMG! Stop looking at me!). Men are socially expected to be aware of and sensitive to women's objections. Women should face the same expectations... but instead, men are also so socially expected to put up with this shit that seeing a guy open up and discuss the problem this openly is rare.

LaFamilia · 2013-04-13T16:22:31+00:00

Not to demean this guys issues but he is not helping himself or his cause when he makes jokes about it throughout his videos. I thought it was supposed to be serious, I get the feeling he is kind of just bragging about unwanted attention.

oneiorosgrip · 2013-04-13T05:39:40+00:00

Roofies are an urban myth and this guy doesn't sound too believable.

BrambleEdge · 2013-04-13T00:11:48+00:00

How did they come to the conclusion that he was given a date rape drug? By talking it over? That's quite some assumption.

At the end, after he's talked about what happened to him (being harassed by women) he makes a u-turn and says it's a problem with some men. Jesus christ, what an idiot. Given this example of complete lack of intelligence and the fact that his sole evidence for being slipped a roofie is that he talked it over with a friend, I sincerely doubt he was roofied.

Oh, and taking pictures is harassment?

Title	Cosplay does not equal consent.... Yeah ladies... keep your hands to yourself. (male victim harassment story)
Author	Clauderoughly
Upvotes	149
Comments	59
Date	April 12, 2013 8:36 PM UTC (13 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/mensrights/comments/1c8a0i/cosplay-does-not-equal-consent-yeah-ladies-keep-/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/cosplay-does-not-equal-consent-yeah-ladies-keep.1610422 https://theredarchive.com/post/1610422

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