FAQ: "What is CROSSPLAY"? and related word definitions

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  • [QUOTE=Belmont]Speaking for myself, I would also add "ungendered/androgynous/neuter" to this category. I just never really identified myself strongly in any gender role...

    - Belmont
    (In Real Life: bishounen get no love!)[/QUOTE]
    You're not the only one ^_^ My old roomie and i decided what we are would be called "asexual."

    I have to pretty much aggree with most all of what is said. The beauty of Cosplaying is that you take on another role wholy and completely for a day, and all that other stuff really doesn't matter, as long as you love what you are doing. :dance: I also love how openminded and accepting everyone is being in this forum, it's uplifting and makes one feel even better about a favoured hobby.

  • I think the word crossplay means Cross Gender Costume Play Remove the gender and the costume and you have crossplay

  • I am glad you cleared this up, because several people asked me if me dressing as Ritsu from Fruits Basket was crossplay. I didn't think so because he's male even though he wears female clothes, but I honestly didn't know.

  • Okay, here's a question to you all:

    If a transitioning transsexual cosplays someone who is the opposite of their current physical sex, is that crossplay? Here's an added layer: that character is a crossdresser himself.

  • Wait..so the situation is that a say...female transitioning to male wants to cos/crossplay as Mana, what would that be called?

    Hrm, well I think if we are looking at just current physical sex, not what the person considers themself, then I guess it would be crossplay; since Mana is the opposite sex (male), but not crossdressing; since Mana is dressed in female clothes, and female happens to be the current physical sex of the person who is dressing up.

    Whew! ^_^;; that was a bit hard to get the words right. Sorry if it didn't come out properly...

  • Labels are just that, labels. They don't define us. Arguing (either with others or with oneself) about when a particular label (for example crossplay) applies or not is not time I'd consider well spent. Semantics won't make our costume better or worst.

    For me, the usefulness of "crossplay" as a subject refers to the practicality of it: does the costume includes binding? tucking? body silhouette reshaping? Hiding a beard with makeup? Faking a beard with makeup? Then it's crossplaying, regardless of the "nominal" gender of the character or the cosplayer. At least in my book.

  • Sorry about that then ^^;;; Dani kind of said what I meant.
    I'm not that good with words, so if I wrote anything so it sounded wrong, please forgive me.

  • [QUOTE=cd19]Your sexuality is based on a spectrum. If your a crossdresser, your gonna be further towards gay on that spectrum. I think most crossdressers suppress their feelings towards someone of the same sex, as being a crossdresser is enough to deal with. If roughly 2 or 3 percent of the population crossdresses, its truly hard to find someone who actually knows what you have gone through. I think that a relationship between 2 male crossdressers is inevitable at some point. To sum up my point, your sexuality and gender to have significant correlations.[/QUOTE]

    I couldn't disagree more with what you just said... You are just perpetrating an unfortunate stereotype.

    Dani

  • [QUOTE=cd19]Your sexuality is based on a spectrum. If your a crossdresser, your gonna be further towards gay on that spectrum[/QUOTE]
    Uhhhh.... "A" doesn't lead to "B". "A" refers to orientation (who you are attracted to), whereas "B" is related to self-identification (the various aspects of your own psychological self-identity.) These are two entirely different things.

    Yes, a person's sexual orientation is somewhere on a spectrum.
    A person's sexual identity is somewhere on another spectrum.
    These spectrums do not match one-to-one; in fact, they don't predict each other at all.

    You can believe people are "in denial" all you like, but there are plenty of crossdressers out there who really are NOT attracted to others of the same physical sex as themselves.

    And this discussion should stop now, because Cosplay.Com is about cosplaying, not sexual identity or orientation. This FAQ was created for the purposes of providing comprehensive information and clearing up misconceptions, not to be a springboard for the discussion of crossdressing (as independent from theatrical costuming) or homosexuality.

  • Karisu-sama? If you do not mind, what is your opinion on Goo's question? *is curious* I didn't do too good a job and you know seem to know a lot about the controversy opinions...

  • [QUOTE=Saaski_Moql]Karisu-sama? If you do not mind, what is your opinion on Goo's question? *is curious* I didn't do too good a job and you know seem to know a lot about the controversy opinions...[/QUOTE]
    OK, I'll have to go back and look at the question....

  • [QUOTE=aguynamedgoo]Okay, here's a question to you all:

    If a transitioning transsexual cosplays someone who is the opposite of their current physical sex, is that crossplay? Here's an added layer: that character is a crossdresser himself.[/QUOTE]
    Define "current physical sex" for a transitioning transsexual!! As you mention, said person is in transition from one physical sex to the other, and may even at some point have physical characteristics of both sexes during the transition. As far as I know, the proper etiquette is to treat such a person as being of the physical sex they self-define as and shall have when the transition is complete (unless they prefer to be treated as the former until then, of course. It's their choice.)

    That makes: FtM in transition = effectively M, so it would be crossplay to cosplay as a female character.

    As I mentioned above, the fact that a character may be a crossdresser is immaterial. Kamatari and Nuriko are physically male, though they dress and act as women. Therefore, a girl cosplaying Nuriko is still "crossplaying". (One could however, put up a very convincing argument for both of those particular characters as would-be transsexuals who live in societies where a physical transition is not possible.)

    You know, when you come right down to it, it's all just COSPLAY anyway. It would be nice to not have to differentiate. I am female; I cosplay females, I cosplay males, it's all good.

  • [QUOTE=Karisu-sama]Define "current physical sex" for a transitioning transsexual!! As you mention, said person is in transition from one physical sex to the other, and may even at some point have physical characteristics of both sexes during the transition. As far as I know, the proper etiquette is to treat such a person as being of the physical sex they self-define as and shall have when the transition is complete (unless they prefer to be treated as the former until then, of course. It's their choice.) [...].[/QUOTE]

    Thanks a lot for that. I actually got into a little discussion that turned into a little arguement before I just said "look, it's a costume I would have worn no matter what my sex and gender was so let's give it a rest". But to clearify, the transition period is an "evaluation" period (usually of about a year) in which the transsexual recieves therapy, but no hormones or surgery just yet. They are required to dress and act like the sex they ultimate wish to become, with the goal being to pass as much as you are capable of. So physically at the moment I am still all female, but I have to employ several techniques to pass as male (including binding, body language, minimizing hips, and sometimes on the phone I have to train my voice). My friends who know about this see a perfect opportunity to get good crossplay advice, hence I was willing to admit to this and share it with the crossplay forums here. (Anime fans are great in that they seem a lot more tolerant of it and me than people in the "real world" are.)

    But thanks for your opinion. It was basically my stance on it: dressing and acting like a man in my day to day life is nothing different for me, so doing it for a costume doesn't really seem like crossplay to me. And if you look below at my signature, I do eventually plan to cosplay a crossdressing male that is one of the characters that people can make a convincing arguement is transsexual.

  • Could be because I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, but I have a number of friends who are transsexual, several whom I've known since they were pre-op. So, when a friend makes that tough decision to stop being a guy and become a girl or vice versa, I just need to create a new mental niche for a person whom I know but am also getting to know all over again.