No.

Gee, Constantin Stanislavski, maybe you should consider, I dunno, breaking character?

You’re not a face character at Disney World, you’re not Andy Kaufman and you’re not being possessed by the spirit of Frank N. Furter. Being in costume’s not an excuse for assholery.

The context is still: you are not that character, and dressing up like a shithole of a character doesn’t give you an excuse to act like a shithole.

Harassment from good looking guys is still harassment, still wrong and still pisses people off.

INB4FEDORA

No, unwanted attention is unwanted attention. If someone is cosplaying that way they should probably limit their character moments to friends and aquaintances who know what they’re up to.

So much this! I swear, some guys cannot even fathom just not sharing their every thought with the strangers who unwittingly inspired those thoughts.

“I never knew that fact about Asimov” . . . which entirely proves the point that we have, as a culture, simply looked away and considered it unimportant up until now.

a lot of people have already responded, some implying what i’m about to say. but if the character a person is cosplaying says or does racist, sexist, misogynistic, homophobic, whatever things, why would wearing a costume change that? if somebody calls me a derogatory term without malicious intent, it still hurts.

I had a professor in college who wouldn’t let anybody float a “devil’s advocate” argument without first articulating their own honestly held thoughts on the subject. I always liked that. So, devil’s advocate aside, how do *you* feel about the situation you described?

And there are plenty of men who grope now. It’s not a generational thing.

No. Still unacceptable. A cosplay doesn’t give you the excuse to violate policies or harass others.

Nah. Just a blanket “don’t touch people without their permission” rule.

No, even if you intended it as a joke/role playing, you can’t be sure that it’s not going to be taken the wrong way. Is that extra bit of authenticity really worth potentially upsetting someone who’s trying to enjoy the con?

No, context is not everything.

There really is no reason in this day and age for a con not to have a strong harassment policy and response system. The template has been issued, the information is available, and there is no credible downside to implementing it. At this point, to not have one is just sending a terrible message about priorities.

Eh, you are being way too nitpicky. This is like those people who say people need to be more tolerant by respecting their intolerant statements (note I believe your point was more semantic and do not think you are one of those people).

Excellent article. Many years ago, back in the late 70's at a con in Kansas City, I too suffered what could have ended badly as a sexual assault. It was terrifying and I didn’t know what to do because I was so unprepared for something like that happening at a place celebrating a topic I love. But someone intervened…

That said, I’m going to get nitpicky

You forgot his complaining about how she won’t stand there and do a sexy pose (that likely hurts like heck) while he photographs her with his DSLR camera from at least three different angles. Then does not even ask her name so he could attribute her correctly in the photos.

One small way for you as a convention fan/goer to help?