[ SECRET POST #2336 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2336 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 04 pages, 081 secrets from Secret Submission Post #334.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

By this stage, dressing as Poison Ivy is a bit like dressing as Superman: she's as much a cultural icon as she is a character. There have been any number of versions of her: DCAU, Uma Thurman, the various comics, The Batman cartoon, the games, etc. She's more or less instantly recognisable, even if only as 'that red-haired sexy plant lady from Batman'.

So I'd say go for it. Say you like the idea of her as a character, and the version from the game had a costume and look you enjoyed, so you went for it. If that's not good enough, screw 'em.

[fenm]

THIS.

The idea that you have to know everything about a character and the universe they inhabit just to dress like them is ridiculous.

And do guys EVER get this level of scrutiny when they cosplay?

[elephantinegrace]

If I can't name all twenty-six pairs of chromosomes in my body; does that mean I'm not a real human?

[(Anonymous)]

I need to use this as a comeback one day!

[thezmage]

I think some guys do, but only in the framework of nice guys who classify them as the "jerks" that their female "friend" is dating.

[pantswarrior]

Heck yeah. I've sort of wanted to cosplay her sometime despite not having actually paid attention to anything DC-related since about 1995, just because I have this thing for plants and plant-elemental-affiliated type characters. The picture in this secret makes me totally want to cosplay this version of her, and I don't actually even know what it's from. XD

So er, yeah, cultural icon. As long as you know the basics no one could call you out on it anyway, and even if you didn't? It's an awesome character design. That's enough to make your cosplay "valid". Anyone who says otherwise is full of it.

[elaminator]

Yes, agreed.

[deadtree]

this is a good point. She's part of our "cultural stockpile" that anyone can draw from whether you've been vetted on nine million versions of her or not.

[(Anonymous)]

She is so overdone by this point, and I wish people would stop cosplaying her. People do costume her because she's "that sexy plant lady," and dammit, that's no reason to costume as anything, unless your full-on intention is for ~*~the male gaze~*~.

[(Anonymous)]

Well, the secret OP did say that the costume is mostly because she feels sexy in it. Poison Ivy is a pretty darn good choice for that.

People cosplay for any number of reasons. To celebrate a favourite character or show. To show something about themselves by the character they choose. To feel like something the character represents to them.

I don't think wanting to play as Ivy because she makes you feel unashamedly female and sexy is a bad thing, no. Ivy is powerful and female, she's basically the inventor of the 'sex pollen' trope, she plays to nature archetypes in ways that are neither the 'animalistic female' nor the 'passive sylph'. Playing her because she makes you feel good about being sexy is as good a reason to play her as any other, really.

[(Anonymous)]

Right. on.

[(Anonymous)]

Or, you know. For fucking fun because you thought it looked nifty.

[(Anonymous)]

For fun =/= "Because she's the sexy plant lady" though, which is the part I think the OC is complaining about.

[(Anonymous)]

Who the fuck are you to say what's fun or not fun?

To some people "because she's the sexy plant lady" is what MAKES it fun and there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with that.

[(Anonymous)]

...No, I wasn't talking about what was fun. I was pointing out that picking someone purely because 'it's sexy plant lady' isn't always the same as 'because it's fun'. If dressing as her is fun for you, awesome! Great! You probably aren't who the other anon was referring to.

[(Anonymous)]

No, the anon is explicitly saying that the male gaze is the only reason you might pick up a character that looks sexy, re-read their post. Thus the response.

[(Anonymous)]

If I'm a lesbian and I prance around in something that I find hot and other cute laydees find hot, and I can ignore men looking at me, like I do all the fucking time, am I just doing it for the ~male gaze~? Screw your simplistic feminism.

[insanenoodlyguy]

Obviously you are doing it for the female gaze (I think this makes you sexist btw. Bad you bad! No cookie!)

[insanenoodlyguy]

See now, I think the less neck-beard butthurt folks are less upset at somebody who cosplays whatever then they are the true fake nerd: somebody who CLAIMS to be a big fan or something when their interest is clearly transparent.

If OP is honest about it, while... shit, we know that group of folks exists that will give them flak about it anyway. But even if they are accused of it, they can know themselves they aren't being fake.

[(Anonymous)]

But the people who dress up as Superman are usually fans of Superman. They may not read all of the comics and what not but they are fans of the icon and not just because he looks good in red and blue and has a cape. That's the difference between OP and people who dress up as Superman. Those people want to feel like the superhero that is Superman, (I bet you nine times out of ten, when they put on the "S" they will puff out their chest and pretend to be a superhero. Even if it's just for a moment.) OP just wants to wear a sexy outfit, character be damned.

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, but Ivy as an icon does mean something just for what she is, the same way Superman does. Ivy, even as just 'the sexy plant villainess from Batman', does stand for something. She's a nature icon, but one that subverts standard female stereotypes just for being what she is. Ivy is a sexy predator (villain), and she's also a plant/flower based female figure, using the one to subvert the other. Ivy flies in the face of a lot of stereotypes: she's not animalistic or vampiric about her sexiness, the way a lot of female villains are, she's not a 'delicate flower' the way a lot of plant-based female characters are, she's sexy and powerful in ways that have nothing whatsoever to do with wanting men herself, since Ivy mostly tends to think of humans as annoying mammalian fleshbags that need to be gotten rid of (with a few, mostly female, exceptions).

Ivy being sexy, from a female point of view, is a lot more complicated than 'skimpy outfit = sexy'. Even with just basic knowledge of her character and role, from any of the myriad adaptations or even just pop cultural osmosis, being 'sexy like Poison Ivy' isn't necessarily the same as being 'sexy full stop'. She's an icon, same as Superman. You wear a Superman cape to feel like a hero, you dress as Ivy to feel sexy and powerful in ways you're not usually allowed to be.