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Arts & Culture

Comic-Con 2014: A Crossplay Haven

Comic-Con 2014: A Crossplay Haven

I was on the hunt for "crossplayers," a recent pop culture trend in which people dress up as a different gender than their own. San Diego hosted Comic-Con International for its 45th year. What better place than this to find them? I scoured San Diego's Convention Center, where the Con is held, and downtown San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter.

And find them I did. (I urge you to watch our video to fully appreciate the costumes.)

Lady cosplayers sported the attire of every character you could imagine — Green Arrow, Flash, Joker, Link, Wolverine and a healthy army of stormtroopers. But there was an evident trend: These crossplayers were all women. (You can find tips for female-to-male crossplay here.)

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Chiefly, they were characters of the Marvel universe. Throughout San Diego's Con there was a bevy of women dressed as the male superhero characters Thor, Loki and Captain America. Some of whom were beginners, and others had been improving their outfits over many such events.

The Marvel theme was expected, as "Avengers" films are blockbuster hits. But far more female Captain Americas showed up than Thors — surprising as Marvel recently announced its new comic book-based Thor will be female. (Though a debate would be reasonable as to whether that would be crossplaying.)

Five Most Anticipated Films At Comic-Con 2014 (Fandango Poll)

  1. "Avengers: Age of Ultron"
  2. "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice"
  3. "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies"
  4. "Sin City: A Dame To Kill For"
  5. "Mad Max: Fury Road"

It was a long search before I arrived on any male-to-female crossplayers. The first was a pair of men dressed as Tina and Louise of the cartoon show "Bob's Burgers." When asked, "Why did you choose these characters?," they simply stated that they relate to Tina and Louise the most; their characters' personality matched their own. "And it's really nice not wearing pants."

Rounding out my hunt, I found a man cosplaying a female version of a male character. He was the Joker from "Batman." And he was convincingly feminine, with a stride and figure to match his attire.

San Diego's Comic-Con proved no rules apply when it comes to self-expression (but many for your weaponry). Men and women alike were admired and incessantly photographed throughout the Con halls for this crazed pop culture event — regardless of what gender they were, or dressed to be.

Corrected: October 6, 2024 at 4:25 AM PDT
Freelance videographer Hilary Andrews contributed to this package.