How to Crossplay
What if adults decided to dress up any way they wanted and pretended to be whoever they wanted to be? That's exactly what cosplay (a portmanteau of costume and role play) and now crossplay (a portmanteu of cosplay and crossdressing) is all about. Cosplay entails dressing up as favorite characters from manga, anime, video games or television. Crossplay is pretty much the same thing...except in drag.
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Instructions
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Become an anime/video game/manga enthusiast. In order to participate in crossplay, you must know which character you want to portray, and that character's relationship to other characters the other players may assume.
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Get involved in the crossplay community by finding others who enjoy it. While you might think that showing up to your first crossplay event without having done much research would be no problem (and you may be right), it is more fun to immerse yourself in the crossplay community first.
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Dress up as a favorite character. Try to remember that you need to make your costume yourself while designing it. Don't get carried away. If you get it wrong, it won't go unnoticed.
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Design your costume and set to work making it. Dress up and head for the crossplay convention.
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Tips & Warnings
While in some parts of the world, homosexual and transgendered people are accepted in mainstream society, in many places a social stigma attaches to these orientations. Crossplay offers people in those places a way to express themselves without the added stigma.
Cosplay originated in Japan. It has become popular in the United States, where Japanese pop culture of this kind is becoming increasingly popular.
A big issue within many crossplaying communities is whether someone should make their cross-dressing obvious or try to pass.
Resources
Comments
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kawara26
Sep 13, 2008
Crossplay is something for fun! The phrase 'in drag' is not exactly the best one to use when inviting people to try this. Crossplay is just a term, a lot of crossplayers don't even use it often. And although some homosexual and transgendered folk may engage in it, it's not intended to be an outlet. Perfectly straight people do it too. -
strycer
Sep 06, 2008
I view "drag" as a derogatorily word. Is it crossdressing yes. Most of the time I do try to pass, and don't forget girls crossplay too
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strycer
Sep 06, 2008
I view "drag" as a derogatorily word. Is it crossdressing yes. Most of the time I do try to pass, and don't forget girls crossplay too
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Jane Smith
Jan 19, 2008
Very interesting article. I'm assuming you know about Dragon Con? Crossplay is a little more common there than at other conventions I have attended. For the most part, crossplayers do not try to "pass." though, they just enjoy the convention. Aren't the subcultures of the geek world interesting? ;)
