Dec 03 2008
Too Young for That? Examining Young People and Costumes
It’s a common occurrence to see an underage (or even underdeveloped) young person dressing much older than their age. Aside from media and peer pressure, clothing stores do not offer young people much incentive to dress appropriately for their age–they, too, stress a tight, fitting look for young women.
Many young people who go to LARPs and conventions specifically enjoy spending time in a place that appeals to them amongst others who accept their geeky interests. Unfortunately, judgment is also prevalent even in the geekiest forums, particularly for women. A lot of men, regardless of how they look or act, feel that women who have geeky interests need to be specifically hot to match their standards. (In reality, can’t they just think it’s cool that a chick is into video games?) Men aren’t the only culprits–a lot of women in the LARP scene and convention circut tend to attempt an attention domination over the other women, i. e. they are looking for attention from all of the men in the scene, even though the ratio of women to men is already rather favorable for any straight woman. This obvious social deficiency is played out in or out of character, during cosplay events, and more.
My point is this: Geek-friendly events should be welcoming towards young people, providing them with an alcohol-free, geektastic environment accepting of new people. However, said environments instead can be cliquey, negative, and detrimental to a young person. I doubt that elitism will ever disappear from a not-so-sub-culture which embraces video games, trivia knowledge, and more, but our nerd universe could certainly show a bit of kindness to younger people sharing our interests.
This relates to costumes and costuming in a specific way. Instead of making fun for a tin-foil covered LARP noob, mentor them, help them, and be a good influence. Older women who wear revealing costumes will invariably garner a large amount of attention from men, but new players (particularly underage players) should experience functionality and comfort in a costume, especially at a LARP. Honestly, some women just want attention–but can they really run through the woods and defeat NPC demons in all of their outfits? These are questions that new players should hear others asking.
At the end of the day, I am an adult female LARPer. While I’m not opposed to bodices and the like, I tend to go for comfort and whatever costume best reflects my character. Sure, I like to look and feel good in my costume, but function and comfort are my primary objectives when costuming for a LARP event, especially in the winter.
Over the last year, I had the pleasure of working with an excellent group of new LARPers known as Team N00b! They showed me the power of what a group of new players can do in a LARP, and I also watched their costumes improve as events moved on. Great job, Team N00b!
See you in game.
