“I think about cosplay as an almost uniquely female response to comics/games/etc. In every other dimension of society — especially the arts — women are celebrated for their skill and taste with fashion, style and craft. They dominate those areas of our world, and yet when it comes to the oh-so-sacred superhero thing (or related whatever), we rain down hellfire on these girls because it’s not something we would do or, more realistically, because it’s not something we understand. There are lots of things men and women do differently that are mutually misunderstood, often endearingly so, but for some reason cosplay is this insidious thing that must be policed. I think that women respond to comic book characters or games or animations by processing their enthusiasm into costumes and performance is fucking awesome. Cosplay injects much needed panache and indeed beauty into a scene that needed it very badly. Call it a woman’s touch, if you like. Harris’ direct antagonism towards cosplayers expresses a confounding way of thinking about women in comics, games, etc. that we cannot burn out this scene soon enough.”

ComicsAlliance Senior Editor Andy Khouri, when asked for his opinion regarding Tony Harris’ statements regarding cosplayers.

Read his full response here.