BUT THEY TOOK AWAY OUR RIGHT TO SEE FREE BEWBS! WAAHHHHH!

AMBER LOVE 13-MAR-2015. I’ve been attending comic cons since 2006 and have done my fair share of cosplay. Other than Power Girl’s infamous boob window, I don’t think any of the cosplay I did in public at mainstream shows would be considered “too sexy.” My Catwoman homage kept unzipping but I had a bra on and not the naked cleavage many cosplayers opt to display. Reading an article that claims the sexy costume ban at PAX is the result of feminist is true, yet their call to action demanding cosplayers “form a union” and “join gamgergate and notyourshield” proves their intentions have nothing to do with gaming, product marketing, or how to enjoy a con. It’s about boys having a badge into a con that want to treat said mainstream con like a strip club where they don’t spend any money.

Con organizers are allowed to make dress codes. They are allowed to change their policies from year to year, in fact, I hope they do! I hope they listen to feedback and take things like harassment, handicap accessibility, inappropriate/illegal products and make an effort to be better when things aren’t working. Even at Exxxotica, a porn show, there is a no-nipple policy. I got bodypainted and had to hold my hands over my breasts until they were painted because body paint fits the NJ legal definition of clothing.

Even new social network policies aren’t taking away boobs. Or porn. Twitter’s new policy allows me to post pictures of my boobs, but you CANNOT. It’s for authorized use. I have authorized use. The photographers and people who pay me have authorized use.

And for the record, booth babes are not the same thing as sexy cosplayers anyway regardless if the cosplayers are working a booth. We use the phrase “booth babe” as a recognizable phrase. Booth babes have usually been given a crash course on the products and don’t know much about them. They are designed for one purpose: to get your attention over to the booth where people wearing street clothes would then get you interested in spending money. Cosplayers with booths of their own to sell prints or talk about websites are not booth babes. They’re legitimately part of fandom. And fuck yeah, sometimes they can school you on that fandom.

Cons are not a zoo for you to ogle at T&A. Not mainstream cons anyway. I have a list of other geeky places where you can see A LOT of sexy cosplay:

• 1. Exxxotica – it’s an adults only porn show held in many cities in the United States. I’ve been there several times and have covered the event.
• 2. Burlesque shows – Sometimes burlesque troupes do geek themes like D20 Burlesque out of New Jersey. They appeared at the gaming convention, Dexcon, in Morristown and had a special ticketed event on the site so you didn’t even need to leave the hotel where the con was hosted.
• 3. Subscription websites – ok, so this isn’t real live women for you to take unauthorized pics of, but they are women trying to earn a living being geeky and taking off their clothes. There are many of them. I have two sets from days of old on Cosplay Deviants.
• 4. Dragon*Con – I’ve never been but I’ve seen the pictures and it’s basically Las Vegas for nerds. It’s all the scantily clad women and men you could imagine. There are special after hours events complete with stripper poles.

Founder and Editor-in-Chief of AmberUnmasked.com and Vodka O'Clock Podcast. Author of The Farrah Wethers Mysteries, comic book short stories, prose, and non-fiction. Cosplayer and figure model.