A Black model who received racist criticism for her anime cosplay said it won't stop her from doing what she loves
- A Black model posted a photo of herself cosplaying as a non-Black anime character and faced racist comments online.
- Racism has a longstanding presence both in the cosplay community and fandom in general, especially for Black cosplayers.
- The model, 22-year-old Shirleen, told Insider that racism is "definitely not" going to stop her from continuing to cosplay online.
- People are responding to Shirleen to say they're inspired by her cosplay.
A Black model received messages full of racial slurs and racist commentary after posting a picture cosplaying as a non-Black anime character.
Shirleen, a 22-year-old model and student based in Liverpool, tweeted on June 29 an image of her dressed as the Japanese character Rin Tohsaka from the "Fate/stay night" anime, according to The Daily Dot, which first reported on the incident. The picture, shared with a photo of the animated character inspiration, received more than 70,000 retweets and 600,000 likes.
But then came the harassment. On Twitter, Shirleen shared screenshots of messages full of racial slurs, expletives, and insults with some people saying she shouldn't dress up as a non-Black character.
"As I got a bigger audience, people that don't know me, never really knew me, the racist ones —they're the ones who started the attacks," she told Insider.
Shirleen, who asked that her last name be withheld for privacy reasons, told Insider in an interview that as a longtime anime fan, she had been excited to dress up in cosplay for the first time. But as a Black woman, she was hesitant, as she'd witnessed the racist feedback her Black friends received online when they posted cosplay pictures.
"I always see the kind of reception they get for cosplaying, and it's never been that good," she told Insider. "I knew kind of what to expect, but at the same time, it's never really expected."
Racism continues to be an issue in the cosplay community
"Cosplay" is a specific term that references people dressing up as typically fictional characters and is a major facet of fandom. Per Kotaku, the term — a portmanteau of the words "costume" and "play" — first appeared in print in a June 1983 article in My Anime written by Nobuyuki Takahashi about the phenomenon of Japanese fans dressing up as anime and manga characters. These days, the term is used to describe the same phenomenon across fandoms, whether it's anime and manga, superheroes, or non-Japanese cartoon characters.
Racism remains a longstanding problem in the cosplay and fandom communities. Shakeena Johnson wrote in i-D that "Black women cosplayers are forced to deal with sexism, racism, body-shaming, and colourism." She continued that they often face racist harassment for cosplaying characters who aren't Black, alongside thinly veiled concerns of "accuracy."
Anime fans sometimes use the fact that the characters are often Japanese — and almost always not Black — to say that Black fans can't cosplay as those characters. But, Shirleen pointed out, that same criticism is usually not applied to white fans who dress up as nonwhite characters.
As Taylnn Kell wrote in The Establishment, racism is built into cosplay because the characters and source material can be racist.
"I want to participate more frequently in different fandoms, but I'm finding it harder and harder to ignore the misogynoir in most media content," Kell wrote. "I am tired of either not seeing Black women, or seeing them abused and hypersexualized."
There's a growing movement in support of Black cosplay online
After Shirleen shared screenshots of the harassment, some Black anime fans replied that they were also afraid to participate in the cosplay community because of this racism. "This is what terrifies me and stops me from cosplaying. We get hate just for existing," wrote one Twitter user.
But Shirleen told Insider that it's because of responses like these that she's not going to give up on cosplay because of racism.
Black cosplayers, Johnson reported in i-D, use hashtags like #29DaysofBlackCosplay (during Black History Month), #BlackCosplayerHere, #cosplayingwhileblack, and #supportblackcosplayers to highlight the work of and create a space for Black cosplayers on social media.
Shirleen said that as long as she can inspire others, she'll continue to participate in cosplay online, saying that racism is "not going to stop me — definitely not."
"It's something that I enjoy doing, and I'm going to keep doing it regardless," she said. "Especially if it inspires little Black girls that like anime like me, and they want to try, too, then I'm going to keep doing it for them as well."
Shirleen added that the support she received from her followers outweighs the harassment and that she hopes other Black anime fans will see that and understand its importance. To them, she said, "There are a lot more people that are going to support and love you and be inspired by your work than those that are going to hate you. So don't let any racism discourage you at all."
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