1 All the Con’s a Stage: A Study of (Cos)Players
Introduction
Setting the Stage
Limitations of Cosplay Research
The (Cos)Players: Research Methodology
Conclusion
2 Man Describes Not Me, Nor Woman Neither: Cosplayers and the Fiction of Gender
Introduction
What’s in a name? The Drag Debate
On Crossplay and Identity: Asking for Answers
What do you have to say? Cosplayers on Gender and Identity
Conclusion
3 On Bodies and Boundaries: Regulating Fantasy in Real Spaces
Introduction
Peace-bound: Convention Rules
Regulating the Cosplayer Body
A Defense of "Sexy" Cosplays
Conclusion
4 Manning: Minority Identities and Gatekeeping in Cosplay
Introduction
Cosplaying While Black
Othered Narratives
Internal Memos: Gatekeeping Within the Cosplay Community
Conclusion: Cosplay and Identity
5 The Cosplay’s the Thing
Acknowledgements
Index
Biography
A. Luxx Mishou (she/her) is a queer femme Victorianist and gender studies scholar researching cosplay, comics, fashion, and the gothic. She holds a doctorate in Victorian literature and gender studies from Old Dominion University, where she defended her dissertation, Holy Stitches Batman: Performative Villainy in Gothic/am, in 2020. She earned an MA in English literature and language from the University of Maryland College Park (conferred in 2007), and a BA in English from Washington College (conferred in 2005). She has recently contributed chapters to Fan Phenomena: Rocky Horror Picture Show (2015), Fashion and Material Culture in Victorian Fiction and Periodicals (2019), and Sartorial Fandom: Fashion, Beauty Culture, and Identity (forthcoming). Dr. Mishou has presented her research on masculinity in comics at the Northeast Modern Language Association conference (2015), on cosplay at the Society for Cinema and Media Studies conference (2017, 2019) and the Comics and Popular Arts Conference (2018), and on Alison Bechdel at the Modern Language Association conference (2018). She currently works as an adjunct and independent scholar.
