Cosplay and (Be)coming-of-Age: An Autoethnographic Inquiry into the Spectacularly Feminine via Boudoir, Maid Café and Idol Cosplay Groups in the UK

Even though cosplay is a female-dominant subculture, there are few studies that locate it as a
feminine phenomenon. Based on 18 months’ autoethnographic fieldwork at over 25 cosplay
and anime-related events in the UK, I focus on three, yet-to-be-studied, feminine-presenting
cosplay groups that are inspired by anime and other media related to Japan: idol groups, maid
cafés and boudoir cosplayers. As I argue in this doctoral study, all three groups are evidence
of social developments in the early 21st century in which gender is becoming increasingly
symbolic, providing insights into discourses surrounding femininity and feminine
adolescence (Driscoll, 2002) which are necessarily shaped by “a postfeminist sensibility”
(Gill, 2007). Using a poststructuralist, feminist framework, I explore how femininity becomes
manifest via cosplay, providing the subject with an opportunity to experience empowerment,
transforming from a position of “pariah femininity” (Schippers, 2007) into an ideal vision of
the “spectacularly feminine” (McRobbie, 2009: 60). I conclude that Japanese media provides
an alternative for adolescents in the UK to negotiate global and local gender hegemonies,
which ultimately reflect what it means to (be)come of age in the digital age, under the
shadow of internet technologies.