Cosplay

I'm going to go on a little rant here. I am so sick of people ranting about or making fun of cosplay. Lately, its been pretty common for people on the Internet to rail on and on about how awful anime is, or how fucked up Japan is, both of which are horrible generalizations. One thing they talk about a lot is cosplay, as an example of how "sad" or "pathetic" otaku are.Here's some of the things they say that frustrate me:

• "Cosplay is just overpriced costumes." 

Well, no shit. Nobody's ever said it was anything but that. That is literally what cosplay is, dressing up in costumes. The word itself is a combination of costume and play.

Firstly, costumes in general are pretty pricey. They're pricey because they're specialized, and because people aren't going to wear them that often. In general, the less often you're likely to wear something, the more expensive it is. That's just the way it goes.
Secondly, so what? What do you have against costumes? Costumes are fun; that's why they sell Halloween costumes for adults even though they don't go trick-or-treating. People like to dress up and be something they're not for a little while. Most people don't get this chance but once a year, but conventions give people a chance to do it a little more often.

•  They put up a picture of a fat person or a man cosplaying as a female character and make fun of it

This pisses me off so much. In case you don't know, people do not wear costumes or ANY type of clothing in hopes that you will masturbate to their image. They wear those costumes because they fucking like that character, or they like the outfit they wear, not to sexually please you. Sorry to cockblock you.

It doesn't matter if the cosplay doesn't look good on them, because that was never the point. It's a nice bonus if the costume is realistic, and extremely accurate, or if the actor happens to look a lot like the character, but that's not the point. The point is to have fun. Cosplayers work really fucking hard on their cosplay, spending lots on time and money on them. Many of them are homemade. Quit making fun of it.