Body Shaming IS Bullying. Period. by Raven

I'm fairly new to cosplay - I've been to only four cons so far.  I've done costumes for both Denver cons, and the Wizard World San Antonio Comic Con. Because my self image isn't the greatest, I've been really nervous about doing cosplay for conventions - and my experiences in the past haven't helped with that.

When I did costumes for the first Denver con that I went to, I did a Lady Joker on the first day, and my Crow costume on the second day. I got a lot of positive comments - James O'Barr (the creator of The Crow) had nice things to say about my Crow costume, too, when I went to pick up some art I had  commissioned from him. But I also heard some negative things - like, "Is that a cross-gender Crow? Isn't she a little out of shape for that? What would Brandon Lee say?" and "What would O'Barr say?" I wanted to yell at them, "Hey! I'm right here!" And I knew what Mr. O'Barr would say, since he had already said it to my face.  I tried to stop listening, but I couldn't stop my heart from buying into that crap and it ruined my con  experience.