Introduction
Subcultures can be viewed as a distinct culture within a larger dominant culture from a sociological point of. Subcultures are defined by distinctive norms, beliefs, and customs (Brym and Lie 2012 47). One example is the cosplay subculture. Cosplay can be described as a mixture of subculture and performance art. Many cosplayers engage in off-stage role-playing activities that are based on characters from anime, manga, and comic books.
Main text
Cosplay is among the most creative and innovative subcultures of the present. It’s essentially a form of costume play. Participants must make costumes to imitate characters from movies, video games, comic books, or books. The activities are getting more popular in Japan. Some cosplayers don the costumes not only at conventions or official gatherings but all the time.
There are a variety of activities cosplayers can participate in. They can be found at sewing events, photo sessions, or parties, as well as modeling. So, in the cosplay subculture, there are many possibilities for cosplayers to select from. Because I’m interested in photography, I was a part of photography shoots. This meant that I had to create the scene by the plot.
The concept behind the photo shoots was that the photos should be reminiscent of comic book characters as though they came alive. This activity requires cosplayers to cooperate: those who make the costumes, the decorations as well as the models, and those who write the scripts for the role-playing. It is a huge task to plan these events.
It is often referred to as performance art, as it takes a great deal of acting to create your character and follow the narrative. Cosplay is a subculture since it employs similar practices to costume play. A collection of norms and values are also a part of the subculture of cosplay. A sense of belonging is a strong feeling among cosplayers. Additionally, the group effort is valued as is the care for the details. Recreating the costumes takes lots of effort and time.
Accuracy and precision are crucial for a costume to look authentic. Cosplay norms pertain to the uniformity of costumes at events. Making the costume, and then forgetting to put on the shoes is not a good idea. It is crucial to realize that cosplayers share a special connection that transcends differences in race, gender, or nationality. It is also not a matter of physical appearance. They appreciate one another for putting in the time effort and effort and going to extreme lengths to recreate and reenact the story of a beloved character from a chosen universe.
Symbolic interactions
Through the use of the theoretical approach of symbolic interaction, It is possible to further analyze cosplay and its associated activities. From this sociological standpoint, we can study how people communicate on a micro-level as well as understand how the members of a particular subculture view particular aspects that are typical of the activities of the community.
We can observe through the cosplay activities mentioned above that cosplayers don’t react to specific situations, but they create a space that permits them to act in a specific way. From the perspective of symbolic interactionism, cosplayers construct the reality they reside in. To achieve this, collective effort and mutual appreciation are vital.
The deep sense of community cosplayers has is rooted in the constructed reality that comprises various symbolic elements, as well as a method of identification. Members of this group will be willing to let go of reality and completely immerse themselves in the artificially built world of costume play, where costumes serve as symbols, and serve as a base to establish relationships between the characters that are recreated from a given universe.
Cosplay is a vivid depiction of the world of symbols. Costume play is a constructed reality that makes use of endless symbols to link characters. Through the development of their characters, actors make new friends and become familiar with other people. Many cosplayers say that they are more confident and confident by engaging in these activities. This leads to new social connections and positive relationships based on common interests. What you think of yourself and the way you interact with others within the community can affect your perception of yourself. Therefore, interaction is one of the key elements of the symbolic interactionism theory and is an important aspect of cosplay.
Conclusion
Sociological imagination helps gain an understanding of costume play as a subculture. Mills (1959) declares that social imagination can be a method to recognize the connection between social structure and personal issues. Four levels of social structures surround each member of society. Therefore, personal issues are entangled with societal issues at every level of interaction: microstructures, mesostructures, macrostructures, and global structures. Therefore, the micro-level of interaction within the context of subcultures is related to the sociological imagination’s microstructures. Our sociological awareness allows us to understand our role as a member of the community, and also of specific subcultures.