This cosplayer has claws: The disruption and replication of gendered norms in cosplay communities

The findings presented in this article present a portion of my thesis, "Cosplay: Community, hierarchy, and the Acafan methodology" (Skentelbery, 2023), completed at Keele University on March 15, 2023.My research, influenced by the work of Bainbridge and Norris (2009, 2013), Gn (2011) and King (2013King ( , 2016)), began optimistically.Initial data collected suggested that cosplay subcultures regularly create storms and disrupt the gendered norms of modern Western society by creating transformative spaces at fan conventions.My research, however, revealed that something much more complicated was occurring.My research findings, which combined auto-ethnographic participation and interviews, drew on a broad swathe of traditional audience scholarship, and post-feminist criticism.These data sets and theoretical frameworks suggested that there were in fact complexities and contradictions that exist within cosplay communities, and that cosplayer also replicated gendered and sexual norms.In this article, cosplays of DC Comics' iconic cat burglar Catwoman are the focal case study.Through the case study, in relation to Catwoman's long history across comics, film, and games, I examine how cosplayers not only create storms, but also replicate norms and gender power imbalances. 1: COSPLAY AND GENDERED PERFORMANCE'Gendered norms, ' in its simplest terms, refers to the ways in which men and women (in the dominant gender binary) are expected to present and behave on a day-to-day basis.Cosplay scholars have suggested that cosplayers, through their elaborate dress and performances, can threaten day-to-