Sooo excited about this episode! We all know how much fun it is to be on stage (or maybe you don’t do stage) or atleast how fun it is to play dress up in our respective lines of work. Whether it’s dainty lingerie, something silky and sultry, or maybe it’s campy, there is always an artist behind the outfit.
This week, I bring on Alberta-based dancer, Serena Rayne, to speak abut her love for anime (Japanese animation), cosplay, and sewing. Because we were (and are) anime geeks, we gush about our favourite shows, what we grow up with and how it influenced us. Anime played a major role in Serena’s life which led her to working at fellow princess parties and later, channeling those costumes on stage as a stripper. Serena now creates all of her costumes from scratch which is super impressive since she is completely self-taught! But can a white woman playing dress up be equally as harmful, opposite of the fantasy they are portraying? Because some costumes are dangerously close to emanating culture, traditions and bear cultural significance, we just had to speak about appropriation and the fetishization of costumes and how that may further perpetuate negative stereotypes about certain races, genders and so on. Even if you aren’t an anime lover, tune in because Serena provides so much great insight on all of these topics as mentioned above!
