Cosplay Character Lady Sif of Asgard

Debbie Guenther

VISA 1500

Prof. Teryl Atkins

October 22, 2021

Assignment 2 Part A

In the realm of cosplaying Yaya Han is a prominent female having made her mark for her accuracy of her cosplay characters outfits and her line of marketable related products, costume patterns, fabrics and supplies, books, blogs, and videos. Having been in this industry for 22 years with an estimated 3 million followers she has become a confident and self-made businesswoman and is committed to improve the world of cosplay into a respected genre of society. In this image Han is portraying a female superhero character, Lady Sif from Asgard from Marvel, an American comic book series, who is associated with the mythical story of Thor; Son of Asgard (yayahan.com). As with all her costume choices, the strong, confident women motivate her choice of character thusly Lady Sif represents that persona with bold colour choices, armor, and powerful body language. The setting of this photo is a wooded area which aligns with the characters wild Viking nature and weaponry, representing a woman able to conquer any environment or situation. Typically, with this genre of comic book the women are represented as large breasted, beautiful, and highly skilled in whatever she needs to overcome a problem, Han doesn’t shy away from constructed feminine ideals but rather embraces them admitting that she desires to dress as someone who is more confident and desirable than she is in real life to gain all those attributes. Unapologetically she acknowledges that the attributes of the costumes she wears are unattainable assets, unrealistic and catering to the male ideal she still considers it rewarding when her hard work and commitment is taken seriously.

There is an entire subculture that has been gaining a slow momentum since the 1980’s and has been an undervalued area of research to insight into adolescent behavior evolving into adult cosplay participants.  Suzanne Scott explains that many scholars describe the fandom of cosplay as, “a mode of identity performance and geek culture bloggers” (146). She states that cosplay is serious business and not to ignored or downplayed and therefore consideration needs to be given to as its impact on society, business, and culture. While this genre has been hailed a “boy culture” with its “male gaze” and “with masculine coded values” (Scott 149), women (fangirls) are impacting this fantastical arena with their craftwork and challenging of the male hero. So, individuals like Yaya Han who have made their business and personal lives part of this subculture as a professional female fan, have enabled access to an evolving female audience and the feminine gaze to participate in what was once a male dominated forum.

Work cited

Scott, Suzanne. “Cosplay Is Serious Business: Gendering Material Fan Labor on Heroes of Cosplay.” Cinema Journal 54 No. 3 (2015): 146-154.

Han, Yaya. “Lady Sif of Asgard”. yayahan.com, 2011.