Keep Making That Face and it will Stay That Way.
Anime conventions in flyover country have started “banning” (it's just prohibiting) clothing and other items with ahegao images on them. Prints, books, commissions, videos, towels? What about… a tattoo? Like any amateur we-know-best bunch, they haven’t really mentioned them in any specificity, so apparently non clothing items are permissible. The reason that seems to be given by one of the conventions for such prohibitions is “social climate.” Now, there is no way to successfully parse “social climate” with the notion embodied by the phrase “what other people think” since they are the same thing. Thusly, a sweeping policy which is being applied to everyone is now in place because of … “what other people think.” Following that logic, it becomes very apparent that the actual end of that equation goes from “what other people think” to “what WE think.” You don’t need to be well versed in post-Revolutionary France and the Société des Jacobins, amis de la liberté et de l'égalité to realize where this leads and the CRG squads that will inevitably prowl the convention halls looking for any and all infractions contrary to the new Little Red Book of obscena- prohibetur.
The New Sherefettes:
The blatant hypocrisy of this development has already been exposed by writers and commentators out there who are quicker on the draw than I am. Animemotivation.com has handily pointed out that the new “rules” are only applicable to clothing items which have “ahegao” images in an effort to promote a “family friendly” atmosphere. In a telling indicator that this may be also influenced by Anti-Sex conservative creep effect, these rules do not apply to cosplay in this case, just a specific image on clothing items (more on this later). So we end up with:
The machine wants you! Service Guarantees Citizenship.
This dynamic alone is a red flag made of red flags. Not only is the regulation so specific mentioning ahegao as to suggest an intentional targeting of certain people, but relies on definitions which are beyond vague. What IS ahegao and more importantly what ISN'T it? Is it a cropped image which depicts sex outside the frame? Is it a cropped image with depicts simulated sex? Is it just that facial expression, which a character could be making while performing an otherwise mundane task? Is it only applicable to female or female-appearing characters? Can masculine characters make an “ahegao” face and would such depictions also be against these new rules? How crossed do the eyes have to be? How far does a tongue have to stick out? They gonna make a chart or something? A new anime convention Hays Code is no doubt in its infancy right now.
But wait there’s more; Colorado Anime Fest has added another tier of inappropriateness. From their stated rule policy, “…will not permit ‘ahegao’ or similar clothing with graphic sexual imagery to be worn on the convention floor” (emphasis added). The danger of such ambiguity can be summed up with the simple explicit question of; Well what the fuck does that mean? Will individual conventions come up with their own criteria for “graphic sexual imagery” and go around enforcing them with vigor? Does such a development remind you of something?
Yeah ...that.
Missing a history lesson:
A social conservative resistance to anime and blatant hatred of everything from manga to video games was once a real threat to anime fandom itself. When one has to invoke Miller v California in order to establish one’s “innocence” in wearing an Urusei Yatsura t-shirt, it is indeed a civil rights issue (not the biggest one, but one none the less). From book confiscations to the decades-long moral panic around video games, anime and otaku fandom has been attacked numerous times in the name of social standards and anti-LGBTQ and other sentiments so ridiculous, that they were (until recently) simply laughed out of the public sphere by fans and non-fans alike. These new convention authorities seem to be completely ignorant of how hard fought the evolution of otaku fandom was going from fringe element to massively accepted and commercially viable sphere of influence, and so bring such threats back to bear, this time from within the fandom itself. This is what you get when you let people with undergrad degrees from Evergreen State College (or any SJWs R Us campus) actually exert authority over entities that operate outside the academic bubble of their calcified nodes of absolutist thought.
But now, the threat to the fandom comes from within, and begins as always with all but seemingly innocuous pleas of “for the children!” cloaked in a self-projected righteousness. Such restrictions and prohibitions on creative works and thought shall slowly spread as their efforts progress, much as an unhealed wound slowly expands from repeated puncturing by those who seek to add unnecessary remedy. If allowed to continue unchecked, such efforts will bring their exclusionary authority to increasing more types of expression and art (be it commercial or otherwise). What will the result be? A convention bereft of the qualities that make anime and anime conventions fun.
No fun allowed you counter-revolutionary sex racist!
"I say, You Can’t Have a Negro"
-Charles Murphy, Comic Code Authority, 1955:
For those of you who don’t know the story about that line, here is the primary source account. It can be distilled into the basic singular event; specifically the publication of Incredible Science Fiction in 1955, and story in it called “Judgement Day” a short comic where only at the end, the “Hero” astronaut is revealed to be a black person from Earth. This had already been published to accolades before the CCA came into being. The head of the CCA, Charles F Murphy rejected the story based on the notion “you can’t have a negro.” So it was asked of him, “where in the code does it say you can’t have a negro?” to which Murphy responded simply with “I say you can’t have a negro.” From that moment, the Code became simply whatever the Chair said it was, and it wasn’t until decades later that a wholesale rejection of its necessity did the CCA become unable to exert influence on creative works. If you are under the impression that this ahegao thing won't lead to something similar, the shoehorn for getting your head out of your ass is somewhere around here.
Total Assholes, ruining my fandom? It's more likely than you think.
This is a dank-meme for all you zoomers out there who don't know shit.
This is a dank-meme for all you zoomers out there who don't know shit.
It is easy to dismiss this incident, as Charles F Murphy (who somehow attained the rank of Judge) is the kind of guy who you would absolutely expect to find vigorously helping to frame the Central Park 5 in his free time. The platitudes of being far more socially enlightened (which some people think means “woke” but it doesn’t), do not, in fact, shield such overzealous entities, be they groups or individuals, from the exact same perilous cognitive entrapment. The misplaced notion of the need for censorship can find itself misplaced under any guise, be it the preservation or morality, blatant racism, or the happy fun-time feely feels safe space rainbow of the all-encompassing greater good. Once that happens, the individual whims of someone, whoever they may be, in such a position of absolute authority will become the exclusive maxims, and limits, of toleration. This scenario has played out many times in history, always for the worst. What fans have now witnessed is the emergence of micro-tyrants within the convention space. What fans must decide, is how they will fight such an emergence.
What such an threat once looked like (before they shot him in the face and chopped his head off... It's ok, he really had it coming).
The Penis is Evil!
So is this a case in which Dworkin style feminism has managed to creep into the fandom? Who fucking knows… but what other mechanism would so necessitate banning ahegao images and nothing else which could be considered equally or even more sexualized? Ahegao does seem to indicate a particular enjoyment of a female character engaging in, as they say, the fucking. Dworkin is notoriously sex-hostile, so by singling out ahegao and it's potential to be sex-positive, it does seem as if this is something that fits the prohibitionist puritan agenda. I promise none of the links are about fart-rape. Except this one, this link goes to fart-rape. To be honest, this is just a notion of a possibility which may or may not be the case, Kind of a "hey look at that" type of observation, but it is more likely than aliens, a secret cabal or whoever, or something stupid.
Expose Yourself.
No I don’t mean get naked, this isn’t some off the rails furry convention. What I mean is someone needs to get a 2 or 4 person team, one presenting male and one female, have them walk around a convention each in the exact same ahegao gear, and set them up with hidden cams and mics (kind of like the 10 Hours of Walking experiment). Document what kind of differences there end up being between the two if any. Send them out the next day with ahegao images of exclusively male characters, see what kind of things happen then. Put yourself out there to expose inevitable double standards that will apply to female and male attendees regarding this policy. I would love to see a shirt/hoodie made of characters making “ahegao” expressions but engaged in mundane tasks like buying a drink from a vending machine, or using a calculator. Have the whole image shown so as to clearly demonstrate that these faces do not spring from any sexual activity. See what happens then. Will you be asked to take it off / leave? Then expose that hypocrisy to the world.
Kick Them in the Nutz!
Contact any sponsors of the convention and tell them you can no longer support their products or services if they will sponsor this kind of censorship. Companies have a serious phobia of this kind of thing. I know it sounds like “ok Boomer” advice, but an actual printed letter with a stamp on it via snail mail to whatever company might have a bigger impact than most people think. Just keep in mind there is a difference between a sponsor, an advertiser, and a venue. In marketing, people who do this are called “brand terrorists” but I would shy away from self-identifying as that unless you want a visit from the FBI. I've had that, it's not fun and doesn't look like some innocuous little Mulder and Scully jam session, when the FBI agents show up they show up.
Contact the CBLDF… they won’t do anything other than possibly wag their finger or release a statement or something.
That one is also sexual. Giggity.
Shut the Fuck Up about your “rights” and stuff.
This is important because someone is going to go straight into "doing it wrong" when it comes to this subject. None of the First Amendment or its relevant case law applies here. These are private events that have rule sets you agree to follow by buying a ticket. Your First Amendment Rights don’t protect you from any rule these convention entities decide to put in place. Challenge that by deciding not to leave if you’re asked to, and you will most likely be charged with a crime. That crime won’t be “wearing an ahegao shirt” either, it will be “criminal trespass in the whatever degree” which, if you’re lucky will get dropped down to something like Disorderly Conduct (that’s what it is in NY, I have no idea what the equivalent is in MN or CO, I’m not licensed to practice there). So stop thinking this is some fight against the great oppressors, it’s not. This is an internal fandom thing. Going on about “free speech” (or “free expression” if you’re in Canada), is not going to get you anywhere. You will just make yourself look dumb.
What to do, What to do...
Thus, dawn shows its light on the convention floor, where some seek to enforce a wall of incongruity between creative art and high context self righteousness, and others seek to fight against it. Nobody can say they don’t have a horse in this race because arbitrary rules are just that, arbitrary. The longer they are allowed to manifest, the closer the chances that something you like will end up being disallowed skyrocket to 100%. Keeping your head down is not a good option.
One might easily dismiss these developments as the inevitable excretions of Middle America. Flyover country where semi-sentient MAGA hats Teach the Controversy, and Jesus is your birth control. Where wild Karens roam the land in their I want to speak to the manager haircuts, all complaining in unison about how Amerika has lost its small town feel while driving for 35 minutes each way in their SUV to buy groceries at a Wal-Mart. What they do can easily be bathed in the beige light of insignificance since these places are not epicenters of… well pretty much anything really.
What’s banned now? Your face! Literally.
In summation;
These types of vague knee-jerk regulations are antithetical to what the anime fandom was, is, and strives to continue to be. They should not be welcomed, entertained, sympathized with, or defended. An initial backlash combined with fandom efforts to force these rules to be more trouble than they are worth is the remedy which must be administered immediately and with unending consistency. Give no ground, lest it be taken by those would evict you from it and leave but salted earth.
All together now; "Go Fuck Yourself!"
Wow, what a terrific audience.
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