Note: This article contains perhaps offensive photos.
According to cosplay model, panelist, and sex worker Ronnie/Bunni Black, there is “cognitive dissonance” among the anime community about adult content. Anime gatherings recruit notable cosplayers, as sex workers in the community are keen to point out, but provide them with minimal assistance to maximize their participation. Feminist beauty standards are demanded of femme cosplayers, yet they face criticism if they attempt to profit from their carefully manicured appearance. This creates a misogynistic paradox. There are long lineups to enter more than eighteen parts of the conference floors, but neither the places nor the content that guests will view behind the curtain are made explicitly clear to them. Of course, hentai is still very popular, but obtaining that type of video legally is really difficult.
All of this to indicate that being an adult content maker in the anime community isn’t always bad, but it can be better. Although some anime creators have found success making pornographic content primarily for their fellow community members, these creators are not always made to feel welcome. “It’s interesting, I’ve been going to anime cons since I was in middle school and even then I saw fan art and hentai that was pretty accessible if a booth owner wasn’t too watchful,” says cosplayer and lifelong anime fan Stephanie Michelle. It’s a feature of every significant convention I’ve attended, so it surprises me a little that when I or other women play sexual characters, our internet following isn’t as large as that of the artwork. In the end, I’m just a fan sharing my passion for the same works of art as everyone else.
We need to figure out how to improve this space with relation to adult content and adult content providers if we want the anime community to develop in a way that benefits its varied and marginalized membership. Here are the issues that sex workers and other anime fandom specialists have discovered, along with their recommendations for fixing them, in an effort to make our community a better place for everyone. Maintaining our space safe and welcome requires putting these ideas into practice as well as being aware of additional consent-related issues and how our community fits into larger cultural contexts. In its brief existence, the anime community has come a long way, and this is how it may continue to develop.
The lack of agreement on what constitutes NSFW content and what constitutes sex work is the largest barrier to improving the anime community as a platform for adult content and adult content creators. For this piece, I conducted interviews with more than six self-described sex workers, and they were all in agreement that there is no clear cut line separating sex work from non-sex labor. It’s difficult for organizers to set rules and regulations around that content or for individuals to understand what they’re consenting to view in an area that contains sexual content if there isn’t a clear definition of what constitutes sex work. Bunni Black also pointed out that the inconsistent labeling hinders sex workers’ ability to organize and form solidarity, which is especially important given the strict laws that define sex work in far more arbitrary ways.
Concerns about adult content and those who produce it, lack of resources, space, and security at anime conventions are common. Shelby Vixon is an adult model and performer. She typically goes to anime conventions for networking, general attendee activities, and to distribute her business cards and personalized stickers. Mimi Oh, an award-nominated adult film actress and three-year sex worker, responded to a question on why she attends anime conventions by saying, “For me personally, I go to conventions because I love cosplaying.” She noted that “major cons are shoving adult material into a corner.” Oh added, “[There is] not really a space for adult content creators to be recognized as a part of the community. A lot of conventions want attractive cosplayers, but they don’t want sex worker cosplayers. I love the look on people’s faces when they see you cosplaying as a character or franchise that they really enjoy, I enjoy the camaraderie between meeting fellow cosplayers, and overall I just love how celebrated this very nerdy hobby is when you go to a convention.”
Adult content creators are stigmatized as a result of the glossing over of adult content at conventions and in the anime community at large. Ronnie/Bunni Black, for example, has been denied appearances at conventions in a safe-for-work capacity after it was discovered that she also creates not-safe-for-work content. This has a direct financial impact on her, as she sells prints and other items at conventions. Discriminating against someone for having engaged in sex work is not only oppressive, but it also minimizes their work in a way that is at odds with the spirit of fan conventions.
Last but not least, the refusal of this community to confront the adult content in this scene has resulted in the blending of overt sex acts with standard convention fare. If you attended an anime con in the previous year, it’s likely that you saw someone walking around with a sign that said, “I will step on you for $5” or “I will spit in your mouth for $5.” Adult model Nekomiiya made the observation that, “this can be seriously considered soliciting which could get someone penalized or even arrested with the wrong company around.” Persephone, interim CEO of the non-profit and kink/BDSM education-focused Threshold Society, added that this behavior is repugnant. These acts are overt public sexual play, and other attendees of a general anime convention have not given their consent to be passive participants in them.
Persephone declared, “Fuck no on public sex acts. Kink relies on consent, and there’s no way to guarantee the consent of pedestrians.” Mimi Oh, on the other hand, called this phenomenon “people cosplaying sex workers” and pointed out that conventions are moving to broadly ban signs in response to the trend, which is doing material harm to her and other content creators. Signs are an easy way for both adult and vanilla creators to inform people about their social platforms and the kind of work that they do. Losing signs as a means of advertisement at conventions would be a huge blow to any line of work in this community that requires a large social presence.
These are the main problems that the anime community is currently facing with sex work. Taken together, they point to systemic problems where a lack of common definitions and language about sex work causes stigmatization of and willful ignorance of the needs of this segment of the community, which results in poor and sometimes even consent-violating experiences. Improving processes and attitudes on this scale is a difficult task, but it is necessary for the community to have a healthy, well-adjusted attitude toward adult content and guarantee the safety of its members. Here are some suggestions from experts and sex workers about how to make our environment better.
The definitions of sex work provided by the people interviewed fit into a philosophy of making the discipline of sex work as broad as possible. For example, Michelle defined sex work as “selling images, action, or services with an intention to excite the consumer sexually.” Ronnie/Bunni Black also stated that “sex work is all-encompassing; any profession that is sexually gratifying is sex work.”
However, online sex worker Perle noted that “A lot of full-service sex workers do not consider online nude modeling to be sex work; or at least that the workflow, risks, and rewards incurred are so different in full-service sex work than online work that it’s not particularly accurate or helpful to lump them together.” Many of the women I spoke with felt that this broad definition of sex work allows for the most collective action and that generality is preferred over excluding a subset of sex workers. which makes sense in some ways! In certain aspects, they are extremely different employment, and rules have different effects on the two industries!In light of this, a more open discussion about sex and sex-related employment will be beneficial to all those involved in the industry and enable more in-depth debates regarding the ways in which particular types of sex workers might be more warmly received and supported by the anime community.
Full-service sex work is described on the Better Health channel of the Victorian Government of Australia as “sex work that involves in-person sexual activity with a client, such as vaginal or anal sex.”
In response to the criticism that adult workers are underrepresented at anime conventions, adult-only cons—some of which are even run by adult content creators—are becoming more prevalent. Ecchi Expo, for example, has three venues a year, and adult cosplayer KITVIXEN hosts the 21+ Ahegao Con in Minnesota. Those surveyed for this article held a particularly positive opinion of Kimochii Con (formerly Waifu Expo), which was founded by adult cosplayer Juliette Michelle/Bishoujo Mom. Stephanie Michelle highlights the convention’s superior security measures, which she and her peers value. Shelby Vixon adds that adult-only conventions have superior communication—both within the organization and with con attendees.
Participants offered suggestions on how general gatherings might go better, even though these adult-only conventions appear to be the way ahead in addressing many of the ways the anime community is hurting sex workers.
“I’d love it if there was a roped off separate area or photo room that has its own security to monitor photos, and also give a clear list of what is/isn’t allowed per the cosplayer comfort levels. That way, guests who don’t want to randomly run into a light kink photoshoot can avoid it,” Stephanie Michelle said. “Consent is another huge part of creating a positive experience for all, and cons need to work better to maintain this as a standard.”
Persephone endorsed this strategy and went one step further, arguing that conventions should provide a list of content that will be on display prior to ticket sales. Persephone made it abundantly evident that attendees can only consent to the inherently sexual material they will be exposed to in these spaces through copious amounts of communication, and that anything less than that is unethical and not sustainable.
Concerning the matter of anime fans cosplaying as sex workers, engaging with sexual material, and acting wantonly, anime fans must acknowledge that this is no longer a niche community. From glomping to yaoi paddles to the more recent trend of Nanami cosplayers pantomiming hair-pulling, anime fans can be extra when it comes to anything sexual. Part of the appeal of this community is its willingness to acknowledge and engage with human sexuality, but the days of someone being able to get away with inappropriate and disrespectful behavior by claiming to be merely a group of rowdy anime fans are long gone. You can now be an overt anime fan anywhere at any time, and your identity as an anime fan has never—and still does not—imply that you don’t need to be aware of the needs and expectations of those around you.
Beyond these particular issues, there are broader ideas that anime fans should keep in mind as we shape the future of this community. Firstly, we must acknowledge that, despite the anime community’s sometimes-seclusionary nature, it is still a part of a larger culture defined by patriarchal oppression and puritanical creep. As Threshold CEO Persephone has noted, and the CDC has confirmed, “one in four women [in the United States] have experienced rape.” Secondly, if the anime community is to be a place where sexual expression is both accepted and encouraged, then a great deal of care and caution must go into ensuring that the people creating this content feel safe.
The anime community isn’t doing a very good job of welcoming women, especially marginalized women; Mimi Oh pointed out that misogyny, particularly transmisogyny, is still pervasive. In 2023, Mimi expressed disappointment and frustration over convention goers calling her a transphobic slur, or a trap.
Persephone continues by stating that many of these problems can be resolved by providing more awareness of consent, which she emphasizes can only happen when all parties involved in an activity “express an enthusiastic yes.”
Wider education on consent, which she stresses can only occur when all parties involved in an activity “express an enthusiastic yes,” can help alleviate a lot of these issues, according to Persephone, who described the anime community as being “essentially a locker room” where this kind of casual dehumanization and objectification can go unchallenged. She also theorized that a lot of this behavior comes from anime fans learning about sex and sexuality from hentai, a medium that is even more exaggerated and farcical than live-action pornography.
Finally, because it’s now easier than ever to work in the sex industry, and because some people may even be doing it covertly, those who were interviewed offered a plethora of advice to those who were new to the industry or those who were looking to enter it. Bunni Black emphasized the importance of having a source of SFW income while working as a side gig; Mimi Oh furthered this point by stating that “most sex workers are living paycheck to paycheck; Shelby Vixon emphasized that as a model and erotic cosplayer, you’re effectively running a small business and that it’s crucial to file quarterly taxes and maintain business-related receipts; Stephanie Michelle offered advice to those considering a career in sex work. With a focus on personal safety above all, Perle said, “My biggest advice to anyone getting into the industry is to be as discreet as possible with your identity and hustle until you’ve thoroughly vetted the people in your life who can and cannot be trusted with the information.” She also mentioned how important it is to “build a community space with other creators or join one.” Find your passion and attract an audience around it. Sex workers continue to be abandoned, ignored, mistreated, and even killed by spouses and family members who disapprove of their line of employment.”
Every job in the anime industry is intricate and frequently requires people to juggle multiple side gigs in order to make ends meet. The quotes above demonstrate how difficult it is to work in the sex industry within the anime community, which is ironic given how vocally appreciative anime fans are of sexual material. These issues are obviously not going to be resolved overnight, but since the anime community is an inclusive one that welcomes people from all walks of life, putting these changes into practice will not only help some of the most marginalized members of the community, but the industry as a whole.
