“If I can afford to pay for my hormones you can afford deodorant.” – Eevee Faust
I have reasons why I don’t venture into Facebook discussion groups. It’s mostly because I like to have faith in humanity and I rather kill brain cells by indulging in a cosmopolitan. In the days leading up to Anime Boston 2017, “DeodorantGate” spread like wildfire long the east coast cosplay scene. The Anime Boston Social Facebook group forum is one of those corners where you never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. It should be of note that the Anime Boston Social Facebook group is not official or affiliated with Anime Boston. Anime Boston has their own set of official forums where attendees can interact with staff members. While staff members might peruse through the public Facebook discussion group, AB Social is not official and is not moderated by AB staff. It is simply a place to discuss cosplay plans, con plans, etc.
What broke Facebook is “DeodorantGate.” The origins of this occurred on the AB Social forum with this post:
And here’s the failed follow up:
With the way it is worded, one can assume this is a troll. However, comments have shown that the OP was being for real. “Anime heroes?” I think there’s an contractual episode in every anime where the main characters go on a hot springs or bath house venture. Most of all, this OP was lampooned for her comments about hygiene being a privilege. A generic speed stick can be bought for a dollar at Star Market. If you want a life hack, baking soda will take care of the job for a week. For the many years I have attended anime cons, it was common sense to shower and bath. “Con Funk” has always been shamed and looked down upon.
Moderators of AB Social were banning and blocking users who called out the OP’s behavior. In times where there are so many young people thinking that their victim complex supersedes common decency and sense, the OP needed to be called out. While I agree that sending death threats to the OP was not in the right, people who were educating and calling her out on her behavior were being blocked for simply sharing common sense. I left the AB Social group long ago when the mods accused me of fatshaming because I was sharing tips on getting the most out of boudoir photography. If discussing lighting in generic Marriott hotel rooms and selecting characters that are personal to you is fatshaming, I can’t even anymore. Since then, I knew the group was ran by the asylum. I liked my brain cells more than I had time for them.
Upon that, the east coast anime con community responded with hilarity and memes. There’s even a Facebook event page as a facetious response to the OP and the moderators. A few colleagues have joked as cosplaying as literal deodorant and / or the Old Spice guy at Anime Boston. Even Anime Boston has long endorsed proper hygiene year after year remind attendees to sleep, shower, and eat in the program signage.
The lesson here is that it is important to shower, bathe, and scrub down crevices. The community at large has been preaching this, publishing this in guide books since the dawn of anime cons. The fact that I’m writing an OpEd piece about how people were banned for calling out poor behavior and disregard to hygiene shows that we are closer to Idiocracy. I don’t think the OP should be harassed or sent death threats, but they should not be coddled either. Preaching idiocracy and keeping to it should be called out upon. There is no excuse for lack of proper hygiene at cons. As someone who as worked with special needs youth, we also teach basic hygiene guidelines. To assume that special needs attendees cannot handle hygiene is an insult to them.
“Wash your butt. We want to see all of your anime shirts!” – AniMagic program guide. RIP, AniMagic
- Eri Kagami, Scarlet Rhapsody, EoC