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Comment by namibj | Hacker News Reader

Take a look at Naomi Wu. I think he's referring to her archetype when he mentions cosplay at a maker faire.

No, this is not about people like Naomi Wu. She is a maker and she can dress as she likes. The German Maker Faire has actual cosplayers, and some of them have put an enormous amount of time into their costumes and so they fit well into something like Maker Faire. However, there are also these "romantic Middle Ages" people and yes, sometimes also scantily clad women. It's really no big deal, though.

Depending on what went into the costume, it may fit into a maker fare (ie, 3d printing parts of the costume, for example). I don't mind cosplayers all that much, they're generally fairly nice people.

If it's DIY, it's DIY, even if there's not a single bit of 3D printing, casting, forging, milling, or electronics involved.

One thing that has historically put me off about the maker community is these artificial distinctions where materials and ways of making things that have historically been considered "girl stuff" get less respect, or sometimes don't even get recognized as making at all.

You got a good point there. I'm sorry I brought this up.

True, if it's DIY it's Maker. I don't mind "girl stuff", nor do I like the separation. I don't see a reason why I should limit myself to socially preapproved maker topics.

I think you have to draw some boundaries on the topics you will celebrate in order to avoid being taken over by huge companies promoting their bland consumer products, but then a few people draw the boundaries in ways that exclude genuinely creative passion projects. In my opinion the goal should be to showcase the creative work of people who build things for the love of it, and avoid providing a platform for promotion of established products.

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