#GirlBoss Spotlight: Noel Cypress of Pixel-Vixens.com

If there’s one industry that’s notorious for being male-dominated, it’s the adult film industry. The only real entertainment sector that tends to be more guy-focused is anime. Finding a woman who is brave enough to venture into that world without a second thought is rare, and that’s precisely what drew me to Noel Cypress. 

With her youthful looks and sparkling eyes, it’s hard not to feel like this girl carries a vibe of innocence around her. Don’t be fooled, though. She’s the CEO and lead performer of Pixel-Vixens.com, an adult entertainment site that is focused on cosplay. 

Working as a cosplay model is never easy. You have to know a serious amount of anime trivia, have to have a lot of skill at costume creation, and also need to be able to handle anime fans who might be just a little too enthusiastic to meet you. I decided to sit down with this epic #girlboss to learn more about her world. Here’s what she had to say…

Ossiana Tepfenhart: So, how did you start your journey with Pixel Vixens?

Noel Cypress: So I didn’t actually think it up! I call myself the “phoenix founder” because I bought it after it had been created by a model named Zelda. She had made Pixel Vixens and ran it for a few months before she shut it down.

I saw it just sitting and I was apart of a similar site that was pretty slut shamey and anti pornography (they pulled that whole nudity isn’t porn so I’m better than porn people whore-archy bully thing) I wanted to fuck and watch my friends fuck. I wanted to create an environment without bullies and without slut shaming or whorearchies. I also wanted all bodies to be allowed and for people to have a genuinely ethical place where they can explore sexuality and feel sexy.

So I bought Pixel Vixens with the idea in my head of making America’s first hardcore cosplay centered adult site. And I did that. I began morphing it as all body, all race, and all gendered positive. Completely equal on all ways while staying as transparent as a person as possible. Sure, some people end up not liking it. Some people think I worry too much about comfort zones and being friendly to everyone. They see my need to ensure everyone is happy on my sets as a weakness, but it’s what makes it what I wanted it to be. So I’ve grown and continued to be a very transparent and ethical as I possibly can site leader.

That’s a seriously revolutionary idea in the cosplay community. A lot of cosplayers deal with serious slut-shaming and harassment in the scene. Would you say that it’s still a pervasive issue? How have you dealt with it?

Slut shaming is a constant issue in cosplay and in my opinion is getting worse. I’m seeing so many cosplayers, nude and non-nude ones alike, leaving the community lately. We have a generation of content followers who seem to think that chastity and purity equals morality and shame any cosplayers who so much as show cleavage much more who do nudes and lewds.

“E-thot” is now an insult pertaining to cosplayers and nerds alike who are comfortable in their bodies for what they do. And yet the same people who try to bully cosplayers who show skin are the same ones who outcried when Mortal Kombat did away with their slutty costumes. It’s pretty enraging and very toxic.

How I’ve dealt with it? Speaking out. I don’t have a ginormous follower count but I still speak out on all my social medias on the hypocrisy of these people shaming others who just want to enjoy an adult side of cosplay with other adults. Recently one cosplayer who didn’t even do lewds was bullied for possibly incorporating DDLG (Daddy Dom/Little Girl) to a joke cosplay. So they left the community all together having been a victim of being molested as a child.

When I finally heard the story, I was outraged and made my own posts. How dare people bully someone to the point they quit a hobby, that they shame a consenting adult over a freaking COSTUME, and that people honestly acted like DDLG is a bad thing? It’s costuming, people. We are adults in costumes. We are having fun. Stop fucking calling people pedos because your mad your favorite “waifu” is cosplayed by an adult.

I definitely feel like the cosplay community takes things too far. It can be really rough, even on those who are just casual fans. All things considered, getting your business started must have been difficult. How’d your first steps go?

Purchasing the company first and foremost. Then, I had a lot of of exhibitionist friends that were cosplayers come and stay with me randomly to shoot lots of content. So lots of friends got together to support me and make it a reality in the very beginning. I and my friends already owned a LOT of cosplays so that part was never an issue for me.

Did you have a plan going in? 

 

I planned on the whole transparent thing. That was my main plan for marketing. Be honest and be ethical.

Would you say that Pixel Vixens is a feminist porn site?

Oh ABSOLUTELY. We are all about equality in the sexes. Like I touched on before, everyone is paid equally and it’s set in stone on the site what models are paid for what. Males, females, nonbinary, and trans people alike are paid a specific price for a specific act. That’s feminism to a T: equality for all. We’re also completely female and nonbinary run. One cisgendered woman and two nonbinary folk run the site together (I’m actually one of the nonbinary folk, believe it or not!), and we constantly reach out to others on what they feel is fair and we ALWAYS discuss what we feel is fair.

As a fellow nonbinary person, I salute that. Have you networked with other feminist porn groups?

We have networked with a few other producers! I believe Pervout considered themselves feminists as well considering they were all about equality, so while they had their run we worked with them. I honestly can’t think of more right now off of the top of my head, because I have no idea who label themselves as feminist at this point. But when we do partner with people we try to ensure they have the same ideals as we do. We are always looking to work with more as well!

Let’s talk about gender roles in anime. For some people, hearing about feminist cosplay may seem like a misnomer or a paradox. A lot of shows are known for having girls that behave in an exaggeratedly feminine or unrealistic way. At times, anime’s been blamed for male aggression or unrealistic love expectations. What are your opinions on a lot of the “anime girl” stereotypes? Do you find them to be empowering, misconstrued?

Hm. I find them…How do I word this? I find them a fantasy. People use this same argument in pornography; women behave in an exaggeratedly slutty or bimbo way. And people say it also sets up unrealistic expectations in the bedroom. But for both of these medias, they aren’t educational lesson plans for people to learn things about real life. They’re fantasies.

 

An anime’s job is to be a fantasy for people to watch. Many people – men, women, nonbi, trans alike…They all enjoy watching the ditsy girl who becomes a hero. Others like the girl who needs saving. Some enjoy ‘harem animes’ where many girls like one boy and fight for him. Hell, some like male-centered anime who wanna punch stuff.

There’s so many anime out there that I’m sure there’s something for everyone. The difference is, everyone needs to begin to understand it is ALL fantasy. It is ALL for enjoyment of something that isn’t reality. I’m glad we are now getting shows that make fun of these stereotypes because it moreso shows that these aren’t meant to be used as an example of how life will be. It’s all fake situations that are over the top for the sake of being amusing to watch.

 

We need to better teach young people that entertainment is just that: entertainment. They are things we watch to just turn off our brains and stress from reality and go somewhere else that is over the top and not real. We shouldn’t be using these things as a method of learning how to talk to girls or learning how girls think. There ARE things for that! It’s called educational media. And it’s called that for a reason.

 

People need to be taught to keep their fantasies and their realities separated, and stop blaming media for acting a certain way. People love to blame anime, pornography, Dungeons and Dragons, movies, and more media for how our young adults are acting these days.

 

“Porn and anime made incels.” “Dungeons and Dragons made kids who shoot up schools.” No. None of this is the case. You know what made those? Parents who are ignoring their kids growing up. Kids will literally show that something is off and parents put them in front of a screen instead of having long conversation with them about how life really is.

 

If these kids and young adults honestly think these fantasies are their realities, parents need to jump in and teach their kids what’s what. Or teachers. Or other people of authority. It takes a village to raise a child, after all. And the village needs to be making it clear to all of the people they’re upbringing that media is MEDIA. Not a rule of life.

 

And parents need to step up and stop saying that media is ‘creating unrealistic expectations’ for their young’ins and instead teach ‘media is an unrealistic means of storytelling for amusement and you should treat people with dignity and respect, not like how media shows things’. People need to not use media as a scape goat and enjoy it for what it is. Male aggression is because people let males be aggressive. We need to give them education on how to check themselves. Stop. Blaming. Media. On. Mistakes. In. Upbringing.

 

As a business owner, how important is marketing to you?

 

In a business sense marketing is the most important thing ever. It literally will destroy or create a successful income. Word of mouth is the best marketing and without it I know no one would know what Pixel Vixens even is. 

Do you have any advice for other business owners in the adult industry?

My advice honestly is keep your cards close to your chest. Entertainment is a “dog eat dog” industry and people who seem like your friend could turn out to be your worst enemy. I learned that the hard way too many times doing all of this. If you keep yourself safe and only truly trust those who have proven they’re worthy of your trust, you’ll enjoy running a business.

Sure it’s full of hard times but at the end of the day you will feel so accomplished and you’ll find a group who loves the work as much as you. So keep at it. Especially when it gets hard. But always remember to keep yourself a priority. You only get one you.

Did you love this girl boss’s story? Give her love at Pixel-Vixens.com, or check out her Twitter @NoelCypress.