rainwaterspark (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rainwaterspark) wrote2018-01-30 03:26 pm
rainwaterspark) wrote2018-01-30 03:26 pm
Entry tags:
Salty rant about PoC in queer fiction
So I spent too long on Twitter today, and now I'm really salty.
I don't think white authors (including queer white authors & disabled white authors) really understand WHY making their characters of color prejudicial and pitted against the white characters because of their prejudice strikes such a nerve for readers of color.
So, if you're a queer white author/reader, imagine this:
You're reading a book that is full of cis straight characters, except for ONE queer character. And the ONE queer character is hateful and antagonistic toward the straight characters in a way that frames them as Obviously Wrong and is meant to make the reader sympathize with the Poor Straight Characters who have to endure this Unjust prejudice.
Want more specifics? Say one of the cis straight protagonists is mentally ill, and the single queer character derides the protagonist for their mental illness by saying a lot of ableist things, so that the reader is obviously meant to sympathize with Cis Straight Mentally Ill Protagonist against Ableist Prejudiced Queer Character.
Or, say one of the cis straight protagonists belongs to a reviled fantasy group, like a Dark Magician, and the single queer character keeps talking about how Dark Magicians are so awful and inherently predisposed to be villains, etc. etc.
Does this make you feel uncomfortable?
If it does, this is how I feel as a reader of color encountering this trope with characters of color.
I hate, absolutely HATE it when I'm meant to dislike the only, or one of the only, characters of color for being prejudiced. Especially when it comes to ableism. I'm a disabled person of color, and I HATE it if I'm supposed to dislike a character of color for being ableist. I can't just disregard one part of my identity in favor of another, but this is exactly what these books are making me do.
And it's inherently loaded when it comes to race because while, yes, minority groups can be prejudiced toward other groups, white authors should REALLY ask themselves why they're making a character of color the MOST discriminatory out of their entire (or mostly) cast of white characters. Why did they choose the character of color to be the discriminatory one, instead of a white character?
(All of what I'm saying does not apply, by the way, if the entire cast of characters in a book is made up of PoC. This is specifically about when characters of color are portrayed as discriminatory relative to the white characters in the book.)
If you are a white author who does this, please rethink your writing.
This is not just "characters being flawed" (if it is, why do you always choose your characters of color as the ones being flawed this way?).
Just rethink your writing, or admit that you don't care about positive representation of people of color.
I don't think white authors (including queer white authors & disabled white authors) really understand WHY making their characters of color prejudicial and pitted against the white characters because of their prejudice strikes such a nerve for readers of color.
So, if you're a queer white author/reader, imagine this:
You're reading a book that is full of cis straight characters, except for ONE queer character. And the ONE queer character is hateful and antagonistic toward the straight characters in a way that frames them as Obviously Wrong and is meant to make the reader sympathize with the Poor Straight Characters who have to endure this Unjust prejudice.
Want more specifics? Say one of the cis straight protagonists is mentally ill, and the single queer character derides the protagonist for their mental illness by saying a lot of ableist things, so that the reader is obviously meant to sympathize with Cis Straight Mentally Ill Protagonist against Ableist Prejudiced Queer Character.
Or, say one of the cis straight protagonists belongs to a reviled fantasy group, like a Dark Magician, and the single queer character keeps talking about how Dark Magicians are so awful and inherently predisposed to be villains, etc. etc.
Does this make you feel uncomfortable?
If it does, this is how I feel as a reader of color encountering this trope with characters of color.
I hate, absolutely HATE it when I'm meant to dislike the only, or one of the only, characters of color for being prejudiced. Especially when it comes to ableism. I'm a disabled person of color, and I HATE it if I'm supposed to dislike a character of color for being ableist. I can't just disregard one part of my identity in favor of another, but this is exactly what these books are making me do.
And it's inherently loaded when it comes to race because while, yes, minority groups can be prejudiced toward other groups, white authors should REALLY ask themselves why they're making a character of color the MOST discriminatory out of their entire (or mostly) cast of white characters. Why did they choose the character of color to be the discriminatory one, instead of a white character?
(All of what I'm saying does not apply, by the way, if the entire cast of characters in a book is made up of PoC. This is specifically about when characters of color are portrayed as discriminatory relative to the white characters in the book.)
If you are a white author who does this, please rethink your writing.
This is not just "characters being flawed" (if it is, why do you always choose your characters of color as the ones being flawed this way?).
Just rethink your writing, or admit that you don't care about positive representation of people of color.