Tag: diversity

tmirai:

martymuses:

temporaldecay:

kesandor:

“Diverse media is treated with a harsher lens than everything else” Probably because we’re assuming if you took the time to include us you’d do the bare minimum which is treat characters like us with respect and how dare we be upset when that doesn’t happen

True, but in a capitalistic-driven world like ours where media’s success is measured in revenue rather than it’s cultural importance, how we engage diverse media is literally a deciding factor of if we’ll get more.

And what type of media is it affects this even further.

TV shows and movies do not have a history of reacting to outcry or criticism by re-engaging and trying to fix it, they have a history of going “oh, right, no one wants [minority] in the focus, got it” and then shelf the project and go back to “white boy wonder #3000″ and his cookie cutter story that’s guaranteed to bring in money.

Videogames have a better reaction to critical commentary about their handling of diversity, hilariously enough. This is why we had things like Gamer Gate. Because the industry is willing to listen, much to the disdain and distaste of some of its fanbase.

I get it, though. White, straight, cis people have this pool of stories and if something is not to their liking, they can complain about it and go find another one they like better, because statistically, someone out there has tackled that specific take in a story. But if you’re in a minority and the movie/game/comic/THING you got is the only one you’ve got you want it to be everything. You feel it has to do everything perfectly, on every aspect. Because you don’t have anything else.

I sincerely believe that our engagement – critical and political – with diverse media needs to radically change, however. Because our own reactions to imperfect representations of ourselves – and let’s be honest, they’re ALL imperfect representations of ourselves, someone might find them suitable and someone might find them offensive, and we’re back with trying to make ONE THING that will satisfy ALL THE THINGS FOR EVERYONE EVER – don’t encourage people to try again and do better next time. This hyper critical culture in our own communities, that also has slowly been bled out of rational or structured long term planning, has resulted on people dogpiling anything that is even remotely “problematic” and decrying it as the Absolute Worst, thus demanding it be boycotted and as far removed from everything as possible. You’re not allowed to discuss the things diverse media did right, on penalty of being told you’re supporting everything they did wrong. You’re not allowed to say “Okay, it’s not FOR EVERYONE or ALL THE THINGS, but you know what, it’s doing THIS ONE THING really well”, because then you’re a traitor and must be destroyed.

I’ve seen people stirring in the Asian and Latino camps that Black Panther is not a big deal, because there aren’t any Asian or Latino people in the front and center of the movie.

I’ve seen people hissing that Wonder Woman should be boycotted because it’s an all-white imperialistic fantasy.

Look, guys. This approach to media betrays a simple misunderstanding of what Diverse Media is. Diverse Media is not the search for The One, you know, The One Good Book/Movie/Series/Game/Comic. Diverse Media is a road towards becoming Media, without qualifiers. It’s not about finding The One and stopping, because nothing will ever represent us that well ever again. It’s the constant road we’re paving, one step at the time, to reach the point where we too will be able to wrinkle our nose at any given piece of media and then shrug and go look for something else, like white, straight, cis people do today, with that same confidence that we WILL find something else, for whatever the reason, because we’re no longer genre pieces.

Be critical of Diverse Media, by all means. But be critical while you support it. Be critical while you scream at the top of your lungs that you want More of it. 

And for the love of anything holy, please learn to engage media without that fucking Purity Culture filter bullshit that’s just ruining everything for everyone around you.

@tmirai I feel like you would enjoy reading this

This is perfect and everyone should read it or if you don’t have the time, those last three paragraphs are key.

This is why we don’t just need diverse books, but we need people to realize that these diverse books are books for everyone. The above is just one of the many examples I can give of the misguided dismissal of my books. The librarian who was surprised how well my “ethnic” book went over with all the students. The father who was surprised that his son loved “your Oriental dragon book” so much that he (the son) insisted on giving it to all his friends for birthday gifts. I could go on and on…

We Need Diverse Books and We Also Need People to Read Them”. A blog post by Newbery Honor author Grace Lin. (via diversityinya)

I’m working on a script for a comic I’m creating. My cast is primarily female and I’m worried I have too many women. When you’re writing CM (since your cast is largely female) do you ever think, “there should be a guy in here somewhere?” And if so, what do you do? I’m really comfortable writing women, and I love my characters… I see no need for anymore men in the story at this time, but I’m afraid it won’t appeal to a large enough audience. 3 prominent women to 1 supporting male? Too much?

rosalarian:

racheldukes:

upthecatpunx:

kellysue:

>too many women

I’m sorry, I don’t know what those words mean in that order. 

>do you ever think, “there should be a guy in here somewhere?”

No. 

>I see no need for anymore men in the story at this time, but I’m afraid it won’t appeal to a large enough audience.

STOP IT. 

You’re trying to sell a thing you haven’t even written yet.  Write the story you would write if you were just going to put it in a drawer.  

Write the story you want to read. 

Lumberjanes is all women and is kicking ass. So, no, there is no such thing as “too many women” in a story.

I love Lumberjanes.

“Write the story you would write if you were just going to put it in a drawer.” Ahhhhhhhh that’s such good advice! And also good advice on there not being such a thing as too many women in a story. We’re still so vastly underrepresented, and women want to read stories about ourselves. The only people who are gonna complain are jerks and who even cares what they think?

What We Talk About When We Talk About Diversity in YA

By Zoraida Córdova

Brace yourselves. Here’s another blog post on the lack of diversity in YA. When we bring up these topics the common words I see are FEAR, UNCOMFORTABLE, GUILT.  If a white person brings up the subject then, “who are they to talk about it?” If a POC does it, we’ll be seen as a bunch of angry people. So, Catch 22. I get it. Writing these posts is HARD, but they should be written.

What We Talk About When We Talk About Diversity in YA