Why Diversity in Our Writing is So Important - "The Danger of a Single Story"

[Steerpike]

My concern is this: whenever I come across these discussions about diversity on forums or blogs it tends to revolve around a very specific kind of diversity: representative demographic diversity. In other words, you need to have a carefully selected smattering of every skin color, every ethnicity, every gender and non-gender, and every sexual orientation. And if you just don't want to write stories containing representations of all those things then you're generally viewed as a racist/sexist/whatever-ist.

I've never seen anyone make that argument. Any example (i.e. link) to someone arguing that every story should have a representative sample of every demographic included in it? If anyone is making that argument, disregard them.

Another example that confuses me is when people talk about great female characters who are great because they are basically indistinguishable from a man, except that they have breasts. If male and female characters are supposed to be essentially the same, then why does it matter whether the character is a man or a woman? Aren't we then basically saying that the only important characteristic of a woman is her reproductive system? Isn't that sexist?

I've never seen anyone argue that any two characters, male or female, should be the same. Characters should be individuals, defined by the traits that make them such, whether male or female. This seems like a straw man to me, as with the "you need every demographic" argument, though maybe people are making those arguments and I just haven't seen it.

Representative diversity seems to generally revolve around physical and biological characteristics. Whereas I believe that diversity of thought, worldview, values and beliefs is much more important.

They're not mutually-exclusive. They're both important.

Nor do I think that every story that every author writes needs to be written in order to promote diversity. Stories are entertainment, after all.

I don't think anyone thinks this.

It's fine for authors who are concerned about diversity to work at it, but I do not think it is ok to pressure other writers who are just trying to have fun and improve their craft.

I see a lot of discussion about it. Not so much pressuring in fiction writing (as opposed to, say, television, where I think there is pressure. People simply speaking up and stating their opinions or their own practices isn't pressuring.

 

[Philip Overby]

Representative diversity seems to generally revolve around physical and biological characteristics. Whereas I believe that diversity of thought, worldview, values and beliefs is much more important.

I think this is more of the kind of diversity I'm interested in reading and writing myself. From living in a foreign country, I've become way more interested in the worldview and belief systems rather than skin color. There are multitudes of different skin colors in the world, but what makes them interesting and unique are their diversity even amongst people who look biologically the same. A worldview point I felt was kind of funny. I asked my students what they think Americans eat. Out of almost 100 students almost all of them at least said hamburgers. I asked, "Do you think they eat hamburgers every day?" Some, without even a hint of irony, said, "Yes." This is how some people view Americans. To me, this is fascinating. This is story material.

Age is even a thing I think gets overlooked a lot in these discussions. Most fantasy novels involve young people, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed looking for adventure. But sometimes it's good to see people on the tail end of life, reflecting and finding new adventures appropriate (or even more fun, inappropriate) for their age.

While I do like including different races in my stories, it's more for differences of culture and beliefs rather than just representing a certain group of people. I want to represent a diverse world on a deeper level if I can, not just gender-flipping characters (although that can sometimes have interesting results) or changing a character's race. I want to change their character, their being by doing these things. Not sure how successful I've been, but it's something I've been striving for.

 

[Chessie]

Hi, I also did some reflecting on the latest answers here. Yes, I do think that diversity in fiction isn't just about race/skin color. Phil makes a good point about age (like, how many 17 year olds can we read about) and bringing a different world view all together.

If my first post sounded preachy that all authors should write about other things, then I apologize. Writers should write about what moves them. I do, however, still think that we only stand to benefit from creating stories that are outside the norm.

Every writer has a different message to share with the world. That's beautiful. But I don't see the harm in having these sorts of discussions. We should have our eyes open to the potential influence our work has on others. That goes for any art in general. Our words and messages have power. Does that mean everyone here should write a story with someone of a different skin color? No. But to those writers who have an interest in doing so then they should. I do agree that its something that should come naturally instead of forced. But this discussion isn't about force, its about being aware of the influence our work has on others.

 

[Svrtnsse]

I've been musing on how to include/improve diversity in stories.
It's really easy to make the argument that including diversity just to be more diverse/varied isn't necessarily a good thing. It may fragment the story or distract from the message, or in other ways have a negative impact on the work. It doesn't have to, but it might.

How about the opposite?
The way I see it, the opposite of diversity is conformity and the building blocks of conformity are stereotypes. The more stereotypes you include in your story, the more it will conform to reader expectations - potentially to the point where it becomes a bland copy of the average of everything else.

Wouldn't it be accurate to say that by stepping away from stereotypes you step towards diversity?

This may sound a bit rich coming from me. I recall posting in another thread just recently (last two weeks) that I like to include stereotypes in my story.
I do. I think stereotypes are a great tool for creating a setting/situation that a reader can relate to. Does this make my story less diverse and more conformist?
I like to think it doesn't. I like to think that by using stereotypes in a clever way and contrasting them against non-stereotype elements I'm increasing the depth of my story/setting (I might not, but that's probably more a question of execution).
So, the way to increase diversity isn't necessarily to avoid using stereotypes, but to be aware of them and of how you use them in your story.

 

[Ankari]

I'd like to expand on Mythopoet's comments, as I feel they address crucial concepts.

Another example that confuses me is when people talk about great female characters who are great because they are basically indistinguishable from a man, except that they have breasts. If male and female characters are supposed to be essentially the same, then why does it matter whether the character is a man or a woman? Aren't we then basically saying that the only important characteristic of a woman is her reproductive system? Isn't that sexist?

This has been the method offered to include (insert race/gender) in stories. If characters of color/gender/sexual orientation are all the same, except for a change of pronoun or adjective usage, than how is this diversity?

I think those who ask for more diversity want more than superficial changes. They want to share with a wider audience experiences unique to the under-represented. This is a heavy burden to place on an author. Such experiences carry enormous social implications. Get them wrong and you're likely to earn an unjust branding, or rejection at best. Authors already contend with the judgement of story/idea/writing. Now they are asked to endure another form of judgement?

Experiences are best shared by those who have endured them. Authors can sensitize themselves to certain experiences, but not all. Especially when, as a stranger, you (second person) are ignorant of the many layers involved in an experience. I do wonder why those who ask for more diversity stop asking and start producing. They usually belong to the under-represented population and want to see their experiences shared. Who best to share them than the ones who have lived them?

I'm not opposing the idea of diversity (I've created many races in my world, and even have a matriarchial society), but those who would ask for diversity need to be sensitive to authors' source of reluctance.

 

[Philip Overby]

I do agree that it is hard to know where to start with trying to develop more diverse worlds and characters. In my early novels, I never really thought much about race, gender, or even culture. It was more like "this guy's an assassin" or "this woman's a sorcereress." On a base level, it works, but when you really start to look at characters, they have so much more potential to be fleshed out by thinking about other attributes that can be added.

One worry I have as well is misrepresenting a group of people. I don't know much about gender identity (I only recently learned the term cis), so I don't feel completely comfortable trying to represent them in a story. What happens for me though is a gradual shift. The more I learn about different kinds of people and become interested in their culture and lifestyle, the more it encourages me to include them in my stories. I don't think including diversity in stories is one of those wake up one day and see the light kind of things. As I said, for me it's more gradual. At the same time, however, I try to not completely eradicate straight white males from my novels. I want all kinds of people in my novels. I'm trying to branch out, but still use elements of my roots in fantasy.

 

[Jabrosky]

I think those who ask for more diversity want more than superficial changes. They want to share with a wider audience experiences unique to the under-represented.

I dunno, if I were an African or Afro-Diasporan person (for example), I'd probably be dead sick of reading about my people's subjugation and victimization at the hands of Europeans. I always felt that the Black History courses taught in college, whether African or African-American, fixated on narratives of oppression. That's indisputably important information to know, but I imagine black people don't want to be reminded of their marginalized (or "under-represented") status in all the fiction they read. They already experience enough of that in their day-to-day lives.

 

[Jabrosky]

I believe the point I meant to communicate in my last post was that stories featuring under-represented groups shouldn't have to limit themselves to narratives about being under-represented or marginalized. These minorities deserve the same range of stories as dominant groups do, and if anything could stand to receive stories that don't remind them of their less privileged status.

Why can't the barbarian warrior who cleaves the skulls of evil wizards be Asian instead of a pseudo-Celtic "Cimmerian"? Why can't the leopardskin-clad huntress who fights Velociraptors in the jungle be African instead of a European blonde? And why can't the epic quest to dispose of a corrupting ring take place in Mesoamerica instead of Europe, with nahuals supplanting the elves? Mind you, I'm not advocating that race-bending existing stories is sufficient to add diversity. I'm just saying that stories with "minority" characters should not have to center on the experience of being an oppressed class.

Some of these changes might seem cosmetic, unless you really want to base your characters' backgrounds off certain cultures in the real world. Actually, in the specific case of non-European people, I would go so far as to say you don't necessarily have to match their race with a specific culture. Not every dark-skinned person with kinky hair needs to hail from a particular African culture, not does every light-skinned person with narrow eyes and straight black hair have to resemble a particular Asian nationality. You can have black Scots and Asian Zulus for all I care.

 

[Devor]

If characters of color/gender/sexual orientation are all the same, except for a change of pronoun or adjective usage, than how is this diversity?

^This. If all you're making is an aesthetic change, then you're invalidating the culture you're supposed to be representing, by making them otherwise more like yourself. I mean, don't get me wrong, there are a great many contexts where the broader differences may not even be relevant for a specific character, and simply changing the aesthetics might be fine. But if you're intending to develop a character with any kind of depth, you need to include the differences.

The other solution people have mentioned (forgive me, but I forget what was mentioned here or what was mentioned in the other thread Feo had me looking at) was to include the foreigner, but I very much feel that this is also not usually real diversity. You're still viewing the foreigner from the perspective of the outsider.

Real diversity, in my view, is better articulated with a focus on understanding subcultures, not in merely swapping out racial or gender labels.

 

[Trick]

I think that this idea of swapping races, genders etc is uniquely doable in fantasy without the same issues present for other genres. If I wrote a murder mystery that takes place in the real world I could have a black female detective (which is actually generating story ideas for me now ) but I would have to take into consideration how her life experiences would differ from my own and properly represent her as a person. But, in a fantasy book, why can't a black woman be from a world very different than our own? Perhaps it's matriarchal and black people are the majority? Wouldn't that make her different than a black woman from our world in terms of life experience? So she may behave/believe differently than people at first expect but I think fantasy readers are used to this.

Diversity in fantasy, at least when it comes to race and culture, might be more easily accomplished because we aren't necessarily called to represent actual cultures so much as diversity itself. Having varying races/cultures/kinds of experiences in a fantasy book... isn't that just world-building? Maybe that's where diversity in fantasy can begin improving.

In my own WIP, the MC is a white male but he does not come from a world like ours and his closest tie to be being "European" is that his ancestral language is similar to German (largely because of my inability to come up with a language purely from scratch). His people were tribal before being overtaken by a military society. Thousands of years later, he and his kind live in oppression. That is not the typical white male experience in our world. There are also people with literally red skin and there culture is somewhat similar to Vikings with a smattering of Eastern European thrown in. They are not real races so their experiences are what I make them.

However, is that not diversity? It may not represent any particular group in the real world but I don't have to do that because it's my book and those are not the deeper issues I have chosen to explore this time around. With all this discussion, I feel like my next work will be affected though and I think it's definitely a good thing.

 

[Steerpike]

Very often when these discussions arise, you have everyone casting about for reasons or justifications for a diverse character. Many conclude that if they can't think of a reason for one, then there is something wrong with defining a given character as diverse in some way. This just reinforces the fact that there is a white, euro-centric default. You don't see people asking "how can I justify my character being a white person of european descent (or of that type). It's just assumed that the character can have those racial characteristics without any reason behind it. Of course, the same should be true for any race (focusing for a moment on racial diversity). You don't need any more reason to make a character black than you do to make them white. I think the same holds true for any issue of diversity. If you're casting about for a reason to explain why a character is diverse, you're already one step away from where you should be.

 

[Trick]

If you're casting about for a reason to explain why a character is diverse, you're already one step away from where you should be.

Well said. I think there is more to it sometimes though. If the writer is a white person of European descent it makes sense that their default would be to write about someone who fits there own experience of the world. I think the way to break that cycle is through studying as many different kinds of people as possible so that, when inspiration strikes, one naturally chooses a more diverse cast of characters because of a prior familiarity. Writing a story and then editing it for diversity seems like the wrong way to go about it. If I'm inspired to write a story and the first image in my head of the MC or other important characters is diverse, then I have achieved something.

 

[Jabrosky]

I think that this idea of swapping races, genders etc is uniquely doable in fantasy without the same issues present for other genres. If I wrote a murder mystery that takes place in the real world I could have a black female detective (which is actually generating story ideas for me now ) but I would have to take into consideration how her life experiences would differ from my own and properly represent her as a person. But, in a fantasy book, why can't a black woman be from a world very different than our own? Perhaps it's matriarchal and black people are the majority? Wouldn't that make her different than a black woman from our world in terms of life experience? So she may behave/believe differently than people at first expect but I think fantasy readers are used to this.

Diversity in fantasy, at least when it comes to race and culture, might be more easily accomplished because we aren't necessarily called to represent actual cultures so much as diversity itself. Having varying races/cultures/kinds of experiences in a fantasy book... isn't that just world-building? Maybe that's where diversity in fantasy can begin improving.

This is exactly the point I meant to make.

I should point out that there is a difference between race and culture (or ethnicity), so representing a race isn't necessarily the same as representing a culture. The definition of "race" has always been nebulous and variable (hence why anthropologists have come to regard it a social construct), but in general it has referred to certain suites of physical characteristics, or maybe genetic ancestry. Except in the sense that certain physical characteristics evolved to adapt to different environments (e.g. darker skin in response to more intense UV radiation), racial distinctions are for our purposes mostly cosmetic unlike cultural differences.

For example, Black African (or "Negroid" or whatever you want to call it) is a race. Zulu is a culture. Like I was saying, you can have people who physically resemble Africans in a world without giving them cultural traits identical to any real-world African society.

 

[Trick]

For example, Black African (or "Negroid" or whatever you want to call it) is a race. Zulu is a culture. Like I was saying, you can have people who physically resemble Africans in a world without giving them cultural traits identical to any real-world African society.

Exactly! I think that is a freedom that fantasy writers have and many others don't. However, it doesn't preclude being respectful of the actual races (and cultures) we use for inspiration. The importance seems to weigh in on individual characters being exactly that, one person and not necessarily representative of their entire race or culture.

I think 'race,' being cosmetic as you said, is one of many influences on culture and you are right that they are separate things. That's why I mentioned both. Thank you for the clarity I failed to use.

I've often joked that if my ancestors were transplanted to Africa, I wouldn't exist because they'd never have made it out alive (I'm basically 100% Irish by descent). Where you live shapes you and Africa is a harsh mother.

 

[Devor]

For example, Black African (or "Negroid" or whatever you want to call it) is a race. Zulu is a culture. Like I was saying, you can have people who physically resemble Africans in a world without giving them cultural traits identical to any real-world African society.

I tried to delete my post here because it was muddled and I was frustrated that my keyboard wasn't working, but people ninjaed my deletion. I'm choosing to restore it in a Spoiler tag.

Spoiler: Original Post

To put it bluntly, what kind of problem do you think that solves?

"Black African (or Negroid...)" might be a race or whatever, but for instance, "African American" is a culture (or a group of subcultures or whatever.....).*

The issue here is that we portray medieval societies, usually, through the lens of our own "white culture," not through an accurate historical one. Granted, some works are better than others at hiding it, but no matter how much we try, our own cultures and views will ultimately seep through. But if we're only going to continue to portray Africans through our own cultural lens, and not make the effort to portray other real world cultures on top of them, then we're only representing blacks as "us plus the fake," which only serves to invalidate the lives and experiences of real people.

*(Wow that's awkward. I'm having trouble with "e" right now or I would try and fix it.)

 

[Trick]

...no matter how much we try, our own cultures and views will ultimately seep through...

... But if we're only going to continue to portray Africans through our own cultural lens, and not make the effort to portray other real world cultures on top of them, then we're only representing blacks as "us plus the fake," which only serves to invalidate the lives and experiences of real people.

So, no matter how hard we try, our cultures and views will seep through making it impossible to accurately represent other races and cultures but we have to be able to do that or we are representing other races/cultures as "us plus the fake." ? Is there no in between? And how does what Jabrosky said have anything to do with that? Am I totally misunderstanding you?

EDIT: This reply seems dumb now since the previous post is gone...

 

[Jabrosky]

To put it bluntly, what kind of problem do you think that solves?

I only meant to counter what I perceived to be the claim that including people of different races necessitates including certain real-world cultural characteristics along with those races.

Of course, any world with multiple cultures separated by geographic distance will have cultural differences, regardless of how the people in those cultures look. Everyone who world-builds knows that. I am just saying that there's no rule that the different cultures must perfectly match real ones just because their respective people look vaguely similar.

 

[Devor]

First: I deleted my last post. My keyboard on the other computer was driving me mad, which put me in a hurry and left the post more than a little muddled.

But here's the thing. Calls for diversity have nothing to do with making things more interesting. It's not about worldbuilding. It's not even about your characters.

It's about connecting with the diverse elements of your audience.

That's what makes it difficult. That's what makes it contentious. It's about speaking towards people's diverse identities.

We don't do that by thinking, "Hrmm. Foreign tribe. Let's make them black. Let's give them some exotic magic. Ohh, gotta make sure they're developed like real people - just like the white guys!"

That isn't diversity. It doesn't speak to people's diverse identities.

Now, I'm not saying that race-based worldbuilding is wrong. I'm not advocating that everyone needs to include diversity. What I'm saying is that diversity is challenging, which in turn, I will admit, also suggests that I am setting a high bar for what really is or is not diversity.

What I don't accept is people ignoring the challenges, pretending that understanding the nuances of subcultures is easy, inviting people to put their own biases on display because diversity is "so easy," and showing a great deal of ignorance of what the problems even are.

People are different. As writers, we should spend less time dreaming up the fake and more time understanding why the real people around us are so very different, and in turn, figuring out how we can speak towards those differences in our writing.

So yes, I ask again: Having a fake black culture is great. But what kind of problem does that solve?

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

Racial and cultural diversity is much easier to pull off in a fantasy setting than it may be in a contemporary one. I don't know much about being raised Chinese/American, for example. I could do it, but it'd take some learning on my part. In a fantasy setting though, I wouldn't be so restricted by cultural accuracy.

In my opinion, just having people of different color, isn't true diversity IF the only thing that differs is physical appearance. It has to go deeper than that & it is more difficult for authors who may not identify with the racial/cultural group. You'd have to be willing to put the extra effort in if you have any hope of accurate representation.

I also think the racial/cultural angle is easier than other groups people may identify with. Sexual orientation, or people who identify as a transgender for example, may be much more difficult to write and represent accurately if you don't have a lot of exposure to the differing lifestyles or experiences.

Though I haven't written a gay MC before, I think I could pull off a homosexual character well. I've had, and still have, lots of exposure through family, friends, and work relations. Transgenderism though, I'd find more difficult. I'm almost certain I'd misrepresent the life of a transgender character because I know so little about transgender people. I'm not opposed to the idea. In fact, I think a transgender character could be quite interesting. But, if I was going to make a sincere attempt, I'd want a lot more exposure and direct communication with transgender people to assist me in getting their experiences down correctly.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

I'll sort of respond to how to avoid "us plus fake" based on my current plan to write a luchador.

Spoiler: a what?

A LUCHADOR!

​

I'm not Mexican, and I've never been a pro wrestler. So how can I write this guy?

For starters, I consider what I know that is relevant to this character.

* I have some cultural knowledge.
* I have some martial arts knowledge.
* I've known people who have similarities to my character.

Spoiler: the details

*CULTURAL:

I teach ESL. True, most of my students are Puerto Rican, Dominican, and from other Spanish-speaking places that aren't Mexico. I have had Mexican students in the past, though, so I have at least seen the cultural similarities to what I've been exposed to vs. what I'm exposed to regularly. I also read some of Gary Soto's work, which often portrays Mexican characters in the U.S. in a way intended for non-Spanish-speaking readers. Soto himself is Mexican.

So there's my personal connection with Latinos, and my exposure to Mexican characters written by a Mexican author.

*MARTIAL ARTS:

I've fought in karate tournaments (3 years ago, 20 years ago) and while my experience doesn't compare to Phil "The Drill" Overby, I've had a bit of fun staging fake wrestling moves which include moves that involve lifting people overhead and controlling the move so the head only appears to hit the ground. I also have experience with pins and holds (some of which are really painful) in martial arts classes, and a few times not in a class because I had to control a situation.

By no means am I a hulking mass of muscle, and most of the holds I learned in class would require a cooperative opponent because I really suck at leg locks and arm bars, but anyway, I can write my own experience with performing moves and fighting while a crowd reacts.

*LUCHADOR-LIKE PEOPLE:

A former coworker of mine was a professional fighter. He knew I was back into tournaments again and once he knew I was interested in hearing it, he told me about the life of a professional fighter. He didn't glamorize it. Loose women and substance abuse were part of his experience. While my character won't be a drug addict, this coworker does somewhat fit the look and personality of my character.

My Mexican student was a boxer, and in fact, the best in his age group in the area. A judge gave his win to his opponent, however, because his opponent was the son of a guy running the organization. I know that sounds like talk from a sore loser, but I saw the video of this fight. The opponent's coach questioned the call. I was also in a tournament in which the judge handed wins to his own students—this after giving everyone a pre-fight speech about not questioning a judge's call. (None of us had ever questioned a judge's call until fighting in this tournament!)

So, while nothing in the above spoiler tags makes me an authority on the life of a luchador, I have experiences that bring me part of the way there. (I dare say I'm more suited to writing a luchador than I am to writing a knight.)

I also have the interest in learning more, even knowing what I write is meant to be like a B-movie in book form. Could I swap out my Mexican for a white guy? Probably (since you can't tell if he's Mexican with the mask over his head). But the character in my head is a Mexican, so I'm going to write him that way. Just like I'll unapologetically write white guys when I picture my characters as white guys.