Discussion: Sick of Authors Looking For Reasons Why Not Include Diversity 😒

[MeghanWrites]

I mean witches being Indian kind of makes sense cause witches come from culture but stil…

[ShanniiWrites]

But in all seriousness. There is no reason why vampires would have to be white except stupidity

[ShanniiWrites]

There are witches in most cultures. We don’t have witches in India very much. I’m confused

[MeghanWrites]

The few shows I’ve watched with witches in them are either Indian or African (I can’t tell I’m sorry for being stupid)

[ChaoticDeluge]

I’m confused too, witches as we know them today are a very Eurocentric design. Hags with warts and big noses and stuff.

Witches in the sexy lady who does magic sense is fairly global

[MeghanWrites]

Yeah there’s that but then there’s also the darker skinned voodoo ones

[ShanniiWrites]

Voodoo doesn’t come from India

[ChaoticDeluge]

Voodoun priests are African, yea. I haven’t actually seen a lot of that that doesn’t just come across as super insensitive. Mostly because they have like bone sticks and wave around clubs and stuff. It’s really weird and kinda high-key racist.

Indian stereotypes tend to be weirdos who kiss snakes and practice yoga and stuff.

[MeghanWrites]

Wait it doesn’t I’m sorry

[MeghanWrites]

That… makes more sense

[Mysterious_Tea]

@ChaoticDeluge

What the actual fcuk is scientific about mystically rising from the dead to suck teenage girls?

I wonder why vampires always suck blood of teenage girls. Do they have tastier blood?

@ShanniiWrites

What’s stopping a brown person from being a vampire?

Nothing. The “rule” that vampires have to be white is stupid.

[celestialkitten]

Bomp bomp

[Kanubish]

Large Bump

[celestialkitten]

Bump!

[_haruka]

“I don’t know anything about that disability/race/religion/sexuality etc.”
“I’ve never seen someone with that disability/race/religion/sexuality etc.”

And if you don’t know anything about it, go and ask someone who is part of that race or who has that disability etc.

“I’m scared of getting it wrong.”

Ok, fair enough, but that doesn’t mean you can’t include diversity. You can ask people in real life and online about how to portray it respectfully, and again, you can ask uncle google.

“The place where the story is set is mostly white.”

Mostly. Not all. And diversity isn’t just about race. It’s about sexuality, gender, disabilities, religions, culture, language. Lots of things.

“Stop forcing me to add diversity!”

We’re not holding guns to your head and ‘forcing’ you to add diversity! It’s a suggestion and when it comes down to it, we can’t write the story for you. It’s your choice.

Also, although people may jump on you and get aggressive, in the end, sometimes you make mistakes. Sometimes you say things that are a little insensitive, and that doesn’t make you a terrible person. Just fix it and there you go. The people who continue to escalate it even when the issue has been resolved are in the wrong.

[anon80318563]

And sometimes, people think that they have to include EVERY SINGLE TYPE of diversity, or otherwise there story isn’t diverse because they aren’t including (insert group here). That’s forced diversity.

[ShanniiWrites]

I was actually speaking about this with Deluge the other day. I hate the term “forced diversity”. When I used to say it, that was exactly what I meant. However, a bunch of people who are actively against diversity are calling everything forced diversity. They make MJ mixed race in Spider-Man? fOrCeD dIvErSiTy!

There’s a single white-passing Indian actress in the new Witcher? FoRcEd DiVeRsItY!

So I’ve decided to make a new term: Shopping List Diversity

[baleigh]

@_haruka

I’m scared of getting it wrong.”

Ok, fair enough, but that doesn’t mean you can’t include diversity. You can ask people in real life and online about how to portray it respectfully, and again, you can ask uncle google.

I have a trans woman character in my story, and want to know how I write her? I just…do. Like it’s not rocket science. I just treat her like a regular character and she writes herself. Are there things that influence how she does things? Yes. But it’s not like there’s some magic formula to creating people different than us. I do the same thing with POCs they just write themselves with me, and I’m less worried about quotas and more worried about having genuine characters to help tell the story.

@_haruka

The place where the story is set is mostly white.”

Mostly. Not all. And diversity isn’t just about race. It’s about sexuality, gender, disabilities, religions, culture, language. Lots of things.

So, random fun fact of the day. The town I grew up in has very little racial diversity. There are white people, hispanic people, and that’s about it. I was best friends with one of the 2 Hindu Indians that went to school with me and the town had a town meeting when ex members of the mormon church moved in. The African American population was also…really small. Like 2 people who came and left small. So…unless you’re writing about this town, I don’t get this excuse. Especially when you’re throwing a story into “Insert blank town I made up in the US.”

[liyahsdiamond]

Diversity should be in all stories, no matter the genre.

[MeghanWrites]

Dude, you are on a forum with over 100,000 members. I’m sure that if you start a thread asking for advice on writing (insert diverse thing here,), you will find someone who can help you.