busyThe thing is ... there are people with multiple minority traits. There are gay Asians. There are autistic Pagans. There are poor black lesbians in wheelchairs. And those people sometimes feel overlooked because the stacking effect can change their experiences so much that a single-trait character doesn't feel much like them. I've read essays upholding this end of the debate but couldn't find one to use as an example here.
My stance is that I write characters as they need to be. I have a lot of characters who are female/other trait because roughly half of humanity is female. Other combinations are less common but also appear. Brelig is a normal-sized Duurludirj man (which we'd consider a dwarf) and missing one hand. Maryam Smith is African-British, genderqueer, duoclass, and of illegitimate birth. I'm more likely to focus on minority protagonists than to use them as filler, something my audience seems to enjoy if you look over what's been published. I don't tend to write a lot of straight white Christian men, though, so the core of the mainstream doesn't get a lot of traffic from me. Meh.
Also, if I haven't specified a trait in canon, yes it could fall outside the mainstream. Characters have done this to me often enough, and my cultural awareness is diverse enough, that there's no permanent default. They may pop out an uncommon religion or sexual orientation or invisible handicap or whatnot, and they may do that after two stories or six poems or twenty years. I'm more likely to mention physical features such as skin tone and gender up front, because they're noticeable points of diversity. But I've also had characters refuse to reveal their sex/gender, and not just the ones for whom "I'm not telling" is their gender.
I'm interested in other people's perspectives on the matter of single vs. stacked traits.
June 12 2013, 17:39:15 UTC 8 years ago
Definitely true for me. I can't identify with a LOT of gay/trans protagonists, because being gay or trans is their Big Thing, and I can't identify with that. I was furious when I found out I was gay... mostly because I was dealing with the multiplicity and my gender at the same time, and I was REALLY FUCKING TIRED of being "special." Say what you will about the quality of 'Set This House in Order,' I found it wonderful to see a multi that was trans and just couldn't care, because they had so much other shit going down.
Multi representation on its own is awful. Hell, yesterday, I involuntarily bellowed, "SON OF A BITCH," while watching Batman with friends because goddammit, the villain was multiple, with an evil alter and Jekyll/Hyde set-up. THANKS GUYS. I just avoid all multi work now, because I know I will just get mad, and anyway, good luck seeing any multis who aren't white, predominantly straight, and evil.
--Rogan
Thoughts
June 12 2013, 21:09:07 UTC 8 years ago
I've had people tell me I couldn't possibly be genderqueer, because it hasn't ruined my life. For fucksake my current body is not my preferred size, shape, sex, color, or species; but I am a shapeshifter and can cope with variations. I'm supposed to wig out over one particular divergence? WTF, no. It's an aspect of my personality but not the most salient one.
>> I was furious when I found out I was gay... mostly because I was dealing with the multiplicity and my gender at the same time, and I was REALLY FUCKING TIRED of being "special." >>
Ouch. That's gotta suck.
>> Say what you will about the quality of 'Set This House in Order,' I found it wonderful to see a multi that was trans and just couldn't care, because they had so much other shit going down. <<
*nod* I've noticed that effect, where there's so much happening that some of it just isn't as important to the person compared to something else that is seriously on fire. But to a different person with only that one thing rocking their boat, it might seem like a much bigger deal.
>> Multi representation on its own is awful. <<
Agreed. This often bothers me in literature/entertainment.
>> Hell, yesterday, I involuntarily bellowed, "SON OF A BITCH," while watching Batman with friends because goddammit, the villain was multiple, with an evil alter and Jekyll/Hyde set-up. THANKS GUYS. <<
0_o That sounds full of FAIL.
>> I just avoid all multi work now, because I know I will just get mad, and anyway, good luck seeing any multis who aren't white, predominantly straight, and evil. <<
I'm sorry to hear that. I feel that this is an area that really needs more representation, and you know a lot about it, and I value your input on what's gone wrong so that those things can be fixed.
One of my oldest characters has an aspected personality, spanning different genders and even cultures. The bandit-self is a horse. And absolutely none of this shows unless you know exactly what to look for or are told outright, because this is the sanest person I've ever met. Except that outclan think everyone from Waterjewel is crazy by dint of being too sane to make sense to those who are differently civilized.
I'm prone to writing shapeshifters as multiples, because of how body influences thought: if you are sometimes human and sometimes a wolf, you will necessarily interact differently. It's kind of like how thinking in a different language changes your thought patterns.
I'm open to the idea of writing more characters who are multiples, if anyone wants to prompt in that direction.