[ SECRET POST #2637 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2637 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 070 secrets from Secret Submission Post #377.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 1 - broken links ], [ 1 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 1 - too big ], [ 1 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

anon you quoted...

I've said, further down the thread:

I would never attempt to write an OC of colour because I have no experience, either cultural or social, of what it's like to be a person of colour, so the character would simply be me (a white person) with darker skin.

You [the anon I'm responding to] are arguing that (in a fantasy context only?) that doesn't matter, and five years ago I might have agreed with you, but the discussions I have seen online, and the opinions expressed by people who I have no reason to doubt are persons of colour, have persuaded me that, at present, it would be an inappropriate thing to do it.*

Is that racist? There's no simple answer. To some people (including me), it is, because it means I'm assuming that persons of colour are somehow different from me. But to other people (also including me, looking at it in a different way), it's respectful, because I'm not assuming that I (a white person) am some sort of archetype.

I hope that's clearer and sounds less crappy!

* Until what is generally known as 'RaceFail 2009' happened, I would have thought that, far from being Not Like Me, you were Just Like Me, and I wouldn't have thought it disrespectful to attempt to write a POC character, but the anger I saw in those discussions was so intense, I was forced to revise my opinion. It's a difficult line to tread. I lost faith in my own instincts then and, honestly, I've never got it back...

As for writing male characters, well, yes, I do tend to write about their genitalia quite a bit, actually, but -- more importantly -- I have no idea whether any of my stories have ever been read by a man (I've certainly never had any feedback from a man), and I pretty much assume they aren't, so I tend deliberately to write men from a woman's perspective, and don't feel at all uncomfortable about that... Though it's undoubtedly sexist at some level and one day a man will probably come along and bash me over the head with a virtual shovel for it.

[(Anonymous)]

SA

the anger I saw in those discussions was so intense, I was forced to revise my opinion

Just to clarify: I don't mean 'they got angry because they were Not Like Me, I mean they got angry because they believed that I and people like me were ignoring important issues.

[(Anonymous)]

I do recall RaceFail, yes, though I wasn't actively involved in it. A great deal of anger and frustration there. I realize that I don't speak for all POCs, but I wouldn't necessarily call a white author writing a POC "inappropriate". Risky, hell yes. Inappropriate? Hmmmmm. I'm not much in favor of rules (spoken or unspoken) that go, "If you're ________ you can't write ______". I also tend to believe that good writing is always the last word on these matters.


At the same time, I have quite a few white author friends who are now too nervous to write a POC character for many reasons. That's completely their right, but I think that if everyone felt that way, we're missing out. All writing is a gamble. Some writing is a riskier gamble than others. That's the perspective I try to maintain.

[(Anonymous)]

ayrt

I also tend to believe that good writing is always the last word on these matters.

I used to think that, but I've been disabused! I've had someone call me a 'bad writer' for having an elf -- an elf -- behave in a way they didn't approve of, LOL!

As I've said elsewhere in the thread, I've come to the conclusion that my reluctance to write characters of colour is more about self preservation than racism, is grounded in the current climate, and will change when the climate changes. But I can't see myself pioneering the change.