South Asian Representation We’d Like to See
@murdergirlfriend said:
I’d like to ask the south asian/Indian people of WWC what kinds of south asian & Indian characters would you like to see more of?
Marika
As a South Asian:
- Brahmin characters are overused to depict Hindus, particularly devout Hindus. I’d like to have more well-researched stories about individuals from other castes.
- In general, Hindus and Indians overall are over-represented in Western fiction. I’d like to hear about people from other religions and countries within the subcontinent.
- Fleshed out characters with properly researched family backgrounds appropriately placed within the region’s history.
- South Asian characters involved in narratives that acknowledge oppression, poverty, colonization and ethnic/ religious/ identity politics, but aren’t fixated on these tensions. This might be more of an OwnStories thing simply because I imagine many non-South Asians would find this balance hard to strike.
As a diaspora South Asian:
- Stories without ABCD angst. We get it. People like to hear about how hard it is to be an immigrant from a weird country with a funny last name, and funny smelling food. I want more stories about desis who get joy and fulfillment from their identity. I want to hear more hopeful, coming of age stories from people empowered through engagement with their heritage.
- I want more stories about ABCD pan-South Asian solidarity. I was not raised in a Brahmin enclave like many Hindu Brahmins in the US. After 9/11, when being brown was not fun, my Pakistani, Sikh and Sri Lankan friends and I mutually supported each other. We benefited immensely from not fighting our parents’ wars, and to this day, they understand me better than Brahmins back home.
SK
I would like to see characters whose identities as South Asians have more depth. Like Marika, I want to see South Asian characters who don’t view their identity as a burden. I’d also like to see realistic fiction stories of South Asians that don’t revolve around romance and arranged marriage.
For Sikh characters, I’d like to see Sikhs that aren’t Punjabi. Give me a story about an Afghan Sikh or a Nepali Sikh. I’d also like to see stories that don’t conflate Punjabi culture and Sikhi. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an initiated Sikh in the media. And I want to see women in turbans with swords!
Jaya
I want more fantasy stories where we aren’t there to react to broken systems. Most of the time, South Asians are side characters who exist as a token. Instead, I wish we were more flawed, that we are allowed to grow and change. Connie in Steven Universe felt refreshing because it was a relief to see an Indian kid with pushy parents but could wield a sword and train with holograms.
Stories about South Asians from the West Indies would be nice. We exist–even in the US & Canada–in pretty large numbers in places like Florida, Toronto, New York, & New Jersey, but you’d never know from any sort of fiction that includes South Asians. Our experiences are pretty different & aren’t easily swapped out for the experiences of people living in Asia or people whose families emigrated from Asia to western countries without a detour into indenture.
YES! Absolutely! I love this. I have family who emigrated to and from Nigeria and many diaspora acquaintances whose families came from Guyana as well as Trinidad and Tobago. We have an ask where we mention the importance of understanding South Asian diaspora history, and so much of the West is woefully ignorant when it comes to how the practice of indenture was widely used in colonies, particularly by the British. For me personally. so much of how early ethnic enclaves were formed was driven by identity, so knowing this history, is extremely important to my identity as a mixed person in terms of accounting for historically accurate depictions of diversity.
- Marika.
Aside:
@fangirling-account : Idk if I’m allowed to say this, but I think saying “Hindus and Indians overall are over-represented in Western fiction” is a bit of a off? By that I mean, they may be over-represented in regards to other cultures and ethnicities, but they’re still used sparringly. Especially in comparison to white people. Instead of reducing those groups, we reduce the amount of white characters and add other South Asian people that way. My personal take though. Sorry if I overstepped.
I was indeed stating the above in my capacity as a Indian, Hindu South Asian given the specific prompt of the kinds of South Asians we’d like to see more of in fiction. Thank you for the opportunity to clarify my meaning. - Marika.
@cuteykitsune
On the part about steven universe. I’m curious about why it is okay to depict overbearing parents. Wouldn’t that be something people don’t want shown in media? Even if they do loosen up. I would just think since there’s so many toxic abusive parents out there it would be bad to depict especially non-white parents this way
Basically, It Depends.
My mom is a doctor like Dr. Maheswaran is and doesn’t understand fantasy, but the difference is that Dr. Maheswaran changed upon learning she didn’t know Connie at all. My mom is still the same. Dad was mellower but had standards to which he held all of us. Seeing Connie in the same situation as someone like me felt like a breath of fresh air.
- Mod Jaya
My parents are also kind of overbearing? However, though overbearing S. Asian parents are a reality, there’s an overabundance of strict S. Asian parents in media and these parents do tend to be strict, so I personally would feel best if this was handled by someone who was a minority themselves and had overbearing parents (Which is not solely a trait tied to Asian POC) because I would feel like they would have the appropriate cultural competence.
I think Steven Universe does Oh Kay at this because they do an all right job at giving Connie’s mom a personality (Especially in the final season, I think her mom was a really cool character), but watching it, I am still tired of seeing the unsupportive, strict, Asian mom stereotype.
- Mod Sophia
As said by Sophia, the problem is that this is often the only common depiction of S. Asian parents.
- SK
Having never watched Steven Universe and having no firm opinion on depictions of strict Asian parents in media, I would like to note that we jumped from “overbearing non-white parents” to “toxic, abusive non-white parents”, which suggests that part of the issue may be in the eyes of the beholder. I think many Asian cultures still allow for a very wide spectrum between the two concepts, and we’ve had enough asks on this subjects that all the Asian mods (!!) are in talks about a writing resource to discuss cultural relativism for parenting within the context of Asian cultures, so look forward to that!
- Marika.
Echoing Marika, from what I’ve seen white parents are more overbearing than the Asian parents I know, and I think much of this is tied to conservative Christianity.
- SK
I’m indian, enby and bi and really would like to see south asians who are queer and don’t use the byg tropes and show us having happy endings too! props if they don’t speak hindi and/or actually like their culture instead of hating it(which is something I see a lot)
I very much agree! Even homegrown S. Asian media tends to show queer issues with so much tragedy. I think we need both stories that show the real stigma and trauma borne of culture, but also stories that offer hope and the promise of happy endings!
- Marika.