WritingWithColor (Posts tagged intersectionality)

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Diversity Win: Is "Crazy Rich" POC Representation Necessarily Empowering?

sodapopsculptor asked:

I’m writing a story with two sets of protagonists: A trio with a Black girl, a Latino, and a Vietnamese-American boy who all come from middle-upper class to ridiculously rich families, and a pair of white working-middle class sisters. They’re all heroes of this story.
I’ve seen way too many rich white people and poor poc people in fiction, and I’m kinda getting sick of it, but I’m worried that by having the poc kids be rich and the white girls not so much, I’ll be reinforcing the idea that poc somehow rule the world.

The only time the rich kids use their status as leverage is when the Asian threatens to sic his cop dad on a bully (race unstated but I imagined him as white) picking on a freshman, and during the Black girl’s birthday party, when she pays the biggest jock there fifty bucks (And later says offhandedly that it was just what she had in her pocket) to chase off a creep hitting on her.

OP, have you ever seen the “diversity win!” meme before?

I understand that your motivation for these narrative choices is to give POC a chance, if you will, to be the rich characters. But it is evident from this ask that you have not asked yourself what this entails. I want to ask you to critically examine the race and class intersections you’re creating here, as well as these kids’ roles in oppressive systems.

You explain that these rich POC are heroes and only have righteous reasons for leveraging their power.

  • But is your Black girl character aware of the potential disciplinary and/or legal consequences her jock accomplice might face while she has the resources to keep her hands clean? Are you?
  • Is your Asian character aware of how much of an abuse of power it is to “sic” a cop on someone, and the sheer amount of harm a criminal record or incarceration does to a juvenile with behavior issues? Are you?

So you want to put POC in positions of power for #representation.

  • Does it resonate with the group you’re representing?
  • Do you research and portray the unique ways race, ethnicity, class, and majority vs. minority status come together?
  • Or are you putting these characters in oppressive hegemonic roles for the sake of a power fantasy, on behalf of a group you're not even in?

To your question, you're not reinforcing the idea that "POC rule the world" because such a generalized belief does not exist. Instead, you're reinforcing:

  • The idea that society has “winners” and “losers.”
  • The idea that the problem with disproportionately powerful people is the lack of “equal opportunity” as opposed to the power imbalance to begin with.
  • The idea that those in oppressive positions of power need only have the right intentions to justify their use of it.

To be clear: that is not to say that you can't have jerk aristocrat billionaire millionaire crazy rich POC. Evil or mean rich characters are fun! I have some myself! You can even have rich characters who are gentle-hearted and well-intentioned, but you have to know the ways in which they’re privileged and decide how aware of that your characters are. That’s no problem.

But if you think that wealthy and powerful POC would have the same values and priorities as their poorer counterparts, you’re deluding yourself. There’s a reason why the quote “power corrupts” exists. There’s a reason why no matter where you look on the globe, there are historical dictators and tyrants.

If you want bratty rich POC who lack regard for the consequences of their actions, because you want bratty rich characters, great! If you want them because it would be uplifting or empowering representation? You’re doing it for the wrong reason.

~ Rina

I fully agree with Rina, and truly want to emphasize the last paragraph.

If you want bratty rich POC who lack regard for the consequences of their actions, because you want bratty rich characters, great! If you want them because it would be uplifting or empowering representation? You’re doing it for the wrong reason.

I don't think you need to aim to subvert or purposely make all the BIPOC rich and powerful and the white people poor and suffering. Add diversity and include upper class rich and class privileged BIPOC, sure thing! And you can avoid your fears of intentional subversion message by including rich and powerful white characters as well, even if they're not the focus of your story. Just their existence helps. You could also include middle-class characters of Color as well.

More reading: Black in upper-class society

~Mod Colette

class upper class capitalism POC creator responsibility asks representation wealth privilege subverting tropes intersectionality crazy rich asians last edited 1/8/24

Diversity Win: Is “Crazy Rich” POC Representation Necessarily Empowering?

sodapopsculptor asked:

I’m writing a story with two sets of protagonists: A trio with a Black girl, a Latino, and a Vietnamese-American boy who all come from middle-upper class to ridiculously rich families, and a pair of white working-middle class sisters. They’re all heroes of this story.
I’ve seen way too many rich white people and poor poc people in fiction, and I’m kinda getting sick of it, but I’m worried that by having the poc kids be rich and the white girls not so much, I’ll be reinforcing the idea that poc somehow rule the world.

The only time the rich kids use their status as leverage is when the Asian threatens to sic his cop dad on a bully (race unstated but I imagined him as white) picking on a freshman, and during the Black girl’s birthday party, when she pays the biggest jock there fifty bucks (And later says offhandedly that it was just what she had in her pocket) to chase off a creep hitting on her.

OP, have you ever seen the “diversity win!” meme before?

I understand that your motivation for these narrative choices is to give POC a chance, if you will, to be the rich characters. But it is evident from this ask that you have not asked yourself what this entails. I want to ask you to critically examine the race and class intersections you’re creating here, as well as these kids’ roles in oppressive systems.

You explain that these rich POC are heroes and only have righteous reasons for leveraging their power.

  • But is your Black girl character aware of the potential disciplinary and/or legal consequences her jock accomplice might face while she has the resources to keep her hands clean? Are you?
  • Is your Asian character aware of how much of an abuse of power it is to “sic” a cop on someone, and the sheer amount of harm a criminal record or incarceration does to a juvenile with behavior issues? Are you?

So you want to put POC in positions of power for #representation.

  • Does it resonate with the group you’re representing?
  • Do you research and portray the unique ways race, ethnicity, class, and majority vs. minority status come together?
  • Or are you putting these characters in oppressive hegemonic roles for the sake of a power fantasy, on behalf of a group you’re not even in?

To your question, you’re not reinforcing the idea that “POC rule the world” because such a generalized belief does not exist. Instead, you’re reinforcing:

  • The idea that society has “winners” and “losers.”
  • The idea that the problem with disproportionately powerful people is the lack of “equal opportunity” as opposed to the power imbalance to begin with.
  • The idea that those in oppressive positions of power need only have the right intentions to justify their use of it.

To be clear: that is not to say that you can’t have jerk aristocrat billionaire millionaire crazy rich POC. Evil or mean rich characters are fun! I have some myself! You can even have rich characters who are gentle-hearted and well-intentioned, but you have to know the ways in which they’re privileged and decide how aware of that your characters are. That’s no problem.

But if you think that wealthy and powerful POC would have the same values and priorities as their poorer counterparts, you’re deluding yourself. There’s a reason why the quote “power corrupts” exists. There’s a reason why no matter where you look on the globe, there are historical dictators and tyrants.

If you want bratty rich POC who lack regard for the consequences of their actions, because you want bratty rich characters, great! If you want them because it would be uplifting or empowering representation? You’re doing it for the wrong reason.

~ Rina

I fully agree with Rina, and truly want to emphasize the last paragraph.

If you want bratty rich POC who lack regard for the consequences of their actions, because you want bratty rich characters, great! If you want them because it would be uplifting or empowering representation? You’re doing it for the wrong reason.

I don’t think you need to aim to subvert or purposely make all the BIPOC rich and powerful and the white people poor and suffering. Add diversity and include upper class rich and class privileged BIPOC, sure thing! And you can avoid your fears of intentional subversion message by including rich and powerful white characters as well, even if they’re not the focus of your story. Just their existence helps. You could also include middle-class characters of Color as well.

More reading: Black in upper-class society

~Mod Colette

class upper class capitalism POC creator responsibility asks representation wealth privilege subverting tropes intersectionality crazy rich asians last edited 1/8/24

Working Through Identity Issues and Other Pitfalls With Representation

We get a lot of asks from people with lived experience in one aspect of marginalization— LGBTQIA+, neurodivergent, physically disabled, ex-religious people—and the asks boil down to, essentially: can I take all of my own trauma and put it on someone multiply marginalized?

This question has many facets, which this guide is set to outline.

Power Dynamics and Intersections

Within any space centred around a marginalized identity, white supremacy and colorism still play a very large part within those spaces. Imani Barbarin of Crutches and Spice observed that white disabled people can only exercise the full extent of their white privilege within disabled spaces, because white supremacy has ableism built in and views disabled white people as lesser; white people are denied the ability to be completely white in abled society. As a result, the only opportunity they have to exercise the full extent of white privilege is disabled spaces.

The same goes with LGBTQIA+ spaces; they can end up colonialist because of white people in those spaces assume that their methods of coming out and living in their identity are the only way that exist, when people of colour can (and often do) have totally different but still perfectly valid ways of living in their identity. Again, white supremacy has homophobia built in, so white LGBTQ+ people don’t have full access to white privilege unless they’re with other LGBTQ+ people.

As a result: if you pick an identity that you have power over, you are bringing all of those power dynamics to the table in your representation. Even if you share a marginalization with the character, one aspect of discrimination does not an understanding of all discrimination make. Identities are all intersectional. 

Representing multiple axes of marginalization is much more difficult, because you will have to unpack your own power, realize how many other ways of existing there are, and leave your own ideas for how the story should go at the door in order to respect experiences you don’t have in full.

You have to listen to the people you’re representing, or else you won’t be writing representation for them. 

The Bias Game of Telephone

Insiders to any given group are taught a lot of “truths” about outside groups without spending much time listening to those groups, which results in a lot of problems. What might have been said or observed once or twice travels around people in a game of telephone, fanning xenophobia because it’s so much easier to critique people over there than ourselves.

So yes, you heard that Over There, the practice is x. Apply some stereotypes, spread it around as a societal “everyone knows”, and suddenly you think you know a lot more than you do about any one group. 

For example: the Public Religion Research Institute polled over a dozen religious groups in the United States on whether they support LGBTQ rights in 2019, and the results were that people who are Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, and basically every religious group you could think of except Jehovah’s Witnesses were in favour of legal LGBTQ+ protection. They even polled in Christian denominations separating out white, Hispanic, and Black—and all of them agreed: LGBTQ+ rights needed to be put into law. (Source: Broad Support for LGBT Rights Across all 50 States: Findings from the 2019 American Values Atlas )

Throws a wrench into “everyone knows that [insert group here] is homophobic”, doesn’t it?

The problem is, these biases are going to colour your initial research stage. If you “know” that x group believes y, then you’re going to “naturally” slot them into that role in the story, then come to us asking if that’s okay.

Instead, what you need to do is poke your own assumptions: 

  • Why did you make this situation happen that way? 
  • Do the numbers support this assumption? 
  • Have you actually spent any time in groups with these individuals to see how they live? 
  • Did you read even one multiply-marginalized person’s social media feed to see what they believe? Preferably multiple?

Once you’ve done those steps, you’ll be in a much better place to see if you’ve even made something realistic, or if you’re projecting your experience too much as a 1 to 1 in situations where it just wouldn’t happen that way.

White is Not Neutral

Any identity you have as a white person is going to look different for someone not white. Being queer, Muslim, and Black in America looks a lot different than being gay, white, and Protestant in America. Those combinations of identities will look different again if you’re in a Muslim-majority country vs Muslim-minority, Christian-majority vs Christian-minority. 

The traumas of being a certain identity in a society that doesn’t like you are racialized. White is not the default experience of how life happens, and a Hindu person with a strong connection to their family and wants to maintain some connection, just with boundaries, will have a much different set of priorities than an exvangelical who wants to get away from their family the minute they turn 18. 

Even if you get a Hindu person who wants to get away from their family the minute they turn 18, the logic for getting there and the hurdles to overcome will be different, because they’ll have been raised differently. If you start to assume that you know how they’ll reach that logic, then you’re probably playing a game of bias telephone, as detailed above.

Mental illness, gender, disability and basically any identity under the sun will have a different expression in different cultures. A cross-cultural study on schizophrenia’s auditory hallucinations showed that the voices people hear are shaped by culture. In Accra, Ghana and Chennai, India—people mostly reported their heard voices as a positive thing. Meanwhile in San Mateo, California, not one person did the same. (source: Hallucinatory ‘voices’ shaped by local culture, Stanford anthropologist says)

Different cultures will define “man” differently. Cultures might have third genders that are more widespread and accepted than non-binary people in North America and Europe. Expectations for a parent will be different. Expectations for children will be different. Expectations between friends will be different. Disability (physical and/or mental) accommodations that are built into culture will be wildly different depending on cultural values. Wealth and class struggles will also be different.

All of these things will deeply impact a majority* character from a marginalized group, let alone one multiply marginalized. If you can’t answer how a majority character would behave based off cultural practices, then answer that before you work on a multiply marginalized person from that group.

* majority= cis, het, pale, financially stable, aka, somebody who has the most institutional power within that group even if they are marginalized in broader society (if they’re in a society where they are the dominant group, then they are privileged)

Healing, Distance, and Diversity

I know many marginalized people use fictional stories to be seen on paper, especially in a society where the stories for us just don’t exist. And you’re also aware of how white the representation of otherwise-marginalized people is, so you want to do your part to change that.

There are three paths you can take with this:

1- You are writing a story primarily for others, and have worked through your own stuff enough that you can use it as an influence instead of a story basis.

You realize you might not know exactly how a Buddhist East Asian person in a supportive family feels, but you know what it’s like to feel supported growing up and want to pull from that experience to show a loving Buddhist East Asian family. Or maybe you know what it’s like to love your parents but never, ever, ever feel safe coming out to them, and you want to show other people stuck in that place it’s okay, and it just so happens that the character this time around is Black.

This is a place where you can put aside your own desires and really dig into the research. Because it will take a lot of research. There will be so many little things that you don’t know. It will be diversity on hard mode. 

2- You are writing this story primarily for yourself, but it’s just so emotional to think of your own context you want to make it Different, somehow

If you are in this position, consider keeping the story private. Not a judgement, at all—we all need private stories. But until you’ve worked through your own pain, you’re going to be relying a little too heavily on assumptions and your own experience to do respectful research.

That emotional situation you want to write about is going to look so different once you change the racial demographic, you probably won’t get the catharsis you want while writing it. Which means the story and your healing will suffer, because you’re not able to do research and you’re not able to work through all of your feelings from running into cultural roadblocks.

Get catharsis first, then consider doing diversity once your emotions are less intense. You need to be able to put “you” aside, and when your feelings are too big, that just is not happening. That’s okay! Not all of your representation has to be perfectly done for others to consume. 

But that also means, you don’t have to ask WWC about it. Because you’re not writing a story for public consumption—you’re writing a story to process your own trauma.

3- You are writing this story primarily for others, but you’re simply trying to toss as much diversity in to “fix” the “everyone is white” problem and haven’t really stepped back to ask yourself if you’re representing them, or if you’re trying to show off.

This is a place you can very quickly be accidentally hurtful, because you don’t know what you don’t know. Maybe you’re wanting to toss in some background flavour, have some experience with death, decide to change the character’s race because they’re a smaller background part… and then you don’t look at what grief norms are in their culture over yours.

You could also find out that your experience has a lot of similarities and get lucky! Or you could get a few things wrong but at least you tried. Or, worst case, you could get it completely wrong and end up not representing anyone.

When in doubt, ask. If you’ve never seen x group handle y, then look it up before you go writing about it—same way you’d research any other component of your plot. Fear is not the place to write diversity from.

TL;DR

  • No matter how many marginalizations you have, it’ll still be different if you don’t share race
  • Marginalized spaces are often the only spaces where marginalized white people have full access to white privilege, so they can be extremely hostile to PoC
  • Groups grow, change, and evolve, as time goes on. Don’t assume that you know how they’ll actually handle any given marginalization unless you’ve listened to them at length.
  • Context matters; the same identity will have a different experience depending on their level of privilege within their society/group
  • There are limits to how much you can extrapolate your experience to relate with others who share an identity (chronically ill, LGBTQ+, etc) with you
  • If you’re just taking PoC to make the story different from your lived experience, keep the story private and heal before you start to write for others
  • Simply trying to avoid criticism of writing all white people is a poor place to start writing diversity, and you need some basic research before you polish things

~Mod Lesya

guides research creator responsibility stereotypes representation characters intersectionality

Including diversity where there may be little

Including diversity where there may be little: Black Radium Girls as example

post-scriptvm asked: [ask clipped for length]

I have an interest in the ‘Radium Girls’, groups of women who worked at studios in America from the late 1910s onwards painting radium onto clock faces, and later took their companies to court for the horrible impacts the radium had on their body. 

I want to make a musical, just for fun. I’ve decided to use a fictionalized version of events, with composite characters based on multiple different women, rather than one of the real-life groups and the actual women from them. It will be mostly set in New Jersey, in the roaring 20s. 

Neither of the two real-life groups I know of had any Black women in them, and I can’t see any Black women in any of the big group photos of the dial factories’ employees. But I know there’s a lot of Black history and culture in that time and place bc of the great migration and stuff, so I feel like if I’m not going to use the real life ladies, I should probably take the opportunity to also make some of them Black, bc making a whole cast of white ladies in the name of potentially wrong ‘historical accuracy’ seems like a bad thing.

My question is, should I? [ask clipped for length]

I wouldn’t be surprised if there were African American radium girls. Speculating People of Color/Women of Color’s involvement is far more realistic than portraying everyone as white. Go for it! 

Perhaps look into what other races were predominantly in the New Jersey area for inspiration, too.

Hidden History

This section features just a few examples of PoC in lesser known historical settings.

The histories of People of Color are highly and actively erased. Women of Color especially get their stories left to footnotes in the textbooks. You hear about certain amazing women again and again, but there’s so many others that don’t get their time of day.

image

Hidden Figures (book and movie) is a prime example of that erasure and lesser known history. To summarize: It’s “the powerful story of four African-American female mathematicians at NASA who helped achieve some of the greatest moments in our space program.”

Here’s another example:

image

Photo of female firefights on Pearl Harbor, 1941. Identities unknown

It would be nice to know more about these women, and i’ve seen inquiries from people requesting info from anyone who may know. This struggle to find details is a prime example of that erasure in itself.

image

Enemies in Love: A German POW, a Black Nurse, and an Unlikely Romance by Alexis Clark

The book pictured above is the true story of a Black nurse and German Prisoner of War who fall in love during World War II. They face many hardships (disowning from his family, racism, and shunning from towns) but stay together for their whole lives, marry, and have children (One of their sons highly informed the writing of the book!)

image

This book discusses the discrimination the Black soldiers and nurses faced. They struggled to even be allowed to serve their country, and were treated worse than POWs.

Video: The Unlikely Romance of a Black Nurse & German P.O.W. in WW II 

Research

  • Research “[RACE] + Firsts” and find many more examples of little unknown bits of history where they’ve been involved. 
  • First doesn’t mean it came without limitations, discrimination or hardships. But they happened, and many sooner than you’d think.
  • Explore beyond what you know about whitewashed history and learn the true stories of People of Color.

Making it “realistic”

People will question how “realistic” it is to feature a Black women in this position for the time period, unfortunately. It doesn’t hurt to provide an explanation until we get to a place where diversity isn’t interrogated when it shows up.

Giving her backstory. 

  • You can briefly explain the journey to the job, such as shortages due to a war. Take a look at those real world firsts for inspiration. 
  • Especially take a look at the specific region of the story. What firsts were there? Any government power influences? How did PoC break barriers to make the strides they did?
  • Use the web, but also go beyond. Seek books, historians, artwork. Search those “footnotes” for that one sentence mention. (That’s actually how the writer of Enemies in Love found their story. Just a quick sentence and a search for the story began. It helped that she was a journalist!)

Relationships with Peers: 

“I will cut off this right arm of mine before I will ever work or demand the ballot for the Negro and not the woman.” - Susan B. Anthony

White women weren’t, historically, welcoming to Black women. For example, white sufferists insisted Black women march in the back of the protests for, allegedly, both their rights.  You’ll need to decide how your Black woman is treated in this situation. 

You might face the following from peers, superiors, or others:

  • Hesitation to work or interact with her
  • Curiosity and intrigue (The “Other”
  • Unsure of how to approach or be friends with her  
  • Microaggressions
  • Blatant racism 

Your musical doesn’t seem like it is meant to focus too heavily on the hardships. It begs a mention, but just how much is up to you.

Call the Midwife, period racism example

Call the Midwife (BBC) is set in East End London, Late 1950s, early 1960s. The show features a Black midwife named Lucille Anderson. There’s a shortage on nurses so Caribbean nurses were being called in to support the growing population. 

Call the Midwife is from a midwife, Jennifer Worth’s, memoir, so it’s based on history.

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Check out this short clip: Nurse Lucille Anderson - Call the Midwife 

Lucille on Call the Midwife (Take notes!)

The show handles racism and microaggressions very well. It’s not overdone.

  • Lucille is accepted by her peers and is especially close to one of the girls.
  • There’s an episode where she actively faces blame and discrimination during a case. It’s a major story line of the episode. 
  • She does face occasional micro-aggressions where she is othered, but it is not every single time she is on screen and not every episode. 
  • Her peers talk to her about her experiences and in the case where she had an aggressive family member to deal with, they tried to protect her by reassigning her from the family. Lucille asks to handle it her way and they respect her decision.
  • Lucille can mostly perform her job and have peace, and is treated kindly by patients.
  • She has a personality, a romantic life, family & friendships.

It’s about 90% allowing her to exist, 10% navigating racism/microaggressions. That’s a comfortable, realist balance for such a story and setting. 

If you want to check out how they handled these issues for yourself, the show is on Netflix as of this post (2020). She’s introduced in Season 7. (I highly recommend watching this show from the beginning. I cry like every episode, and the diversity of several ethnic backgrounds picks up a lot mid season!)

I’ll kick you three scenarios for your Black radium girl:

Peer Acceptance, Initial Hesitation 

awkward friendliness & initial hesitation, perhaps more fear of the unknown vs. hostility

Upon having interactions and talking to her, they become comfortable and accept her. It could take just one simple conversation. Perhaps they’re more used to listening to Black music or have Black staff who work for them, but haven’t had an equal one-on-one experience with WoC without a power dynamic or service involved. Now, with a Black fellow radium girl thrown in a similar situation as them, they could develop kinship.

This might not describe every one of the woman at all. Others might be just fine with her with no awkwardness.

Types of racism experienced: 

  • some micro-aggressions (likely ignorance from peers)
  • no major racism experienced

Most Peer Acceptance, Racism From Some Peers

Most peers have no problem with her, even if they have their initial awkwardness. 1-2 more aggressive racists who don’t want her there. 

Sometimes everyone else gets along, but there’s that 1 bully and their minion, and they feed off each other. If the BS isn’t tolerated by the other girls, it could shut them up to make peace or at least behave themselves. It’s likely someone like this would remain hatefully stubborn, but would grimace from the corner if outnumbered.

In the case you create a situation where someone is hostile to the Black girl but learns better: real apologies and efforts should be made if this occurs. It also doesn’t excuse their past behavior. Read our posts on redemption arcs for more info. We’re not fans, personally.

In an intense racial situation, it would be nice if the girls (with sense) protected and defended her instead of standing idly by. They’re strong enough to rise up against the agencies who poisoned them, so they can fight for their fellow radium sisters if one’s being targeted. 

Types of racism experienced: 

  • several micro-aggressions
  • maybe 1 major incident 

Peer Acceptance, Racism from Other People

Radium girl acceptance within, but experiences racism from others she interacts with on/off the job. 

The Call the Midwife example fits this one. Lucille’s peers are comfortable with her. It’s some of the ladies she care for and/or their families that may have negative things to say or show hesitance. 

I’ll repeat what I said above: it’d be nice if the girls protected and defended her and didn’t stand by idly. Solidarity is important for establishing kinship and trust when it comes to white - woc friendships. 

Types of racism experienced: 

  • could vary from some to several micro-aggressions 
  • maybe 1 major incident

Balancing race issues in the musical 

Give the intersections of your Black girl’s situation proper attention. You can achieve this without overdoing it or making her whole arc about facing racism.

Perhaps the Black radium girl(s) has a song to express major woes, like segregation and poor treatment, or experiencing dismay over even less of a fighting chance in this fight for their rights.

If anyone does know anything but radium girls of color, please share! 

–Mod Colette

intersectionality intersectional feminism women black black women woc women of color diversity poc in history radium girls musicials asks submission

miniarrietty asked:

I’m working on a short story for a work shop for school and main whose a black female. I’ve seen the post how it’s okay and a good thing to make damseled black girls. And the lead does get damseled that I’m worried if the readers will think it weird, or rather comment that they can’t see a black girl as a damsel in distress.

Black Damsel in Distress

Go for it!

Stereotypes

A Black damsel in need of saving and protection challenges stereotypical notions of Black women who are Strong and must save themselves and others. As a Black woman reader, I delight in portrayals that allow Black characters to rest while another’s eyes take watch. There’s nothing wrong with allowing Black women to be carried for a change.

Acting vs. Reacting

Your character doesn’t need to be “strong” to be a developed character. Beyond just personality, consider action. You can create agency in this character through other traits to avoid completely infantilizing or creating a flat, undeveloped prop only meant to be carted around and saved.

She should still do things. Give her actions that influence her world. She can initiate change and pull the plot forward (in both positive and destructive ways) by proactively acting on her environment instead of only reacting to things that happen to her.

Example:

  • Natural world survival skills
  • Ability to run, climb, swim, disguise, or hide
  • Ability to outwit, manipulate or charm her way out of (or into) situations
  • Having a quick-temper that gets her in trouble
  • Possessing a kindness that grants her many allies

Reference for a Black damseled character story: Sleepless Volume 1-2

Lady “Poppy” Pyppenia is guarded by the Sleepless Knight Cyrenic, but becomes endangered when an assassin threatens her life in the new king’s reign. As Poppy and Cyrenic try to discover who wants her dead, they must navigate the dangerous waters of life at court, and of their growing feelings for one another.

This is an adorable graphic novel that balances the [Black] Damsel in Distress trope well. The Black-coded main character does influence her circumstances and is not utterly helpless. Without giving too much away:

  • She helps herself at times
  • Makes path-altering choices
  • Solves puzzles
  • Bravely confronts foes
  • Maintains interests and relationships outside of her “savior”.

Poppy is a fully-realized character while being considered valued enough to protect.

If readers think this strange, it is simply a side effect of stereotyped notions of Black women. When applying an intersectional perspective, this is a positive role for a group who are time and time again considered less worthy of protection and tenderness.

No need to write within the confines of a box; we must break free from writing people in their same-ole roles. In doing so, you might even open minds along the way.

~Mod Colette

miniarrietty Black women black damsel in distress intersectionality intersectional feminism tropes stereotypes strong black women Black stereotypes black tropes asks
charactersofcolour
princessororo

white women are always like “more strong kickass female leads!” and when i say i want to see a black female love interest who is allowed to be girly and fall in love they give me weird looks and say that i’m supporting gender stereotypes and heteronormativity but what a lot of white women don’t get is that black women we’ve had hundreds of years of having our femininity ripped from us, of being deemed unworthy of male (especially non-black male) attention. black women in media are never allowed to be the “cute” ones or the love interest, we’ve always been the “strong kickass street smart woman” trope that white women want so badly. so basically if a black girl says she wants to see another black girl fulfill the role of “love interest” there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that and it isn’t a hindrance to feminism

representation strong black woman desexualization woc identity black women social issues intersectional feminism intersectionality misogynoir reblog
thebodyisnotanapology.com

10 Ways the Beauty Industry Tells You Being Beautiful Means Being White

For women of color, the Western, Eurocentric standard of beauty creates internalized self-hatred. We’re told that striving for beauty isn’t just a matter of presenting our best self, but of fundamentally changing ourselves with things like hair straightening chemicals, plastic surgery, and toxic ski

1. The Women Who Represent ‘Beauty’ Are Almost Exclusively White

2. For Women of Color, Lighter Skin Means More Beauty

3. Women of Color with More Anglicized Features Are Valued More

4. The Straighter the Hair, The Better

5. The More Anglicized the Eyes, The Better

6. Light Eyes Are Considered Prettier Than Dark Ones

7. The Selection of Products Available for Women of Color Is Limited

8. The Same Looks That Are Criticized on Women of Color Are Praised on White Women

9. Companies Use Casual Racism to Sell Their Products

10. Models and Other People in the Industry Who Speak Out Against Racism Get Penalized

-Article by Maisha Z. Johnson via The Body is Not an Apology

eurocentric beauty standards racism beauty feminism white feminism intersectionality intersectional feminism articles resources

coolshadowtwins asked:

I wanted to write an indulgent story, where most of the characters were strong women. But as I was planning out a story, (a fantasy one where only women have magic) I realized that what a white woman wants to see in a strong woman might be different from anyone else, but I have no idea how to research that. Do you have any advice? (Sorry if this is worded awful! I hope you understand but it’s alright if you don’t.)

Writing Powerful Women of All Races

It’s great that you recognize that women’s representation is not one size fits all. What makes for good representation for white women is not the same for Women of Color.

Let’s consider how society handles women across the board:

White Women: 

Traditionally, white women are treated as delicate beings, meant to be protected and romanced by men. White women are the standard of femininity and beauty. Women of Color can be attractive, too, but in a “different” way. Most positive roles for white women depict them breaking from these definitions, either embracing sexual labels or evading them by throwing out the need to be dolled-up, gentle, or in a relationship.

Even these problems come with privilege as there is this need to “dirty” oneself up and prove physical and emotional strength. 

Anger in white women is seen as powerful. Anger in non-white women is either sexualized (see: the Spicy Latina) or seen as hostility and bitterness typical of their race (see: the Angry Black Woman). 

White women embracing sexuality and the “Slut” role is groundbreaking. That doesn’t always translate well for WoC who are inherently seen as overly sexual and impure, and have the highest rates of sexual assault to show for it.

Black Women: 

Black women are most often placed into the role of strong and independent, with an emotional and physical hardness that resists love and tenderness. They don’t need support, but they’ll be more than willing to use their backs to uplift others, no matter the gender, all and any races. Black women are rarely portrayed with classical softness or femininity. Note how Black women are so hard and impenetrable…except when it comes to helping everyone but themselves. Then they are your Mammy, warm and lovable and always there to support you, despite how much self-care they must neglect.

Asian Women: 

Comparably, Asian women, especially East Asian women but other Asian women are affected too, are placed in juxtaposition to Black women. Asian women are fragile and need shielding, but that comes with a sinister dose of fetishization. They are often viewed as submissive, and are given gross comparisons to dolls as if items to place on display and control. They’re desirable, but in an “exotifc” way, and of course are not seen to have the same worth as white women.

This is often depicted in works, both old and modern: The white man falls in love with the Asian woman. After he’s had his fun, he abandons her to settle down with a white woman. The Asian woman ends her life as it is worth nothing without him.

On the flip side: Asian women are fragile and worth protecting…except when they’re not. The Dragon Lady stereotype features Asian women (Mainly East Asian) who manipulate and dominate others. This stereotype is often depicted by them dominating white men for Yellow Peril ends. 

Native women: 

Native women are seen as simple and animalistic, their “simpler” culture relating to “primal” needs. The narrative starts with Pocahontas, a scantily clad Disney princess who shows a white settler the wonders of the “natural” world, and continues all throughout Halloween costumes, Noble Savage, and Animalistic Natives. This very exact fetishization makes them prime targets for toxic masculinity’s view that women actively desire the more “beastly”/forcible sex, basically assuming Native women will behave like animals in heat— because that’s what society believes Natives are: a type of animal. 

Women of Color: 

Although this is grouping a number of women into one, they share a common thread of being exotified and fetishized. From the Spicy Latina to the brown-skinned temptress. They’re fun and sexy, and on the same hand promiscuous and impure. WoC are often portrayed as mistresses and homewreckers.

Women of Color are treated as Other, and are rarely the default. Notice in media that there’s a reluctance to call Women of Color beautiful. Words like “Striking” “Stunning” and “Exotic” are often used in its place, with an overemphasis on certain features more common to the ethnicity. And when they are more certainly called attractive, you’ll often find qualifiers such as the Dark Beauty or “Pretty for a Black Girl.”

While there is a lot of desexualizing in association with Black women (e.g. mammy), there’s another side where a Black woman’s body (see: curves and full lips) are inherently sexual to the point where even teenagers are labeled as “ho’s” and “Thots” who seek to tempt men for simply wearing shorts.

It’s no wonder Women of Color are assaulted at the highest numbers. Native American women lead in those statistics, and are at risk for sexual assault at twice the rate of others. For more stats, follow the link: (X) 

A shared thread between all of these Women of Color is that, more often than not, people will not be content with these women being anything but their expected stereotypes. Also, there’s often a grumble by racist audiences when WoC are presented in relationships outside of their own race, particularly if they go anywhere near beloved white characters.

It’s time to break free of limited, dated molds and make society uncomfortable.

How do I respectfully represent these women?

I love your story concept, with all of these women having powers. Just keep in mind: what will work as positive representation for your white women may not work for Women of Color. We all have different histories that inform the struggles we have in society and what counts as proper representation.

Develop characters without applying what works for white women to all women. That is White Feminism. Intersectional feminism exists to consider Women of Color + other marginalizations and their needs as well. 

Create customized representation that uplifts each woman.

Develop personalities that don’t play into stereotypes. Choose powers that reflect individuality for each woman, not what is assumed about Black women, Mexican women, etc. What we hear and see in media informs our creative thought process, so your first idea may not be the most fitting one. Brainstorm! As a starting point, do opposite of the stereotypes and go from there. At the same time, find a balance to avoid extremes. 

For example, the fragile Asian woman’s opposing extreme is Dragon Lady. The Strong Black Woman’s opposing extreme leads to infantilization aka making her utterly helpless.

And even then! Consider that sometimes people do have traits that may seem stereotypical. If that’s the case, it’s your job as the author to show that there’s more to them. They are human and not a label. 

  • You can be physically strong, and still bubble with kindness, emotional softness and femininity.
  • Pink nail polish does not weaken a punch, or define someone as too girly or weak. It means you like pink.
  • You can show emotional vulnerability, fall in love and be loved in return, and still remain powerful and whole without becoming the Strong Black Women.
  • You can be gentle and worthy of protection while having self-worth and confidence.
  • You can be sensual and desirable without becoming an exotic commodity, but instead someone who is more than sexual, is in control, and 100% deserving of respect.
  • You can also just not be sexual, but that shouldn’t mean void of love to give and receive in return.

More reading: Stereotyped vs Nuanced Characters and Audience Perception  

Research

There’s many places for you to start your research, and tons of it has been written right here on this page as well as all across the web in articles, blogs, vlogs, books etc. Seek topics on representation and intersectional feminism for the races you wish to portray. The best sources are written by the same people you’re reading about. Check out our Stereotypes & Tropes Navigation and the TVTropes List so you can recognize the displeasing ways WoC have been represented so you can avoid or amend it, and showcase people the way they want to be represented.

I also recommend you check out POC Profiles for the types of representation people who have submitted here are asking for. The WWC mods have also written on the topic in the Mod Wishlist post. 

–WWC 

collshadowtwins feminism women of color intersectional feminism intersectionality representation writing advice character creation creator responsibility stereotypes fetishization exotification racism misogynoir black women asian women native women sexual assault guides long post sexual assault tw antiblackness anti asian woc stereotypes black stereotypes asian stereotypes Indigenous stereotypes asks
indi-flying-with-dragons
writingwithcolor

Chadwick Boseman Surprises Black Panther Fans While They Thank Him

Black Panther fans filmed a video message sharing what the movie means to them - what they didn’t know was that Chadwick Boseman was right behind the curtain, waiting to surprise them. click link to watch with subtitles.

Mod Colette: Check out this sweet six minute clip. Great perspectives and reactions here… and I only cried a wee bit! I really want to highlight one of the fan’s lovely words though regarding the movie and what it says for representation.

“Words can’t even describe what this movie has meant to be and other Black people. And I know this is for you, Chadwick, but I wanted to take a second to thank the Black women too because they were so strong on their own terms and answered to no one but themselves. I think it’s so important because they weren’t strong because they were angry, they weren’t strong because they were hurt; they were strong because they were strong. And that meant the world to me.“

indi-flying-with-dragons

Can I just thank you from the bottom of my heart for titling the link emphatically as having captioning/subtitles? TTTuTTT~ It just MADE MY DAY to read that because I always have that moment of uncertainty and doubt of whether it’ll even HAVE captioning, let alone any good ones. And just with that sentence, you made me realize immediately that it does and I shouldn’t doubt. What a load off my shoulders! <3

Thank you for letting us d/hh people appreciate this too. :3 I would’ve scrolled past if I thought it didn’t have captioning because how could I appreciate dialogue heavy videos like that otherwise?

Thank you again. TTuTT~ You made mine and no doubt many other people’s day for this! <3 Precious videos like this are meant to be shared and seen by many people. Thank you for broadening that audience. <3

@writingwithcolor and whoever made the original link with subtitles. <3 As well as made the subtitles so accurate! <3

indi-flying-with-dragons

OMG OMG OMG

I saw the video and as an ASL signer can I just say what that salute that they do for the Wakanda king is in ASL?

“LOVE”!

It’s the sign to say you really love something. You make that sign and then either point to what you really love OR sign what you really love (like really love cats would be that sign, followed by the sign for cats).

OMG it just adds a whole new dimension to it of everybody basically signing "LOVE" when they see the King of Wakanda and he signing “LOVE” back as well! <3

Sorta like Peter Parker always making the ASL “I love you” sign whenever he shoots out his web at people. Fighting with love. XD And the irony of people who think they’re headbanging to metal with that same hand sign but to ASL signers it looks like they’re saying “I LOVE YOU” many many emphatic times. X"D

Only this is even more epic just to see that being the ACTUAL official salute to the Wakanda King.

Like

You cannot even know how happy and touched I am by that association

That is PERFECT! <3 <3 <3 <3

@feminismandmedia

writingwithcolor

Wow, this is so sweet. Glad you were able to watch the video with accurate subtitles and thanks for sharing this fun tiblet! <3

ASL intersectionality black panther wwc replies
tropesarenotbad
knuckle

i understand that white ppl feel anxiety about messing up around poc… you should because that’s what it means to start holding yourself accountable. i’m not saying it should rule your life. if it does, that’s something for you to reflect on and solve, not the poc around you

i don’t think (many) white people will ever understand the anxiety that we feel when we start being a little less stringently polite when talking about racism, when we name actions that maybe white people close to us know they’ve done. we live with this fear inside us that we’re being to aggressive, that if we even name our abuse, we ourselves, are doing something wrong, that the people in our lives will turn on us for demanding respect

this is why woc talking about such sensitive topics are not a teaching moment for white people. it’s something you can’t simply understand with your own bubbling anxiety and desire to be a good person clouding your judgment. it’s not the time or place to teach or talk, when woc reflect on the specific trauma that comes from leftist spaces, from the white women who position themselves as our allies but fail to do the necessary self reflection that allows them to treat us with respect and dignity

if you see a post detailing trauma & abuse from you, not the individual, but the group you are nevertheless a part of (white people, white women), sometimes the only action you can take is nothing visible. your input, your “help,” your “uplifting,” your whatever, is not needed, and only derails the conversation. conversations about healing, catharsis, shared experiences for woc; they’re not supposed to be a warning to white people. they’re for us. we shouldn’t have to be thinking about, catering to, worrying about you in these conversations. 

i’m not saying you must avert your eyes and never read these things. only read them. read & reflect & think about how you can become a better person rather than what you can do to make sure you appear a better person. sometimes the only absolution for what you’ve done will come in the will to change yourself

knuckle

i know that not everyone clicks on the source, and i talk way too much in the tags, but the ww reblogging this really need to consider my tags:

#also this is ok for white ppl to reblog but pls don’t put a fuckening “im white tag” or “we need to stop” or whatever on it

i don’t want to think about the fact that you’ve been doing this before and want to remind yourself how easy it is to treat us badly (wtf). the entire point is you need to do more silent contemplation. it’s distressing for a number of reasons i can’t fully name and shouldn’t have to, but mostly i don’t want to worry whether my posts are enabling you to think you can keep separating yourselves from other white people. don’t treat us as scions of knowledge living on a mountaintop rather than real women who are just tired and want some fucking peace

white privilege allies racism women of color intersectionality intersectional feminism anxiety reblog
kingevangelista
takeafuckingsipgabe

Realizing it’s not romance that I hate but overdone straight relationships with zero chemistry built on a slew of misogynistic tropes was like a huge revelation for me

kaylapocalypse

I have a story about this.

My revelation regarding this was spurred by a little-known film that actually didn’t do very well in theatres at all, from the early 90s called Corina Corina.

Starring heartthrob of the time Ray Liotta, fresh off his Goodfellas fame and…..Whoopie Goldberg??? as his love interest??????

Bear with me here.

Corina Corina is the story about a man whose wife died, leaving him alone to parent his 8-9 year old daughter alone in what appears to be the late 50s-early 60s.   His daughter, Molly, is non-verbal due to the trauma of her mother’s death and is dealing with feelings of isolation as a result of her mourning process. Ray Liotta’s character makes a concentrated effort to be a good dad for her, but it’s real clear that both of them are still dealing with the death of his wife. Because Ray’s character works full time, he needs to find a nanny to watch his girl and pick her up from school. After a couple of terrible experiences (one with a hilarious appearance by Joan Cusack) he decides to hire Whoopie Goldberg.

Whoopie Goldberg’s character is a college educated black woman (in the 50s!!!!) who appears to be doing domestic work because its the only work white 50s America will hire her for. She and Ray’s daughter Molly get along well because she is the first person to take Molly’s decision to be non-verbal seriously and learn an alternate way to communicate with her.

Long story short, Whoopie Goldberg and Ray Liotta fall in love and live happily ever after. 

But, more importantly, the way the movie built their love changed the way I was able to process hetero couples on screen forever.

1. First, they were both provided with alternate romance options from the beginning of the movie. Ray was given an extremely attractive white lady love interest, and Whoopie was given an attractive and charming black man love interest. Both of them were given opportunities to return their affection but both pointedly chose not to.

2. They were attracted to each other based on common interest. They both liked the same music, they both bonded over their ability to play the piano, they both loved molly, they both helped encourage each other in their chosen fields (whoopie’s was english, and ray’s was being a songwriter), they both respected each other’s opinions and they both were honest with each other about the circumstances they were in.

3. They were realistic about the issue of a black woman being in a relationship with a white man in the era, and didn’t glide over racial identity issues. Ray made sure that his white neighbors knew that he loved her and didn’t care what they thought. He even explained to his mom that Molly emulating black culture wasn’t shameful and that she should mind her business about the way he felt about Whoopie Goldberg.

4. When Ray confessed his feelings, it was incredibly heartfelt and he was literally crying.

5. They didn’t pursue a romantic relationship until Whoopie wasn’t working for him anymore. And they didn’t gloss over the issue of power disparity in that equation. Ray doesn’t condescend to Whoopie at all through the movie, but once he’s aware he has feelings for her, his new goal is to let her know that he unquestionably considers her his equal both in private and in public And its clear that he’s aware that this is the first thing that must be settled before anything else. 

By the time you get to the end of the movie, the entire concept of Ray Liotta being with Whoopie Goldberg seems not only normal, but exceptionally romantic and you’re left wondering why you thought they would be a gross couple to begin with when they’re sO cLeArLy MaDe fOr eAcH oThEr

I now call this the Corina Corina standard. 

If a movie has a hetero couple and their relationship isn’t as fleshed out as Ray/Whoopie, I now have difficulty accepting whats occurring. 

The concept that two hot straight people who are vaguely near each other just doesn’t do it for me anymore after watching Ray Liotta walk through a black neighborhood in the 50s and knock on Whoopie’s door to beg her to come home to him.

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Oh so you say your characters are in love?

Prove it.

woodelf68

Reblogging for the review.

glam-alien

I love this movie

not to forget the intersection that Black women rarely get romance in media straight or no intersectionality media romance writing writer reference gifs
blackgirldoingbetter
gothhabiba

I’ve seen a couple of posts like this directed at men but none for white people so I’m going to make one

if you’re talking to a person of colour, about anything but especially about something personal or something regarding race in any way, you need to be asking yourself: “am I making them uncomfortable? do they want to be talking about this, here, now, and with me? am I being voyeuristic? am I being invasive? am I demanding information that they’re not volunteering? am I asking them to dredge up things they don’t want to dredge up? am I asking them to perform emotional or intellectual labour for me (aka confessing things to them that might cause them emotional hurt & giving them the responsibility of absolving or forgiving me, or asking them to do my thinking for me or to be my personal moral compass, respectively)? would I ask this question of a white person? am I invading their personal space, emotionally or physically? am I disrespecting their boundaries? am I making it awkward or impossible for them to change the subject / end the conversation / leave the room? am I doing a good job of policing myself in this interaction so that they don’t have to?”

edit: white people in the notes have reacted to this as if it is an impossible litany of questions or an unreasonable gauntlet to run or something that would make interacting with people of colour untenable and unduly stressful. if you find yourself thinking this way, ask yourself why it is so hard to gather the central thread of all of this, namely “am I respecting the full humanity of the person I’m speaking to rather than treating them as an emotionless curiosity or thinking of them only in terms of their benefit to me?” ask yourself why being deliberate about treating people of colour like human beings would strain your relationships and conversations with them. understand that all of this is based on historical relationships of people of colour to whiteness as a structure and on personal experience, and is in no way arbitrary or frivolous.

people of color allies racism writer reference social issues Intersectionality reblog