@tommy-talks submitted:

Hi, writingwithcolor,

I saw a post here: https://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/634627583386042368/worldbuilding-with-yokai-original-yokai

And I wanted to ask a question regarding those new to employing diversity.

What did the mods mean by those reaching for “low hanging fruit (Japanese and Jewish cultures)” due to nervousness/newness to employing diversity?

Does this mean that writers are resorting to writing cultures that they’re more familiar with, or is it more like, writing cultures that they may have more positive/philo-like biases toward in the first place (e.g. philosemitism vs. more obviously bad bias against cultures that aren’t “low hanging fruit”).

In the above context, I was referring to writing about cultures with which the writer is more familiar. In my opinion, Judaism is often more familiar to people who grew up in Western environments dominated by cultural Christianity. I similarly think Japanese culture is perceived by many Western audiences as more familiar because of how pervasive our pop culture is on a global level compared to other non-white cultures.

- Marika.