something that should be addressed?

[flummoxed]

hi hello so i was looking through the recent updates on the site the other day and i kept noticing something: like 99% of the FCs and main characters were white. and then i delved a little deeper and looked at a lot of the fics on here and the same thing happened: like 99% of the girls were white. i've seen the odd asian thrown in a couple times, and a few mixed people, but like latinas?? african americans?? other races?? i understand that a lot of people don't notice (i'm certainly guilty of doing this in my writing too) but i feel like it should be addressed, because i know as a fandom we are extremely diverse and i feel like we should embrace diversity in our writing. even on tumblr, or wherever else, if the main character wasn't white, the major plot point was that she was a different race and how much of a struggle that is when in reality, it shouldn't matter. and i know the last message i would want to send to my readers is that it matters if you're not white or that the boys would only date white girls. because i know it wouldn't matter to them either.
i may totally be creating drama when there is none, and feel free to call me out and tell me i'm being an unnecessary bitch, but i just thought somebody should call this to attention? idk anymore

[chloe.]

Okay, so I'm gonna reply to this bc there is also another side to this:

Personally, for me, and I know for a lot of people as well, writing a poc character is stressful. Very stressful. To the point where a fair amount just avoid it. Only now am I playing around with poc in a fic where my main ocs are mixed, latina, and range sexual orientation. But people like to have a stick up their ass about everything. I could be writing a black/mixed/latina/etc character slightly different than how people want, and because I'm white, people can just throw out the racist card wherever they want bc my interpretation is 'inaccurate' and bc I'm white, I'm then 'ignorant'. What I really hate about writing is that you see these things like "how to write a black person" or what have you. It creates rules, and writing is about creativity and freedom. It adds to the stress. Like I could be writing it wrong and what if I'm offending people? While this sort of this is unfortunate, it does happen. (I've followed a writing blog (a few, actually) that was heavy on calling people out on being racist, when it's easily seen that they were just writing a character. not only does it scare the shit out of that writier to never write a poc, but also the people who see it)

I don't think it has to do with people not wanting to write poc characters, it's just that there are such high expectations for writing one, that there's so much pressure and stress on it, most people avoid it. (Or at least, a good portion of people are like this)

It's unfortunate, and I wish it were different and people could just lighten up so there is no fear in writing these characters. That way people can have the confidence to write POCs.

(now I have a big mouth, and tend to piss people off when I talk about my opinion, so I apologize if I upset anyone. I just felt the need to explain a little.)

[Jo ヾ(♥ó㉨ò)ﾉ]

I agree with Cholo!!! But, I'm leaning more to the reason of comfort - writing white FCs because, personally, the writer is white and knows so much more about their race than other's. Also, probably from where we are in the part of the world! For example, I've always wanted to write about an Asian FC and it didn't turn out to be as easy as I thought it would be since I'm Asian. It took a lot of research considering I've never been to Japan and my character happened to be Japanese (I am a Filipino with Japanese relatives, still planning to write about a fic that sets foot in Manila). What I'm saying is, holla to the people of colour who know themselves more than anyone else and know how to present themselves in writing! It would be so dope to see more diverse fics in terms of race and practice!  8-)

[leesh]

Nov 2, 2014 5:38:57 GMT chloe. said:

Okay, so I'm gonna reply to this bc there is also another side to this:

Personally, for me, and I know for a lot of people as well, writing a poc character is stressful. Very stressful. To the point where a fair amount just avoid it. Only now am I playing around with poc in a fic where my main ocs are mixed, latina, and range sexual orientation. But people like to have a stick up their ass about everything. I could be writing a black/mixed/latina/etc character slightly different than how people want, and because I'm white, people can just throw out the racist card wherever they want bc my interpretation is 'inaccurate' and bc I'm white, I'm then 'ignorant'. What I really hate about writing is that you see these things like "how to write a black person" or what have you. It creates rules, and writing is about creativity and freedom. It adds to the stress. Like I could be writing it wrong and what if I'm offending people? While this sort of this is unfortunate, it does happen. (I've followed a writing blog (a few, actually) that was heavy on calling people out on being racist, when it's easily seen that they were just writing a character. not only does it scare the shit out of that writier to never write a poc, but also the people who see it)

I don't think it has to do with people not wanting to write poc characters, it's just that there are such high expectations for writing one, that there's so much pressure and stress on it, most people avoid it. (Or at least, a good portion of people are like this)

It's unfortunate, and I wish it were different and people could just lighten up so there is no fear in writing these characters. That way people can have the confidence to write POCs.

(now I have a big mouth, and tend to piss people off when I talk about my opinion, so I apologize if I upset anyone. I just felt the need to explain a little.)

YES YES YES!!!!

i would absolutely love to write a poc character, but my problem is that even with large amounts of research, i would still do something wrong and offend someone. i've had people to go for it in the past and just hope for the best, but it just makes me so anxious. i really don't want to offend anyone, even if i didn't know better in the first place! of course i would do more research than probably needed, but, to me, it would never be enough. 

maybe it's because i'm white and do not personally understand certain struggles or what are or aren't stereotypes, or anything else that's a general factor, but it's just so much easier for me to write a typically white ofc. it's what i already know, and i always tend to take the easy way out.

[Kat Snow]

Nov 5, 2014 11:09:42 GMT leesh said:

Nov 2, 2014 5:38:57 GMT chloe. said:

Okay, so I'm gonna reply to this bc there is also another side to this:

Personally, for me, and I know for a lot of people as well, writing a poc character is stressful. Very stressful. To the point where a fair amount just avoid it. Only now am I playing around with poc in a fic where my main ocs are mixed, latina, and range sexual orientation. But people like to have a stick up their ass about everything. I could be writing a black/mixed/latina/etc character slightly different than how people want, and because I'm white, people can just throw out the racist card wherever they want bc my interpretation is 'inaccurate' and bc I'm white, I'm then 'ignorant'. What I really hate about writing is that you see these things like "how to write a black person" or what have you. It creates rules, and writing is about creativity and freedom. It adds to the stress. Like I could be writing it wrong and what if I'm offending people? While this sort of this is unfortunate, it does happen. (I've followed a writing blog (a few, actually) that was heavy on calling people out on being racist, when it's easily seen that they were just writing a character. not only does it scare the shit out of that writier to never write a poc, but also the people who see it)

I don't think it has to do with people not wanting to write poc characters, it's just that there are such high expectations for writing one, that there's so much pressure and stress on it, most people avoid it. (Or at least, a good portion of people are like this)

It's unfortunate, and I wish it were different and people could just lighten up so there is no fear in writing these characters. That way people can have the confidence to write POCs.

(now I have a big mouth, and tend to piss people off when I talk about my opinion, so I apologize if I upset anyone. I just felt the need to explain a little.)

YES YES YES!!!!

i would absolutely love to write a poc character, but my problem is that even with large amounts of research, i would still do something wrong and offend someone. i've had people to go for it in the past and just hope for the best, but it just makes me so anxious. i really don't want to offend anyone, even if i didn't know better in the first place! of course i would do more research than probably needed, but, to me, it would never be enough. 

maybe it's because i'm white and do not personally understand certain struggles or what are or aren't stereotypes, or anything else that's a general factor, but it's just so much easier for me to write a typically white ofc. it's what i already know, and i always tend to take the easy way out.

Where can I sign, coz I fully agree!

[soundsluke]

wasn't there a girl on 1dff who wrote a POC character and got so much flack for it that she ended up deleting it?

did I imagine that?

[hi i'm shilo]

yeah pretty much my greatest fear is making a character thats unrealistic so i stay in my lane

[leesh]

Nov 5, 2014 11:30:39 GMT soundsluke said:

wasn't there a girl on 1dff who wrote a POC character and got so much flack for it that she ended up deleting it?

did I imagine that?

there was ellen who wrote 'big plans, small lives' and ended up deleting the fic due to not getting something right! i think she may have had a couple of people mention something to her, but i'm pretty sure she ended up leaving due to more personal reasons, too. she had a lot going on in her life at the time, and has been doing much better without the added stress a fic brings.

[Kat Snow]

Nov 5, 2014 11:48:25 GMT leesh said:

Nov 5, 2014 11:30:39 GMT soundsluke said:

wasn't there a girl on 1dff who wrote a POC character and got so much flack for it that she ended up deleting it?

did I imagine that?

there was ellen who wrote 'big plans, small lives' and ended up deleting the fic due to not getting something right! i think she may have had a couple of people mention something to her, but i'm pretty sure she ended up leaving due to more personal reasons, too. she had a lot going on in her life at the time, and has been doing much better without the added stress a fic brings.

I just remember telling soundsluke about it, because it blew up huge on tumblr. 

[soundsluke]

Nov 5, 2014 13:29:27 GMT Kat Snow said:

Nov 5, 2014 11:48:25 GMT leesh said:

there was ellen who wrote 'big plans, small lives' and ended up deleting the fic due to not getting something right! i think she may have had a couple of people mention something to her, but i'm pretty sure she ended up leaving due to more personal reasons, too. she had a lot going on in her life at the time, and has been doing much better without the added stress a fic brings.

I just remember telling soundsluke about it, because it blew up huge on tumblr. 

YEAH SEE YOU GIVE ME HALF A STORY LOL

[Kat Snow]

Nov 5, 2014 13:56:32 GMT soundsluke said:

Nov 5, 2014 13:29:27 GMT Kat Snow said:

I just remember telling soundsluke about it, because it blew up huge on tumblr. 

YEAH SEE YOU GIVE ME HALF A STORY LOL

Told you all I knew missy

[flummoxed]

ayyy i see what you guys are saying now, i didn't really think of that being a factor. i guess it's because i myself am mixed race and didn't really see that many differences between myself and other white people, but there are definitely some cultural differences i grew up with that research really can't do justice. so sorry if i offended anyone, i didn't mean to!

[leesh]

Nov 5, 2014 16:28:15 GMT flummoxed said:

ayyy i see what you guys are saying now, i didn't really think of that being a factor. i guess it's because i myself am mixed race and didn't really see that many differences between myself and other white people, but there are definitely some cultural differences i grew up with that research really can't do justice. so sorry if i offended anyone, i didn't mean to!

it's ok!!! I think just having that experience helps, yknow?? bc like you said, there's only so much research can tell you