We Need Diversity

            Something I see talked about a lot in the online writing community is getting accurate diverse characters written into books (people of different ethnicities, LGBTQ, people with disabilities, etc). Why? To ensure that everyone from every background and belief has characters they can relate to and, more importantly (in my opinion), to show people how much variety there is in the world and make them more accepting of people different than themselves.

            This is actually something that is very challenging to, for several reasons. The biggest challenge is fighting the social conditioning we have that leads to us simply using stereotypes – we’re exposed to them through all the media that’s out there already. Many of the books that inspire current authors are written either with an absence of diverse characters, or with them represented in stereotypical ways. It’s far too easy to follow the well-trodden paths.

            Then there is fighting the comfort zone. We are brought up with many taboos, and some can be very uncomfortable to push past. How do we write about people with different colours of skin when we’ve been told all our lives that pointing out someone’s skin colour is racist? How do we write about a disability or a gender identity we haven’t experienced ourselves?

            That leads into the third challenge: research. Research takes a lot of time and energy. It’s so much easier to run with the stereotypes, or just avoid unfamiliar topics altogether.

            Yet, we live in a diverse world, and therefore we must push past all out boundaries to include everyone in our writing. Once we do that, we need to choose how to present this diversity: do we highlight it, by making the story about modern issues related to it, or do we blend them in and treat them like we would any other character?

            While there is a need for the first, I feel that the latter option is the most important for the future. There are many parts of society that have been characterized in certain ways, marginalized or outright abused throughout history. This had been built into our media – movies, shows, games, books – and many of them will last for generations to come. We’ve become aware of the problem, and it’s getting talked about more and more – but it won’t be solved until we stop talking about it and make it normal.

            What really needs to happen is for diverse characters to be added into the media, but without them being treated any differently than anyone else. By doing so, we normalize them, and by extension show future generations that not only is it normal for people to be different – but it’s perfectly okay.

            Gone are the days when everyone needed to be made with the same cookie cutter. As a society, we are moving closer and closer to accepting people for who they are. By allowing people to be true to themselves the world becomes a happier place. But we can never achieve complete acceptance until our sources of entertainment – which shape us and our ideas in more ways than we realize – represent diversity as normal. Diversity in media starts here and now, by making the extra effort to put it in and make sure it’s accurately represented.

            The world is a diverse place. We need to celebrate it, not stifle it, and make it perfectly normal to be whoever we are.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Us and Them

            It seems like it has become a tradition that I write a blog post while selling chainmaille at Festival of Friends. I don’t really have much choice – I’ll be getting home late enough that I really won’t be feeling like writing anything.

            So, while we were watching the crowds wandering the festival, my wife commented to me on how fascinating it is to see how many different type of people there are. Not that we were unaware of their existence before, but it’s not often that we get to see such a mix in one place.

            When people leave the house, people generally dress for where they’re going. If it’s work, they’re wearing their work clothes, to parties they wear fancy clothes. At the sorts of events we go to, people usually dress however they want to (admittedly, sometimes this involves costumes) and that allows their personalities and interests to show through. They are usually more comfortable and more personable when chatting. That’s when you really get to see how diverse our society is. What it tells me more than anything else is how no two people are alike.

            Yet, at the same time, we always are trying to group people into categories. Be it race, interests, gender, hair colour, clothing, music, country – it doesn't matter. We’ll slap a name on them and call them all the same. We even do it to ourselves; we find a category of like minded people, give ourselves a name and proudly declare ourselves to be part of the group.

            Suddenly there’s an “Us” and “Them”. I don’t even need to comment on what that leads to.

            Where does it come from, though? I think, at its very core, it stems from our own innate insecurities. Because without these groups, it is “Me” and “Them”. With how many other people there are out there, it’s nice to feel like there are some that are the same as us, who will stand with us against the massive forces of “Them”.

            The truth is, there is no “Them”. Only “Us”. It doesn't matter how we group and categorize people, because if you go into any one of those groups and talk to all of them, you will discover that the group is made up of people who are unique – just like you.

            I think it’s time we do away with these false ideas like “Them” and “Normal” and admit that each and every one of us is unique and completely alone. Just like everyone else. And because of our unique loneliness, we are all the same. There is only “Us”.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.