I'll betcha nobody here even knows what or where Tsimshian is without looking it up.
How much is that wager?
I'll betcha nobody here even knows what or where Tsimshian is without looking it up.
You sure you want to get cocky about this, after having to ask what PoC is?I'll betcha nobody here even knows what or where Tsimshian is without looking it up.
Historically, that's a fairly new standpoint, and it's still very privileged. A lot of the people who have had their stories and voices appropriated were not in a position to write, and if they were there was almost no chance their version would be preferred over the more privileged, louder, and yes, freer-to-write mob. Which has been traditionally, in my country at least, white, educated, middle-class and male.
That other voices have reached a position from which they can be heard demanding the right to reclaim their stories and voices might feel like a terrible injustice to some. It really isn't.
Yeah, I understand. It just worries me how extreme it's getting. Are we going to reach a point where authors will be shunned for writing POC characters? I never thought I would have to worry about having a black MC, and now with how touchy people are, I've at times felt tempted to cut those characters. It really upsets me because I love my POC characters and if I only wrote about white people, I feel people would say THAT was racist too.
I'm not trying to be argumentative or insensitive. I just don't get it. What IS an author supposed to do? I've seen just as many complaints that there are no POC main characters. So I started making an effort to put more POC in my books, and then I started seeing all these complaints about stealing stories and own voices, etc. It's really frustrating. I just want to tell stories.
You're in a great position, then, to imagine how frustrating it would be if voicelessness had been the experience of everyone you know, going back generations.
ETA: And also - extreme? How extreme is it, really, to ask for a little respect and a bit of fairness?
You sure you want to get cocky about this, after having to ask what POC is?
It's not. I think if you're going to write about a real group of people, you should absolutely do your research, talk with real members of the community, etc. I'm only talking about the people I've seen on twitter who suggest that writers should not be writing about POC at all. I've seen it. Many times. And that is way too far for me.
Are we going to reach a point where authors will be shunned for writing POC characters?
Two choices: signal-boost the Twitter-idea that white voices are being silenced and no-one will ever be able to write outside their narrow experience ever, ever again.
Or - think about how likely it is that this is going to happen, really. And having thought about, soothe the panic in the breasts of those terrified tweeters.
As far as I can tell, this isn't happening. There's a lot of discussion about published books written by people outside of particular communities who handle characters from those communities badly, but I don't see blanket condemnation of white folks writing PoC and marginalized characters. It seems to me people are becoming worried and defensive about a far-fetched hypothetical.
No, you're not going to please everyone, ever. But I'll tell you, I've caught more s**t for having a romantic subplot without a HEA than I have for writing a diverse cast.
You're right. I let a few extremely negative people on Twitter get me all freaked out about this a few months back. It's been a sensitive topic ever since, but I am definitely overthinking it.
Don't follow PC acronyms at all.
Yup.
Don't follow PC acronyms at all.
So, you don't think you should bother to learn or use the terms people would like to be called by?
In case you don't know, and if you're in the U.S. you won't
Is U.S. PC? *frets*
Pssst! Hublocker, this thread might be instructive: http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?328716-Cultural-Appropriation-Prize
And yet, here you are. Bless you.I generally spend my time writing, not pissing around on web sites
.Do your research and write intelligently about whatever you choose.
Yeah, I understand. It just worries me how extreme it's getting. Are we going to reach a point where authors will be shunned for writing POC characters? I never thought I would have to worry about having a black MC, and now with how touchy people are, I've at times felt tempted to cut those characters. It really upsets me because I love my POC characters and if I only wrote about white people, I feel people would say THAT was racist too.
I'm not trying to be argumentative or insensitive. I just don't get it. What IS an author supposed to do? I've seen just as many complaints that there are no POC main characters. So I started making an effort to put more POC in my books, and then I started seeing all these complaints about stealing stories and own voices, etc. It's really frustrating. I just want to tell stories.
A lot of my frustration and "write whatever the hell you want" response comes from having tried to be sensitive and it seeming like there is no way to please people. Eventually, I just gave up.
I doubt any religion was offended by Christmas, but that didn't stop the likes of Birmingham City Council renaming the festive period 'the winterval' just incase. What about offending Christians by hijacking and deleting one of their biggest annual events?.
In 1997 Mike Chubb was working for Birmingham city council during the rejuvenation of the city centre. As the council's head of events he and his team were charged with creating a marketing strategy to cover: "41 days and nights of activity that ranged from BBC Children in Need, to the Christmas Lights Switch On, to a Frankfurt Christmas Market, outdoor ice rink, Aston Hall by Candlelight, Diwali, shopping at Christmas, world class theatre and arts plus, of course, New Year's Eve with its massive 100,000 audience."
Chubb realised that with so many events competing for visitors, marketing them as individual occasions would be expensive, time-consuming and ineffective in acquiring sponsorship or funding. What the events needed, he decided, was a "generic banner under which they could all sit". His team settled on "Winterval" – a portmanteau of "winter" and "festival".
Little did he or anyone else on the events team realise that this name was to found one of the most persistent urban myths of modern times, and that 11 years later he would be writing an article explaining – again – what the event was and how it was never about renaming or banning Christmas.