This is Who We Are

 I've wanted to make a post about this for a really long time.

Scouring YA books and books on Wattpad, you'll notice that the main characters don't have a whole lot of diversity.  This isn't true for all of course, but even in books, minorities make up the minority of main and supporting characters.

Usually the MCs are of the same bill: tall, short, thin, pretty-but-has-no-idea, red head, blonde, brunette, and pale skin because going out in the sun is too mainstream (writers are hipsters at heart).

Never do we get the MC who is comfortable with the flab on her body. Who is fat and she knows it, maybe she's fine with it, or maybe she wants to change it. But she's not a toothpick, because honestly HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE?

Never do we get a curvy Latina girl with beautiful bronze skin.

Never do we get a truly plain girl whose milkshake does not bring all the boys to the yard. Or, god forbid, someone who is actually ugly on the outside. Cause, okay, we get those MCs who are like "Omg, I'm like totes ugly. Such a hag" and the description paints a picture of someone in the vein of beautiful people like Jennifer Lawrence or T-Swizzle.

Can't we have a truly ugly MC? Someone that other girls snark at? Boys overlook? Cause I'm totally that girl.

But you know what, I want a confident narrator. Or at least one that grows a pair by the end of the book or series. Can we not have the whole, "Well, I'm going to depend on this guy to fix my self esteem issues" cause you should never give someone that much power over you. The power to make or break you and that's how it is in books that I've read. And I hate it.

So let's add diverse characters.

S/he doesn't have to be white. I've noticed that even writers of color normally write white characters (guilty of this too).

A lot of my MCs are white. Most of them really, but I try to change it up every once in a while.

We never have a black MC or an Arab or Asian, like guys there are so many different races you could go with. Please, do.

Same with the supporting cast or the love interest.

Particularly the love interest. Who has a six pack, is soooooo hot and dreamy with his smirk and asshole exterior (but don't worry, he's really a nice guy), and of course he's white cause god forbid a girl falls in love with someone otherwise.

I love biracial relationships, they're so cute. And I really don't think that race should have anything to do with it, but just once I would love to read a story with a cute relationship between two people who don't look like every hollywood romantic comedy ever.

It's 2013 people, it shouldn't be taboo to have an all black cast in a movie anymore. You know in "Hitch" they were going to have Cameron Diaz as the girl, but they didn't know how people would respond to a white girl and black man together?

That's so sad.

They're just like any other character. It's not like they're a separate species. I mean sure, research Hispanic culture or Indian if that's what you're writing about. Traditional foods and phrases, things like that. How you think their family would act? Remember every family is different.

Okay? & some families barely acknowledge their culture, and that's fine too. You can have a mix of both, just be real to your character and the story. Every family and person is different so it's not like it's something out of your element.

My friend, Asiah, got a lot of shit for her character Omunique because people found her portrayal as racist, and maybe that's what people are afraid of. But you know what? Fuck that. I mean if you're actually being racist with the stereotypes you use, like having 80 Mexicans come out of a van or something like that, that shit isn't cool.

But you know what writers do? They use stereotypes.

And they play with them. Make someone seem stereotypical and turn it around.

Just write about characters that aren't normal. Step out of your element. I challenge you to go write something that's different. It doesn't have to be a whole novel. Write a one-shot or a few paragraphs. Just think about it.

And read about characters that aren't all white. That aren't all six-packs and muscles and stick thin, high cheekbones.

The world is made up of thousands of races and faces. People of all shapes and sizes. So write about a fat Asian girl, who thinks she looks like a pug, or a boy who is Mexican and is lanky, because you know what most seventeen year old boys don't have? A six pack.

Write about a white boy falling love with a black girl or vice versa.

Read about characters who are completely different. Because we should promote diversity not avert it.

And you know what? Fuck it all. Cause race, color, size & shape. Those are details. Very minor ones. I want to get to know a character on a deep & personal level. Yeah, I wanna know what they look like, but at the same time, it's just a detail.

If you're writing a paranormal novel with a Lebanese MC, the 'lebanese' part isn't going to be a huge deal.

 But you know what, we can't say we've progressed until we actually do.

So fuck what other people think. Write a story with diverse characters. Read a story about diverse characters.

Let's change the world. One book at a time. So keep that in mind, when you go to write something else.

And you know what, go write a one-shot containing diverse characters. Do it, I dare you. Dedicate it to me, and I promise I'll check it out when I have the time.

Cause I've had enough of, "Long, shiny blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and a stick thin body."

Fuck that. I want unmanageable Afro-American hair. I want girls with huge ghetto booties. I want guys who are realistic and don't look hot, cause yeah there are pretty people. But beauty is subjective. I want a fucking story about a Muslim girl. I want to read about people that I could see myself being friends with. The kind of people that you could pass by on the street in real life and not think twice about.

Cause that's who we are. This is who we are.

We are a huge melting pot of different colors, faces, shapes, personalities, we're all different.

We're all the same, too.

In the end, that's who we are. This is who we are. If you were to describe humanity to an alien, what would you say? Me? I'd say, in one word, diverse.

I have lots of stories planned and you know what, I have diverse characters in pretty much all of them.

One of my short stories that I wanna write soon has a girl, who yes she's white and so is the love interest, but she has gay dads, which is diversity. I have another story where a girl will befriend a nerdy Lesbian. In another story, the main character is black and the love interest is white. In a one shot, she's white & he's Asian.

I'm going to write about a Muslim girl. I'm going to write about a half-black, half-white girl. I'm going to write about whatever I want, because I can. And I won't have anyone tell me, "I know she's black, but I picture her white," shit. Cause that's the problem, guys.

But those are all details. So don't forget about the different religions, races, shapes, sizes, sexual orientations.

Our society loves controversy. We thrive on it. So much, that we see controversy where there isn't any.

Get out of that mind set and write or read or create something that has meaning. With characters that are real. 


Quotes from Wattpad Writers on the topic: 

@Musiq4lyf: I think it's ridiculous that in real life we all claim that racism and discrimination is either wrong or diminished. But in books, it is always the same shit. All white characters with either an awkward girl lead, popular girl, or normal girl that is supposed to be hilarious. Then she falls for nerd boy, bad boy, or popular boy. Always. Where are the black and Mexicans? Like they are everywhere in reality but they do not even exist in a book based in New York. I thought that State was very diverse but not in the book world. Things need to change. 

@KaityElisa: I personally find it weird that we automatically assume the characters are white. Most of the world isn't white, so why would we think that only they have epic tales that we follow? Then people get in hissy fits because if you add certain groups of diversity and apply even a little stereotype then you're somehow a bad person. When I have my character, I set out what ethnicity they are. Some of them are white. Others are not. I'm working with a guy who has French descent and a girl who is Middle Eastern. Their friend is Spanish.

The weird thing is that we have to mention it. In real life, at least for me, when I look at someone I don't go, "Oh they're black" Noooo I go hey that's Sam. He's a cool guy. Who cares about skin color? Why the need to state it?  

@Yasmin007: In all honesty, I've never done it purposely. It's like my characters are born with the story. So for all I care about, it could be the most cliche of all characters, and I'd have no problem writing it. But if I'm lacking inspiration, then I try to come up with an original character, and that'd help me for planning out the story.

For the love interests, it's all about what kind of relationship they have. But most importantly it has to be credible. We're talking about REAL human beings here. 

@Prisim:  I admit, I don't write much diversity because of the simple fact I don't know enough about various heritages/races to get away with it. I'm too afraid of offending people by making a stereotype that isn't right. So I'll mention characters have certain skin tones with the intent they'll be a certain race in my mind, but I won't say they're this race or that. I have a Black character in Brothers Blood but I don't say that. I just say he has dark skin. Sam's girlfriend Arin is Asian American. In the original drafts I said she looked "asian" but now I'm again just mentioining skin tone and eye shape. I consulted my Asian friend to make sure I used the right descriptors to get it right and not be offensive. The new character Marley is black and again, just mentioning skin tone and I think I mentioned a kind of hair but not remembering at the top of my head.

I'll let the reader determine who THEY think the character is because, again, I don't want to offend them by writing something unintentionally racist because I simple don't know that it's racist. I'm a very sheltered cream puff LOL For the longest time I honestly didn't know that monkey was a racist slur until someone was fired at my old job for saying it to someone else. I grew up in a small city the was probably about 80% white/mexican. 

That being said, if a person knows enough about a certain race/heritage to write it, go for it! There needs to be more diversity in books/tv/movies and especially ones that don't show every blonde as ditzy, ever black person as a gangster, every asian as smart etc etc etc.  

@GiveandTake: Honey, all I write is diversity because lets be honest darling, there aren't just enough people of color in the publishing business and if it is, they have reserved areas: African-American, Asian, Homosexual, Transsexual etc.

In my tales, on my first account where I write teen fic, the main characters are of Asian or non-white decedent and on my second account they are either black or mixed with African American decedent. Especially in "No Girls Allowed" one of the main character's brother is a Transsexual and his best friend is a black bisexual girl. 

But I understand why people don't do it. They say, "Write what you know," and mostly what people know is what they've been around or what the media feeds them. I know black people on here that write about white people and ONLY white people--I'm black well, I'm Creole technically but I love all ethnicities and GLBT! Since I have two sisters that are lesbians and a ton of gay friends I write about them--and I'm a little bi myself some days in my life.

And people are afraid of accidentally stereotyping people, especially about Blacks and Asians. Asians are pretty damn smart and I know some ghetto, ratchet-ass Black people too. In all my stories that involve black people, none of them are the follow the stereotype-- the Asian either especially the one I'm working on now I'll post later on here after I've written six chap. She's makes rocks intelligent. I kid you not.

I actually find it absolutely cool that someone writes people of color. I mean, it gives people a doorway to learn about someone else's culture. I mean, I've people hooked on Pocky just because one of my main characters eats them. 

Well this it for me until I think of something else.

@Starlightt: okay so to be honest, the diversity (or lack thereof) in books doesn't really bother me, although it's a nice surprise, i guess, when it's there. (like NicoleWolfe on wattpad - she has characters from every race ever and it's really cool and makes her stories more dynamic). and I guess that's what it is, really: having characters from multiple races adds more depth and it's also more realistic because let's be honest, if you're in a country like the US or Britain or Canada and you walk down the street, not everyone you see is going to be white (especially where I like okay literally everyone is Asian). and I mean, I don't actively try to add diversity into my stories, really, since a lot of my characters' appearances are inspired by actors and actresses i see, and i don't consider it to be an extremely important factor. but in one of the stories i'm planning both of the characters are mixed with two races (like meeee) because i guess that's just cool to me and also having two separate cultures in one house is a great time and i think it would be fun to write about. soooo yup.