Diversity: A Novel Idea

I'll be the first person to admit that I love a good Young Adult Distopian Fiction Novel. I live for the tensions caused by man vs society, teens discovering the injustices of the world, and the all too popular love triangles. Like Sour Cream and Onion Pringles, I eat it up.

But one thing this sub-genre—and most other genres, really—could use is more diversity. The main character of these stories is most commonly a girl who’s “Not Like Other Girls,” her plain, boring hair contrasted against her fair, soft skin. Her eyes are always soulful and intelligent, though. Can’t forget that.

You’re probably thinking, “But I read a YA novel last week with a supporting character that was [insert ethnicity here]. Isn’t that diverse?”

Well, maybe. But playing to stereotypes like “black best friend,” “smart Asian,” or even “fashion-forward gay guy” isn’t really diversity. Yes, people have POC friends and may know smart Asians or fashionable members of LGBTQ+, but if any “diverse” characters in the story are written weakly enough to be reduced to a singular, stereotypical phrase, they perpetuate ignorant perceptions of complex human beings, narrow paradigms that can limit our depth of connection with another person one could see as “other.”

It’s not enough to toss in a minority character just to check the diversity box. Crazily enough, people from other cultures, races, ethnicities, and experiences are just as human and unique as anyone else.

Just in case I lost you, let me explain why diverse representation is even necessary in the first place.

Literature is often the first thing that exposes children to the world, and their developing worldview can’t be so narrow as to exclude others’ cultures and experiences, and, for some children, to exclude their own from the picture.

Consider the following Ted Talk titled The Windows and Mirrors of Your Child’s Bookshelf by author Grace Lin.

As Lin discusses, books are either a window into a culture or lifestyle with which the reader is unfamiliar or is a mirror of their own life and experiences. The push for diversity is an opportunity to allow other to experience things they never have and likely never will, but this potential is halted by cultural inaccuracies. If the window the author provides is fogged up or too low to the ground to get a good vantage point, the reader’s perspective of the world would be deeply flawed.

I often get asked why stereotypes are such a problem, especially when they seem harmless or even positive. That’s why I like the window analogy: leaning on a stereotype limits your view to somewhere between a porthole and a keyhole. Sure, you get to see a new perspective, but there’s far more out there that you’re missing out on.

So, how do you make sure that your window is bigger than a porthole? How can you measure the window if you’re trying to represent a life you haven’t lived?

That’s the beauty of being a writer. Unless you’re writing your memoir, you’re delving into the world of the unknown, trying on different shoes to entertain yourself and others.

Don’t be so hard on yourself if you’re worried about how your window will measure up. It’s a topic well debated, as discussed in a book written by English teachers titled Stories Matter: the Complexity of Cultural Authenticity in Children’s Literature:

“ “[N]o formula or prescription for culturally authentic...literature would emerge from the study of the works of writers from those cultures. For all the common cultural experiences and sensibilities shared by a group, there is still much within-group diversity.””

-Stories Matter: The Complexity of Cultural Authenticity in Children's Literature

It is impossible to measure if a single character is an “accurate” portrayal of their race or background because people do not act a certain way just because they are of a particular race. Just as one person of an identifying class cannot reasonably represent the entire class as a whole, one character in a book cannot represent an entire class. People of any class are as diverse amongst themselves as people from different class.

If you walked up to a random person on the street and interviewed them about their lives, you'd find that there are more personalities than stoic protagonist, witty side kick, sexy love interest, and evil antagonist. As much as humans have in common, we are each unique in how we approach life. People can be pessimists, optimists, introverts, extroverts, realists, idealists, etc., regardless of their race, culture, and ethnicity. One's background is not the end-all-be-all of their personality. 

If I could humbly give my two cents, if you choose to write a character whose windows are different than your own (and you should), you need to do research. Lots and lots of research. Then, once the research is done and the story is written, find someone from that class to read your work and give feedback. 

Challenge yourselves by writing outside of your own experience WITHOUT using stereotypes. Do research—do lots of research. Learn about other cultures. You'd be surprised to find how much you have in common with other members of this marvelous human species.

[Links to sources]

• http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/The-Windows-and-Mirrors-of-Your

• https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=w0AN1Lv-y7kC&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=should+white+writers+write+outside+their+ethnicity%3F&ots=vgPnX27_QV&sig=nNQLnM27jHiNXusUkHeP85-W3Qg#v=onepage&q&f=false

• http://www.cedu.niu.edu/oep/_pdf/Stories%20Matter.pdf#page=37