Chicken tendies

[socksuke_uchiha]

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Comments

Representation VS Stereotypes

[(Anonymous)]

In your opinion, what makes a character count as "good representation" and not a giant offensive stereotype?

Some ESL people struggle with English, some don't. Some Muslim women wear hijabs, some don't. Some Americans of Chinese heritage speak Chinese, some don't. Some African-Americans like basketball, some don't. Some Japanese people watch anime, some don't. Some Indians are Hindu, some aren't. Some gay men are effeminate, some aren't. Some people with mental illness have struggled with self-harm or suicide attempts, some haven't. Some Native Americans live on reservations, some don't. And so on...

Obviously things like "all Asians know kung fu" and "Middle Eastern people are terrorists" are very negative stereotypes, but...

...At what point does "a Latina with who has a slight accent, has a big family, lives in California/Texas/Florida (states with large Latino populations), watches telenovelas, likes spicy food, likes Ricky Martin, is catholic, etc etc." become a stereotype?

And at what point are they "not X enough" or "too whitewashed/Americanized"? I've seen plenty of people complain that "So-and-so might as well be white/het/cis/neurotypical!"

Re: Representation VS Stereotypes

[(Anonymous)]

...At what point does "a Latina with who has a slight accent, has a big family, lives in California/Texas/Florida (states with large Latino populations), watches telenovelas, likes spicy food, likes Ricky Martin, is catholic, etc etc." become a stereotype?

When an attempt to portray her (in any medium) as anything but this is considered "unrealistic" or not even attempted at all.

Re: Representation VS Stereotypes

[(Anonymous)]

The easiest way? Don't just have one token character who is a member of a given group. No one character is going to be perfect representation all by themself because that would be ridiculous.

+1

[(Anonymous)]

Re: Representation VS Stereotypes

[(Anonymous)]

Stereotypes do exist for a reason and including some isn't a bad thing because they are indeed traits that do exist. The problem is when the stereotypes are the only characterization and the character themselves is very flat.

Re: Representation VS Stereotypes

[(Anonymous)]

It all comes down to the writing.

The character can have plenty of those traits or even all of them, but if their ENTIRE CHARACTER is about those traits, with no goals, dreams, motivations or desires beyond those, you've got a problem. Characters must be fleshed out human beings and if they are not then that's where stereotypes come into play. If their entire arc and lives revolve around a specific trait or tiny set of traits that can be summarized as 'latino' or 'gay' or 'black', it's bad writing, pure and simple.

Tell us their backstory. Tell us why they like X thing(s), what their job at X place is like, what their goals for the future are.

Tell me about their family, their dream of owning 10 cats, four turtles and a dog, or their weird cousin who everyone in the family eyeballs for X thing. Tell me about their friends, their social circle, the people they are at odds with or admire. Tell me about about their crutches and flaws, their talents and skills, their values.

+1

[(Anonymous)]

it's always all about the writing and having an actual personality behind the surface traits.

taking your example, you can have take two "Latina with who has a slight accent, has a big family, lives in California/Texas/Florida (states with large Latino populations), watches telenovelas, likes spicy food, likes Ricky Martin, is catholic, etc etc." characters, write them out, and have them be WILDLY DIFFERENT. one of them loves her family, and wants to have a big family of her own, one of them feels like family is a chain and a shackle and she wants to break free. one of them is a blunt spoken, stand up for yourself at all costs type of person, the other is more cautious, more reserved, and less likely to speak up for herself. they can have very different hopes and dreams, different past experiences that lead up to who they are now. the problem is when someone uses stereotypes as a crutch to base the character off of, instead of filling out all the enormous gaps the stereotype leaves

[(Anonymous)]

I've been accused of being a racist person who wanted to write only Stereotypes about X country who didn't bother to research the true culture and story of said country.

I live in X country.

People will always complain.

Re: Representation VS Stereotypes

[(Anonymous)]

http://fail-fandomanon.dreamwidth.org/234790.html?thread=1305708582#cmt1305708582

was this bait really so tasty you felt the need to double dip?

Re: Representation VS Stereotypes

[(Anonymous)]

It's when those things become the entire point of the character, imo. A Latina character could be all of those things, but they shouldn't be the whole of her personality.