Diversity in Comics/Novels

[Lady_T_Musings]

Yasss I love collaborationnnnn!! The amount of perspective you can get from doing them is the most beautiful part about doing them. Views mixing and mashing and just ohhh it's always fascinating and enriching to be a part of, even when we don't agree on everything.

Yassss I'm here for it, disabled people are people that deserve that lime-light too, so I am glad to hear you out here trying to represent.

O-k-k then that sounds fascinating Orchid! I love that you are paying attention to how the climate and atmosphere would affect the people living in that world.

Drawing is a process or sure, but if it's something you want to do, take it a bite a time and do as much as you can at a time and you will improve over time.

[Lady_T_Musings]

Sorry if I am blowing up your inbox bc I got the gift of gab when it counts (and doesn't haha).

Anywho, you bring up another valid perspective, but some more specific insight on this is that I've noticed os that the folks being accused of capitalizing off of BIPOC material are often the ones in the positions that could be making a difference in the lives of said BIPOC, but tend not to through casting, writers room, directors, hair and makeup choices, etc. My early comment to you goes into more detail on other ways this can be addressed as a content creator who isn't a big wig money bags. For the rest of us folks making our content often by ourselves, being respectful and inclusive is one of the most ally things we can do for one another. Also learning to not be afraid to face the fact that we may say or do something insensitive by accident, but that's ok if it's in earnest and you wish to do/be better.

"To err is human...but to forgive is divine"-Alexander Pope

He was talking about medicine, but like it applies to all us human folk. It's important to remember that as we journey forward and do our best, specifically as creators here but this applies in other aspects too, that when we make mistakes and get called out that we learn from them and forgive ourselves for them, even if you feel someone(s) is being hard on you and makes you feel some kind of way if you are able to get what they are saying for why it's offensive, you'll come out better for it in the end (though I am way more of a fan of talking to someone personally than calling them out, tis the time we live in). If the mistake was made out of ignorance and you owned up to it, I guarantee there will be folks in your corner that would appreciate you for being big enough to admit so. I'm one of them, fellow human human fellas, lol .

[Lady_T_Musings]

Do what's best for you

I'm glad that you are listening and a part of this conversation. If you ever want to discuss something that could use the perspective of a tall black cis woman that is fat and had a run-in with cancer, them be my qualifications and my DMs are open

[domisotto]

Maybe you have a platform that can be used to spread the word about another BIPOC whose work you enjoy. Don't shut up about it. Hype them up too and do you as well. You are a fellow creative that has the right to create as well!

I do not have any worthwhile SM presence, but I do shout out and like/retweet the content by the creators that I admire.

[joannekwan]

But this post seemed like a good place to reflect on the diverse inside of the diverse, our own identity, and what we want to do as authors/artists.

Yessss! Express that Uruguayan pride! I never considered how few characters in media are Uruguayan. But the country is on my mind because of its great talent and skill in soccer/football. I always enjoy watching them in Copa America and the World Cup.

As for my own identity, my family speaks Cantonese. While it's the second-largest Chinese language group, it had a much larger presence in North America years before. The first Chinese immigrants in the US were largely from areas that speak Cantonese and growing up I heard it way more among the general populace, even on mainstream TV and movies. Like often in sitcoms when they go to a Chinese restaurant, the staff will be speaking Cantonese.

But as the years pass, more immigrants that speak Mandarin have come so I hear less and less Cantonese, even in Chinatowns that the Cantonese established. And with the rise of China's presence as a whole, the majority of the Chinese that you will hear in media is Mandarin.

What do I do about it as a creator? I make Chinese characters and slip in some Cantonese when I can!

[blackorchid]

Yeah, I really love it. They are a dear friend of mine, and once we started working creatively together is was like 'ahhhh!'

Yes, I am so here for all of it. I'm not writing to everyone, but I am to the person who needed to hear what I need when I was younger. You know?

Ehh, I'm learning. It's been fun. I hope to one day be able to properly draw and share character art.

[Bokyongyo]

I think representation is important but I also think making a character a actual character is even more important; one of my main character’s companions, Kuaji T. Adeyemi (known as Tree) whom isn’t introduced in my comic yet, is of black descent but when I was making him my objective wasn’t to make a black character but to make a character that I would love to write who happens to be black.

Him being black is a bonus yes because I do know that again representation is very important but with that fact, that same representation isn’t the sole driving force of his character. Last thing I’d want is Tree to be known as “the black character” because he is so much more than that lmfao.

Really great thread though, stuff like this is important

[Lady_T_Musings]

Woof that's a whole nother thing right there. Like already having diversity built into your work from the get-go but having people tease you about it. SMH, talk about backward :/.

Go on ahead Kura and lay down them truths!

That's some perseverance in the face of adversity yo and I'm mad that you were made to feel as though you had to hide or "fix" your work when it was perfectly natural and that it's like that for so many people is similar positions. I am glad that in your own way you kept pressing forward though, that's what's up.

' I just want to say that the first time I started noticing that white artists were drawing more PoC OC's (that wasn't a racist caricature), I was really happy to see it. You have no idea how hard it is to only see yourself drawn by people inside your race group. So seeing someone outside of your group draw your people, it was like being seen. It was nice to know that people outside our ethnicities care enough to draw us you know? I know it can lead to a lot of nuances or complications that I won't get into (more so on the writing end for the OCs and stories) but surface level. It was just... really nice to finally be considered when it came to someone else's character design,

I felt this in my heart and it touched my bones. In the simplest way that gets the point across, It's nice to know that other people outside your circle see you as another human being the way you are.

[Lady_T_Musings]

Happy Black History Month to you too!

It sounds like you are on a journey of discovery and learning what inclusion and diversity look like to you :D.

Thanks for sharing

[Lady_T_Musings]

Thank you Remy for sharing your thoughts and experiences on this topic. Your story is very much welcomed in this discussion and glad you shared it here

Though I don't know your personality and our experiences are different, I get you on that front when your a creative individual making content and don't even consider yourself, people like you, or your culture as being a protagonist worthy.

It's wild bc you are the creator so it seems like it would be natural to include aspects of yourself that stem from cultural/racial/ethnic standpoint, but when we don't see ourselves in the media we consume, or are made to feel that we won't be as "palatable" to other consumers... it can have this effect on us. It's messed up and has served to make many of us feel down low.

It's something we have to consciously face in order to overcome and be aware of why we think the way we do when we are hit by these thoughts (or other peoples statements like how @Kura was expressed in how they approached being target growing up for trying to make a space that represented them.) in order to reinforce that there is nothing wrong with our race or culture/ethnicity and we have every right to be represented. Especially if we have to make the representation ourselves.

[Lady_T_Musings]

Ah your characters look fun and them expressions got me smiling haha! Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the topic and adding to this conversation as well.

Good character building first that is supplemented by including diversity is definitely the way to go in my book too!

[RemyHope]

Oh no, thank you for sharing this space to think!
Although I spoke of the "negative", it is beautiful and fun to see so much diversity on this platform, and I hope it can continue in the same way and improving more and more.

[TheGentleArtist]

You're welcome ^__^ and it will be an educational journey.

[RemyHope]

OMG yes, we are known (and proud!) for our presence in soccer. We have such good players! I thinks it's the only thing we are known for but we love it HAHAHA.
Wow, thank you for sharing your experience, I didn't know about that! It's fun and useful to learn about these facts. I am now "stuck" in some chinese fandoms thanks to novels, and I know most of the content is made in mandarin, and for lack of knowledge I never sopped to think about it.
What you do is awsome! I would love to see your content!

[Lady_T_Musings]

Live in your truth Macati, that's what's up. Thanks for sharing :)!

[RemyHope]

I think the same! Like I said to other people, It's so much fun to see and learn about countries and cultures that are not well known or popular. Diversity is incredible, and help us put aside the hegemonic to be able to see the other side of the same coin.

[RemyHope]

Hi! This is my novel. It's just starting so we won't see anything from Oliver's nationality yet, but it will come, I promise! Thank you very much for asking <3

Fangs, Magic and a Cat. | Tapas

[Lady_T_Musings]

Yo Maice ty for sharing!

Character development and inclusion of the complex layers that make up a persons being are a key element to not making a "bad" character period. Also having characters that are also a part of the BIPOC race represented that aren't "bad guys" can help with balance. Since you have a small cast, but over half fall within the BIPOC from what you've shown, I think you are doing a fine job at showing the range people can have despite/with their race.

One of the beautiful things about telling a story. You decide the angle it is shown form :D.

[joannekwan]

I am now "stuck" in some chinese fandoms thanks to novels, and I know most of the content is made in mandarin, and for lack of knowledge I never sopped to think about it.

Oh yeah! Wuxia and the like exploded over the past few years. It's cool to see people get exposed to this stuff but there's so much that's overlooked too like all the different ethnic groups within China. It's a huge country and it'd be great to see more media about them outside of documentaries.

Like one summer in college I traveled with my professor and student teacher to Dimen, a village in Southern China where we got to learn about the Kam people. We spent about 3 weeks there and learned about their crafts and their daily life and so forth. They have their own language, but anyone under 60 spoke Mandarin as well. We had a translator with us so I'm sure it was interesting for them to see her with an American-Chinese and two Eastern European ladies.

And you can find my library of works here~

[kaetana]

I've been really enjoying looking at all the great art in this thread and hearing everyone's perspectives, really interesting stuff! Diversity is always a goal for me in my character design, and it's really helpful to hear the opinions of POC on the topic since I'm white myself. I think diverse character designs and writing are important for a lot of the reasons already shared in this thread - it's beneficial for people to get to see characters like themselves, and likewise for people to see characters different from themselves! It's also just good character design imo, it helps make characters more distinct from each other. Especially since I'm creating a fantasy comic, I like to be able to showcase a wide variety of skin tones and character types.

Here's a couple of pieces showcasing the variety in character designs, first the main characters, and then one of the pantheons of deities in my setting.