This is the part where I get upset and rant about things, followed by the part where I try to fix them myself.
I found this post over at Literary Reflections thanks to someone's retweet. It's all about books (mostly YA) where there's at least one female character who's definitely or ambiguously other than straight. It's a depressingly short list. Yes, I know it's not an exhaustive list, but still.
I would like to know what the fuck is going on here. It's 2015. I know characters' sexuality isn't always relevant to a story, but why is it still so damn rare to see LGBT+ characters in fiction? Any fiction? In other words, why do I even have reason to rant about this?
I know there's not one specific reason, and I'm not looking for one, but . . . gah. And I know the world isn't as accepting of all things LGBT+ as I'd like it to be, but I'm not going to get into that here. It just bugs the hell out of me that so many people can conceive of easy interplanetary travel, impossibly dramatic interpersonal relations, bizarre magical creatures, worlds that are incredibly different from Earth, so on and so forth, but the idea that not everyone has to be straight is either beyond them or never occurs to them.
I don't get it. I just don't.
Speaking from my own experience, I know readers can accept a character's sexuality, even if it changes over the course of the story. In an online series I wrote many years ago, one of the characters dates a guy and a girl at different points. I got some questions about it, but no hate, no complaints, no threats to stop reading the series if I "made [the character] gay". So why is this a big deal? Why doesn't this happen more often?
Part of why I don't get this is that I've known people across the entire Kinsey scale spectrum. (An old friend from college is asexual, and she thought it was hilarious when I said she's where Kinsey divided by zero.) So the idea that fiction should be populated entirely by straight people makes no sense to me.
So I figured, the best way to work on this problem is to practice what I preach.
I've talked before about how I want to have three plots ready to write before I start writing another book. As of this past Sunday, I have the second one nearly ready; I've got it in a state I can consider finished and just need to let it sit for a while so I can go over it later. The first plot I finished with this goal in mind, the new Shiloh & Alexi story, is ready and has been for quite a while.
To be completely honest, I always knew I'd be writing the S&A book first. I don't think I'd fool anyone if I said otherwise, least of all myself. ^_^
I know that I can't change the world alone, let alone change what other people write and who they put in their stories. But if I can (finally) get Shiloh & Alexi's story out there, then at least I can be a good example. I really like the idea of someone looking for a fantasy novel with two heroines who are also a couple, and finding my work that way. No, this isn't the only reason I want to write this book and get it out there - all the usual reasons still apply, and how - but I think it's a good one.
No idea when I'll start; I still have another book to plot, and I won't announce it when I start writing anyway. But wish me luck. I want this to work more than anything else.
Some people just write what works for them or what they know.
ReplyDeleteWishing you luck!
Thank you! And even if people are writing what they know, I do think it's our job as writers to stretch beyond that and write what we have no way to know. I've never done magic or traveled to other planes, but I'm not going to let that stop me from writing about it. ^_^
DeleteTotally agreed. It's so frustrating to see how many people just don't even admit the possibility, or are willing to create whole second worlds but not do some research into gender identities or sexual orientations different than their own. But the best thing we can do is do it in our own work, and support other authors doing it too.
ReplyDeleteYep. And I understand that characters' sexuality and/or relationships aren't always part of the main story, but sometimes it's just important to have representation. If a male lead in an action book gets into serious trouble and casually mentions that his husband is going to be pissed that he's going to miss dinner, that doesn't change the plot, but it changes who he is. And that can make all the difference.
DeleteI don't know that I've ever focused specifically writing LGBT characters, but I haven't avoided it either. I have a pair of gay guys in my epic fantasy, though they aren't major roles. One of the guys becomes more prominent in the second book because he's the main source of support of my POV character.
ReplyDeleteMy friend is actually hoping to release her book in September, in which the main characters are a lesbian couple. It's a pretty fun take on the typical werewolf story aspect.
Part of why it's a big deal for me is that I've had some of my beta readers tell me that they wish they could have seen people like them in the stories they read growing up. I think that everyone should be able to find books where they can look at the main characters and say, hey, this person's a lot like me. I know I can't write that for everyone, but I can for some, so I want to make it work.
DeletePeople write what comes to them. I don't believe they avoid such characters on purpose, but rather it just doesn't even occur to them. Good luck with yours!
ReplyDeleteThat's part of what bothers me - that this doesn't even occur to people. Best I can do is try to be a good example, though. And thanks. ^_^
Delete"It just bugs the hell out of me that so many people can conceive of easy interplanetary travel, impossibly dramatic interpersonal relations, bizarre magical creatures, worlds that are incredibly different from Earth, so on and so forth, but the idea that not everyone has to be straight is either beyond them or never occurs to them."
ReplyDeleteThe only thing I would add to that is not everyone has to be white, either - which I know you know.
You rock, Mason. Thank you for posting this, for being such a passionate advocate, for trying to create new stories where people can see themselves clearly. Amen.
I do know that, yes, but I try to stick to one major social issue per rant. ^_^ And thank you. I never thought this would be a big thing, I was just writing the characters as they occurred to me. But I've seen how much it affects people. So it's become really important to me.
DeleteMother pucker, I posted a comment, but my computer crashes more and more with my stress levels.
ReplyDeleteI quadruple agree with Liz. There are currently more Blue People in space than Latinos in space. It sort of drives me insane, and it's a thing that matters. (also, could we get some love for the tubby girls in the world? I'm sick of all the skinny girls who get to be awesome, but the thick babes get nothing but supporting roles).
Wholly agreed with all of this. I remember when "Legend of Korra" first came out, and the show got a lot of positive attention for having a lead be a woman of color who was muscular/fit, not the usual skinny. And that I can say "the usual skinny" and know that it's true is goddamn ridiculous. >_<
DeleteFor the record, one of the main antagonists in the S&A book is a little overweight, but he's not a main character. Better than nothing, but still. Grr. Arg.
Toni Morrison said it best: “If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.” People who want more diversity in literature might need to just step up and write those books themselves--and not always depend on getting the stories out there through traditional publishing. It's one of the reasons I'm independently publishing my own books: I wanted to see stories about black women from small, southern towns where magical things happen. So that's what I write (and publish).
ReplyDeleteI've read that quote, and I really wish I'd remembered it when I was writing this; I would have closed the rant with it. Thank you. ^_^
DeleteFrom my participation on various online writing groups, I know that people ARE writing about LGBT characters, but these aren't necessarily the books that are selling to publishers, especially the Big 6.
ReplyDeleteDespite my lament at how short the list that inspired this entry was, I know that books with LGBT+ characters are selling and being published, because there was a list at all. ^_^ And the Big 6 aren't the only way to get published, not anymore. What matters most to me personally is getting these stories out there where people can find them and read them.
DeleteThat might be true for novels, but short fiction is leading the charge. The last issue of Asimov's that I read featured a plethora of LGBT characters.
ReplyDeleteThat is good to hear. I know that these things don't change overnight, but I think it's always worth it to speak up about it.
DeleteI never gave the sexual orientation of my characters a second thought. Then again, there is a bisexual girl and a gay guy in the "cast". They just were who they were, ya know? :)
ReplyDeleteYeah, I don't ever stop and think "Wait, I have the entire cast and no one's gay, I should fix that." It shouldn't be forced upon the characters. It's when gay people don't seem to exist at all in fiction that it's a problem.
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