Comments | writing_cocs: Describing Chinese characters

guruburu in writing_cocs

Describing Chinese characters

Jul 04, 2012 01:54

I know this community's tagline is "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again," but sometimes, there may be times when it's better to put the pen down…;)

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chinese, poc, racism, cocs

Comments 4

astrofig September 4 2012, 05:24:33 UTC

What I want to know is, is it really all right for a white person to write about other races? I mean, isn't that some form of appropriation or imperialism? I don't want to traumatize anyone by using their culture when I have no right to, not being of that culture myself.

It's a stupid question maybe but I honestly need to know.

guruburu September 5 2012, 05:27:30 UTC

It's not a stupid question, and I'm sure for each person you ask, you'll get a different answer.

I think you're on the right track by being aware that there's an obvious imbalance about white writers writing about people of color, but that's not something you can single-handedly tackle, unfortunately. So your options are either: write about others races or don't write about them. The latter is what most white writers choose, and we end up with white-centrism and an erasure of people of color from literature/entertainment/media/etc. Obviously, this community was designed for those who choose the former and want to write about other races in a way that's respectful, realistic, and human.

When you're new to something, you make mistakes-that's a natural part of the learning process. But with practice, humility, and an openness to (constructive) criticism, anyone can learn how to write about other races in a way that not really traumatic or offensive.

astrofig September 21 2012, 04:22:18 UTC

I don't want to be hated though. I really have some bad issues about that. People will hate me for getting things wrong.

guruburu September 21 2012, 04:40:23 UTC

People will hate you because you write instead of curing the world of cancer. People will hate you because you eat meat. People will hate you because they want to hate you.

Now, if you're truly concerned about not being hated, you'd better do a world survey to find out who hates you and why. You'll have your hands plenty full with that before you even get to worrying about hatred over characters you've written.

;)