Representation in Books
As of late, proper representation in the media has been a hot topic of discussion. There are countless articles, movements, and Twitter threads attesting to this fact, many of which have found their way into the limelight and the wider world. A simple fact is generally agreed upon: there needs to be a more accurate representation for BIPOC (black, indigenous, and people of color), religious minorities, LGBTQ+ individuals, and disabled and neurodivergent people.
Much of mainstream media has heard these pleas. There are hardly any recently released movies, TV shows, or books without a few characters that fit that description. This development has been primarily seen as a positive one, but there still has been criticism that diverse characters are sometimes just there as tokens rather than people. Books specifically are often described as both windows and mirrors: they show the value of others' experiences looking outward, but also the importance of looking inwards at oneself.
Studies have shown that increased exposure to other cultures and experiences can build empathy within people at young ages and bring tolerance for their futures. Books centered around diversity can 'de-otherize' marginalized groups to the masses and convert fear into empathy and understanding.
On the surface level, this uptick in representation is an evident success. It shows the progress society has made towards true equality, a victory for civil rights everywhere. Though this is the narrative present in many spaces, this narrative is false. Representation is better with quality rather than quantity, and much of this 'inclusive' rhetoric is harmful to the very minority groups it claims to represent.
Take Aamir, a Muslim teenager living in the US, as an example. He read the series Percy Jackson and the Olympians as a kid and was a huge fan. When Heroes of Olympus, a companion series set in the same world, was released, he was first in line to buy it, and his excitement only grew with the introduction of a Muslim character, Samirah. "I think I knew that she was written stereotypically and… islamaphobically, but I hadn't ever seen a Muslim character in something I liked before," he writes. As happy as it made him at the moment, eventually, the nature of her character and the archetypes it perpetuated caught up, and this hindered his ability to enjoy the series later on. "I stopped settling for the bare minimum. [It] was something that I needed then, but I don't really need now."
Olivia Johnson, a Chinese-American adopted by white parents, had a similar experience. Before reading Harry Potter in elementary school, the only Asian character she had ever been exposed to was Silver Mist from Tinker Bell, so at the introduction of Cho Chang, she thought she had found someone to look up to. "I enjoyed it at the time, but it also gave me really stereotypical views of Asian culture and people. It only reinforced the narrative that people had told me my whole life, which was that Asians are traditionally smart, nerdy, and shy." Growing up separated from people who looked like her and a community away from her culture, books and media perpetuating these stereotypes were the only exposure she had, the only mirror she could look to. "Looking back," she writes, "I only related to [her] because society told me I should."
So what is the solution? How can we increase the quantity of representation without jeopardizing the quality? The answer is shockingly simple, and it already has a name: #OwnVoices.
OwnVoices was a hashtag that started on Twitter in 2015. It has spread throughout the book community and is used as a colloquial term for authors of marginalized groups writing characters like themselves. As well as improving the quality of representation and showing children an accurate depiction of themselves, this movement also supports, popularizes, and celebrates BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and disabled writers for the virtue of these qualities rather than in spite of them.
Representation, as established before, is vital for a functioning society. The empathy learned and exposure to different experiences can help steer the next generation away from mere tolerance of differences, and in the direction of true acceptance and espousement. And with such an important role, why not do it correctly? The key to fair representation needs to start in the writing, marketing, and publishing communities. We must not solely depict diverse side characters in our literature and media as windows described from the outside, but mirrors to show oneself's true reflections.
