[snip]
yeah, that’s a very fair point. I think most criticism of art for being sexist is unhelpful, I’ve also seen the particular examples you point to and I feel mostly the same way about them, and it’s not really what I have in mind with ‘put pressure on content creators’.
Like, the reason Marvel hasn’t had a Black Widow movie is not that no one has a powerful and meaningful message that would center around her as a character. The reason they haven’t had a black protagonist isn’t because there aren’t any compelling stories to tell with that premise. It’s because those wouldn’t sell. And so if people are concerned with representation, I think it’s a productive exercise to make a lot of noise about how well those things would sell, because that puts the incentives in place for that story to get told in the first place.
Or, like, I know some authors who’ve wanted to include a trans character but they’re cis and have no idea how to write a trans person without accidentally writing a horrible misrepresentation of the trans experience. So trans people who write up tips and resources for cis people writing trans characters are contributing to representation without policing anyone’s art.
‘representation’ advocacy which takes the form of yelling at existing authors for the works they’ve created is the worst, and unfortunately also the easiest, variety.
Cool we’re in agreement then. I support offering authors productive suggestions and making noise about your willingness to watch things.
Although I also feel like people will write what they know, and people who aren’t members of marginalized groups are probably less qualified to represent the experiences of people who are, and so if people want representation for their groups their best bet is to make it themselves.