Because the shelf isn’t about white people. It’s about Arab heritage month. I think it’s pretty unfair to include stories that have predominantly white casts (when that’s literally 90% of the app) on a shelf about Arabs
10 Likes
Right. 
I personally feel like they make some of these diversity months up. LOL
Also they can often be pointless, because as you’re sorta getting at, these stories aren’t exactly in abundance nor are many of them exactly “good” reads, according to a lot of reviewers. shrugs But Episode’s gotta keep keepin’ up their shelves fresh. So I sorta get it I guess ^^’
1 Like
But thats not what was said. The sentence used was as I repeat again
I think it’s insulting to have white characters in a shelf like this
1 Like
Episode is a medium where a lot of small-time creators can try their shot at sharing stories to a potentially huge audience. In mainstream media, there’s a lack of diverse voices behind the scenes; the faces of actors are not the be-all-end-all of representation, it’s also the screenwriter, director, cinematographer… People should care about that diversity, too IMO. Whether or not their stories are worth supporting is up to you, but to say it doesn’t matter is wrong.
This is something I see trans artists talk about all the time. Lots of people have trans characters in their comics, TV shows, movies, etc. Those stories get praised for their representation. But at the end of the day, trans people are still marginalized, and not even allowed to shape how people see them in the media, which can lead to stereotypes. I don’t think it’s fair to use the image of representation but then not actually supporting the real people that are marginalized.
Also, most POC authors will probably want to write about people like them, but not always, and that’s their prerogative. Whether or not those stories should be featured in diversity shelves, i think could be argued either way, depending on the aim of the shelves.
3 Likes
It’s about diversity which is everyone. Would it be offensive to have a jewish story here? Or a Christian story?
If its not based on the shelf, it shouldn’t be there. You clearly are not getting it.
2 Likes
Why do ppl insist on comparing racial diversity to religion or sexual diverse issues…
6 Likes
I really don’t know.
1 Like
I hate it, but sometimes it goes hand-in-hand as well.
3 Likes
If the Mc is Jewish Arab, Christian Arab, etc. and focuses on the aspect of the shelf, it should be featured. Not for the author being so.
True
2 Likes
Definitely disrespectful though.
2 Likes
That’s fair! You are entitled to like what you like. But I don’t think it’s pointless to support diverse authors.
5 Likes
Yeah. Like a transgender Jewish woman, say.
Just going to be straight up honest, you’re not making much sense here. Being Christian is a religion, so I don’t understand where that came from…has nothing to do with heritage or race.
No, it wouldn’t be offensive to have a Jewish Heritage Month. Not at all. Just as it’s not offensive to have a Hispanic Heritage Month–because despite there being both black & asian Hispanics, white Hispanics still exist! I truly don’t understand what you’re trying to get at. Like I said, if the shelf isn’t about white people, don’t make it about them. I don’t want to see a story on the Asian Heritage Month about a white person JUST because it was written by an Asian author. I’d much rather see stories consisting of Asians & even them being proud of their heritage and where the came from. So much more refreshing than constantly seeing stories consisting of predominantly white casts
5 Likes
It’s not pointless at all. Were saying that it’s nice if the author is but it shouldn’t be featured just because the author is apart of the race. It should also be for the Mc.
4 Likes
What absolutely pissed me off though was that a few authors were making up excuses such as I didn’t think people would want to read stories about our culture as the reason why they didn’t have an Arab MC or any Arab characters in their stories but yet still wanted to be featured. So you want your story to be on a shelf that is meant to represent the Arabs yet you couldn’t write a story about Arabs because you wanted more reads? Yet you want your story to be a representation of Arabs? It just doesn’t make sense to me
13 Likes
I don’t think that’s really the case for episode though. The top trending author right now is Asian but I don’t see any Asian characters in her stories or she hasn’t mentioned outwardly. The point is that this app mostly has white characters like it’s really hard for me to find stories with poc and highlighting people who do nothing to change this platform accomplishes nothing. Also episode isn’t Hollywood, Hollywood is a whole industry, everything is virtual in episode. They’re clearly not the same thing.
3 Likes
exactly they’re doing nothing to change this app but want to be featured because of their group?? I think it’s the people who are bringing change through their work who should be celebrated.
2 Likes