Discussion: What does diversity actually mean?

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I feel like diversity is overly simplified in episode, and in real life, but let’s stick to episode. When I used to request reviews for my stories, I noticed their scoring was based on diversity, but then proceeded to score it based on how many muslim, black, or other minorities were included in the story. (the term minorities may vary based on where you live). But diversity is not just someone’s outward appearance or even culture. There are so many ways you can categorize a person, and their color and religion is just one of them. A person is not only determined by the group they associate with, though it may be a large part of their identity, it is not what makes a person whole. Diversity comes in so many forms, and I feel we are simplifying diversity to one component of it’s existence; race. Other types of diversity include…

  • Diversity of thought
  • Diversity of class
  • Diversity of character (someone’s mindset and how it leads their life)
  • Diversity of intention
  • Diversity of situation
  • Diversity of morals

These are examples of how you can categorize a person, and it is not only by their physical appearance. I feel like this simplification of diversity causes people to feel bitter about not seeing “themselves” represented in stories. Just because a character is white, doesn’t mean a black person can’t see themselves in them. Your color can sometimes determine your experience, but there are SO many ways to be represented in a story, so to score based only on someone’s physical appearance, to me, is absurd. Yes, it is a part of diversity and is important, but by no means is it the only determination.
What’s your opinion on this? Disagree? Agree? Comment if you want, let’s keep it respectful :))

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I agree, diversity is based on many things not just appearance (:

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could you provide some examples? this interests me a lot

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I agree with you but I believe (logically) it the fastest way to “observe/know” somebody. Diversity of character, morals, and situations are all crucial, but those things take time. I know it sounds harsh but some people would rather go the faster route even if it provides less experience. The human eye is the most observant and the most judging. Yes, it is wrong to judge something by it’s looks but we cannot avoid it. Even if you wanted to take time to learn about the person, you would have already judged them by appearance. Keep in mind that the word “judge” isn’t meant in a harmful way. More like observing them and coming to have your own idea of what they are like. After that, what you do is based on what you think whether is in a bad way or a good way.

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The thing is, no one can be removed from the cultural context in which they’re situated or how society sees them. So yes, it’s not just about race or religion, but even how others connect to a character’s personality is determined by the assumptions readers have already made about those characters. A lot of stories offer CC and are meant to represent a “universal experience” but there’s no such thing. Nevermind that it’s usually people in privileged or dominant groups who spend the most time complaining about “not being represented.” It’s usually white people who “can’t see” themselves in MCs of color or cishet people who “can’t relate” to LGBTQ+ MCs, etc. That demonstrates at least some basic understanding that we don’t all experience the world the same way.

Characters’ motivations or goals or personality traits can be relatable across a lot of different identities, but the way those characters navigate the world is different. Marginalized people are expected all the time to translate their experience into something reflective of culturally dominant narratives.

The other thing is that there’s no such thing as a “diverse character.” A single character cannot be diverse. Diversity can only be applied to the whole cast of characters and narratives, particularly narratives that challenge dominant cultural perspectives. You can have a cast with 10 characters and 8 of them are people of color and still not have a diverse story if none of those characters are adequately fleshed out or developed and mimic whiteness.

People are free to write whatever story with whatever types of characters they want, but other people have the right to critique them for sticking to the same narratives over and over again and treating them as universal.

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AGREE.

It’s so true.

Diversity has become such a narrow box that it isn’t diversity.

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And also the term whiteness is only though of as white American usually. More from Western Europe, then Balkans and Slavic.

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Right, I don’t think they should be removed, just seen in their other aspects.

Honestly, I feel like it comes from everyone tbh, I have seen it not just from “white” people. It is something that a lot of people feel excluded from, but to push a more productive narrative, I feel we should highlight the diversity of different traits that can be more broadened and related to.

Agreed, when listing those diverse traits, I was saying to create a diverse cast, you must make those components of the characters different- making a character have a certain mindset isn’t diversity on it’s own, but giving a range of characters different mindsets (that maybe contradict each other) is what I feel inclusion looks like

…mimicking whiteness ? huh? Lol

I agree, most characters have the same traits and insecurities cause it usually fits the mold of an insecure girl who wants love- but what I’m saying with the post is we can break that mold by simply acknowledging the other traits that can be applied to all characters differently in order to create a diverse cast

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Sure!

Diversity of thought would include people’s outlook on the world and can be determined by the way they see situations. It can sometimes be simplified and made easier with political stances- you don’t need to address politics in your story, but some of the traits from both “sides” of politics can be taken and applied to the way a character may go about solving a problem.

Diversity of class/situation would include where your character stands on the social/economic latter- how much money do they have? would they be able to afford this? How does this affect the way they react? The diversity in this one lies in many characters coming from different classes.

Diversity of character/morals falls into the same-ish category. The characters could have different levels of morals and one character might be okay with crossing certain lines.

Diversity of intention would mean what your character intends to do VS what they do. A character can be distinctive from another based on intention. For example, in the movie “Avengers: age of ultron” One character wants to destroy the protagonist based on pain from their past in order to set things right. BUT the other character wants to destroy the protagonist in order to wipe out humans because they are worthless in their eyes. They are both trying to achieve the same things, but the diversity lies in their intentions.

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You’re not wrong, people do tend to look at a cast of characters consisting of only ‘white’ people and think the story isn’t diverse. In some aspects, it is lacking one element of diversity, and the most physical and easiest to see-so I see why it would make people think that. But, I do still think it is just one element and with closer examination, people can be able to see other aspects that make a story truly diverse.
Not to say you should assume a story is diverse by the cover, cause it really just depends on the author

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this is a very interesting concept that i think about a lot ! diversity isn’t just in race/gender/sexuality but also in childhood/upbringing, education, memories, trauma, class, morals (which are often learnt through personal experiences)… you can tell when an author is using performative diversity since there is 1 (one) queer character who feeds into an unhealthy stereotype and everyone else is a carbon copy of each other :skull: i really enjoy writing or reading about characters who really are diverse in every possible way. it’s nice when two characters who are genuinely different to each other bond over a plot point and get on well despite such stark differences

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To answer your confusion about “mimicking whiteness”, to my interpretation as a white person, means writing POC characters with the perspective and mindset of a white person. You may not think you’re doing it intentionally, but people forget that we’ve been instilled to think that white is the default, and anyone who isn’t should be doing their best to “adapt” to it. POC often have different goals, ambitions, and experiences because of their race, and when you go “I don’t see colour!”, you distance yourself from the responsibility of properly addressing them through research and listening to POC.

Tl;dr, (snagged from an article by Janice Gassam Asare on Forbes) “…It diminishes the unique differences and experiences racial groups face”

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YESSS I agree 100%

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thanks and I agree we do not see a lot of these factors in stories. there are of course stories that mention all of these but i think they are not the ones that make the spotlight. and i totally agree that should be part of every story and it’s criticism

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And to add onto what I said, if you really look at things, we don’t even have diversity there. We don’t have proper race, religion, or sexuality and gender representation. Unless you are cishet, white, and able-bodied, you are reduced to a stereotype. You are almost never the main character, or even the LI. Instead you get stuck with the role of the sassy best friend, or the person who the characters go to for advice and they have no other contribution other than being the support.

Even in best case scenario, where it is the LI or the MC, you are made to conform to the default. You have to blend in with everyone else. You are just like the rest, with the only thing being different is that you are Black, or Asian, or Muslim, or gay or trans. You don’t have any unique experiences, you don’t have different goals, you don’t have different opinions or thoughts shaped by your experience. Except, that’s often not the case, and people who are these things have such a different experience, specific to their community. People are proud to be who they are, and they should not and will not have to conform to what is expected of them.

“Diversity” of character, thought, intention, situation, and morals isn’t something that everyone can see by looking at you. You are not oppressed for it. Everyone has different thoughts and personalities, and it’s obvious if you read any story. Take for example: any trope where there’s a conflict in personalities (enemies to lovers, bad boy and good girl, etc). You shouldn’t be rewarded for doing the bare minimum in writing.

We need diversity of marginalized people, ones who have often had their stories silenced, who don’t see their experiences properly portrayed in media, who live their lives without the privilege of being catered to and seen as the default.

No, we shouldn’t be counting “thoughts” and “feelings” as diversity. I’d like to see people get represented properly first, before we even think about taking the spotlight away from sharing their stories.

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Thank you, I 100% agree

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Just because one part of diversity, you feel, isn’t being represented, doesn’t mean the other parts of diversity aren’t important. I find it weird that you are denying that the components I mentioned are part of diversity, and I feel that is just coming from a lack of understanding of what diversity means. I feel the parts I mentioned should be shown as well as what you said. You seem to be saying whatever component of diversity YOU want to show is more important than others just because. It’s all important. No need to invalidate others just to improve what you feel is more important.

All diversity is important for me, and I think that’s okay

Diversity= the state of being diverse; variety.

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Who says that something is diverse just because people are oppressed for it?

Diversity is just having characters that are different from one other

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I’m just going to discard the fact that you’re telling me, a person who belongs to a group that has been violently silenced for over a century, that I don’t know what diversity is. Obviously I can’t speak for anyone but myself and my experience, but I will not be spoken over by you.

If authors could get the same points they would for writing an “opposites attract” story as they would for writing a story about people belonging to certain minority groups and their experiences, the scoring system would be redundant. People already do write that, we don’t need it encouraged or boosted. The scoring system is made to encourage stories of marginalized reaching top ranks so other people will see it, and learn about said experiences, which they might not have seen otherwise due to the fact that most popular stories are white, cishet, and able-bodied.

Let me emphasize why the system is there: To support people who have lived their lives having to battle through systematic oppression, discrimination, and often the fear of violence who want to share their stories and experiences.

Most stories that don’t cater to the norm get drowned by stories that are more “palpable” for Episode’s audience. That’s why the system is there. We should be supporting POC stories, we should be supporting LGBTQ+ stories, we should be supporting diversity and the stories of people who can’t share theirs without the spotlight being taken off of them or having to erase their unique experiences from belonging to said group. Try writing for the category or just don’t expect to be rewarded for what you already do.

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Edit: If you think you have the patience to explain to this person, please don’t. Just run. Don’t waste your energy. Please.

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hm. You seem upset, so I would like to remind you this is just a discussion.
I am not going to tip toe around you because of any group you belong to, I’m sorry, but I feel that would be condesending. I still don’t see how all of these components of diversity aren’t important. I’m simply saying that diversity should be scored in all areas, not just one, and haven’t denied any existence of any supression, so I don’t really see where this is all coming from.
And in terms of you not knowing what diversity is- I am saying you are trying to simplify it too much. That’s all. I’m addressing diversity for all of it’s qualities and not simply for the one you are referencing.
Also, I am just stating my opinion… I didn’t speak over you- I don’t really understand why you think that. I am giving you my opinion- this isn’t an attempt to silence you, I’m just giving my opinion and thoughts- also clarifying because I feel some of my points are being misinterpreted
No disrespect here :slight_smile:

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