This. This really grinds my gears, I feel like it’s the perfect microcosm for how Episode views “diversity”. Diversity and representation aren’t just about featuring stories that include POC/LGBTQ+ect., it’s also about HOW those characters are included. Venomous features an ambiguously Latin women with a stereotypical name. Sure the author Google-Translated some Spanish to pepper into the dialog but that doesn’t make it representation. We don’t even know what country Maria or her family/ancestors are from, the author only goes so far as to make her definitively brown without including any kind of actual culture. Is mentioning Guatemala, El Salvador, Mexico, Chili etc. asking too much? Or even just a featured story with a Latin MC that doesn’t revolve around crime and doesn’t include the character being a domestic worker in any capacity? It wouldn’t feel so problematic if Episode cast women of color in the same princess/pop star/barista-whatever roles it puts its white characters in. While I can appreciate that no one and nothing can be entirely unproblematic or perfect, and that it seems like Episode was trying at least, I really don’t think they should be giving themselves any pats on the back or using this as an example of their push for diversity. Especially not when it seems all they did was feature a story that uses the shell of women of color to wrap around a white narrative and call it an example of diversity.
9 Likes