So… I’m writing my story and I didn’t want CC at all, but since many don’t like a story without it I thought about adding a limited one. Do you like limited CC or do you prefer nothing at all? Would you still read a story with limited CC?
And
My story is set in italy and the main character is italian. Italians (except from some exceptions) are mainly white, so I just added 1 to 3 skins colours to the CC. I didn’t add darker and lighter skin colors because, even if there are black or Asian Italians, they would have a different background from the one I’m plotting for my main character and I would find it too superficial to just ignore it. At the same time I don’t want someone to get offended.
Could this be considered racist?
Hey, customisations should be entirely up to you, but limited is okay. Probably a much-preferred option. A lot of people like customisations because they want to try to customise the character to represent themselves. If your character is a native Italian, I don’t see the issue. And Italy might not be as diverse as other countries such as England and America, but I know there are people of different backgrounds and ethnicities there.
Here is a question for you, does the character need to be… white? Is it somehow a significance to the story? If not, then why not allow a wide range of skin tones? At the end of the day, it’s your story and your character. As long as you’re not shaming other backgrounds or making your character seem somewhat superior to the rest, you’re good to go.
I think you should write your story the way you intended it to be. Having limited customization may work for some people that would read your story. But also, keep in mind if the customization is not going to alter the look of the characters very much you may not even need to have customization as an option. But in the same vein… many people like to choose hairstyles and other things like that. So again… do what you think upholds your story best. Because at the end of the day, the objective is to create a story that you yourself enjoy and want to share with others ( if you so choose to share your story ).
Please do not take offense as it is not my intention to make you feel uneasy or anything like that. But, personally I would probably not read the story because people like myself are not represented in any meaningful capacity. But that is perfectly fine, because I am certain that there are plenty of people that would relate to your story and give it a read.
Not sure about other people but I don’t consider that racist as you’re doing the limited cc for a reason. Like you said… the story is fixed in a certain setting and the characters are Italian
Yes… at the end of the day… it is really about making the kind of story that you want to make. If you have a very specific vision… do not be afraid to stick to what you as the creator want. If your heart wants you to create your characters in a specific way, then you should not make limited customization in order to cater to potential readers. Make what you want to make , and make it unapologetically. ( I mean so long as the basis of the story is not intended to degrade or make other people feel bad )
We have an entire thread dedicated to this. Native Italians are white Caucasian, just like the rest of Europe is. Perhaps just a tad darker. People whose skin tone isn’t light or at most tan in color (as in, people whose families aren’t of Italian descent or haven’t been in Italy for several generations) have significantly different social backgrounds than the average Italian.
It pretty much means that if she adds more skin tones (aka more ethnicities/races that aren’t native) she can’t possibly portray their identity correctly. If her MC is native Italian, then they’ll also have a whole cultural and linguistic background that wouldn’t match if the reader made the MC of a different nationality/ethnicity/race. It simply wouldn’t be realistic
My stance is, don’t worry and go with limited CC @Joanne00 dear
I did read that, I was just adding an argument pro limited CC
Absolutely yes, there’s plenty (ratio still being less of them than what you’d find in America, for example). I just feel like every ethnicity, race, religion, has a history of integration or not in any given country. And especially in countries where diversity isn’t exactly seen positively by a large piece of society (among which Italy, unfortunately) I feel like it’s important that a character is portrayed correctly, not just in relation to their identity and personality, but also in the great scheme of things.
In a way, paradoxically, I feel like full CC in certain kinds of stories is more limiting and unrealistic than limited or none at all. If you get what I mean, I don’t know if I managed to explain it well.
It is not a significance, but if she was (for example) black I should represent her in different ways, since I’m not plotting this for the MC I think that it would be just too superficial to just allow all the skin tones
I do understand what you mean and I’m not offendend ( that’s also a reason why I’m questioning my choice)
I’m planning on adding characters of many ethnicities as main characters, I just want to represent them the right way, that’s why I want the MC to be a certain way, so she isn’t depict the wrong way
for example: it is impossible for a black/asian/anyotherethnicity italian or his family not to have had at least an episode of racism in his life, so if she was just black and never mentioning something like that, having everything easy and so on would just be superficial
I have the same. My MC is Asian and I got called out for being racist. But you know what? My MC is not a Black Asian. I think a story about a Black Asian would be awesome, but that’s not my story. So, write it how you want to. It’s your story. Don’t let one or two people get you down.
@Joanne00
My people (Albanians) are never represented, like literally very very rarely. However, I can still create a story set in Albania, still represent the people, still represent my culture and allow full customisation of the main character, if the ethnicity of my character is not of significance. You cannot use a demographic area and say you cannot portray the people who live there accurately if you add full customisation.
You still can
As I said earlier if the character is a native Italian, I understand, and if they’re not native Italian and just someone who lives in Italy, then their race shouldn’t be of significance. At the end of the day, it’s the authors choice to represent their character however they want, as long as they haven’t portrayed them in an offensive manner or anything of that sort. I am all for full customisations and for limited customisation. I am specifically talking about this point here that you keep on referring to:
And you both keep referring to my point:
Like I said if the ethnicity is not of importance, then you don’t need to revolve the culture completely around the character. Good character development and representation does not only rely on culture Culture isn’t the only thing that makes a character who they are.
Again, I am all for full and part and also no customisation. And just like @Creole_KareBear said:
I am not saying you cannot have limited customisation or a native Italian. I am just saying that if the character isn’t a native Italian, you can have full customisation and STILL portray the rich culture that Italy has.
I wholeheartedly agree. The problem with full CC is either:
The character is written with one race in mind and for you to change it messes up the storyline.
Or the character has little depth because frankly; for drama especially, your background is part of who you are. Your culture and background plays a big role in shaping your life.
Having said that, depending on the story, full cc can work beautifully. Only you know your story and whether full or limited cc is best.
Well… if the story is based on Europeans in Italy… and the MC is Italian… and this story takes place in Italy… I don’t quite understand how including characters of many ethnicities as main characters would realistically fit into your story based on the analysis that you just mentioned… Naturally , I do not know what your story is about, but if the main character is depicted as European , and the story revolves around a European MC in Europe… then what would be the reason of racism even really coming up? Unless a LI is of a different ethnicity or something like that.
I guess I just don’t quite understand what you mean to say. But, you probably should not try to include other ethnicities within your story if they do not realistically fit with your story or make your story more complicated that what you have originally intended it to be. Diversity is awesome… but not if it does not make sense or does not actually fit the overall theme of your story.
If the story was about a tourist in italy or if the place where the story is plot wasn’t important, then you could be right, but as a matter of fact a people of another ethnicity (even if italian) living in Italy wouldn’t have the same life of a white italian and just ignoring this would be superficial in my opinion.
I totally agree with that
You’re also right about that, if I write the story a certain way I can just assume that she isn’t italian and allow full customisation
you should write your story the way you intended it to be. Having limited customization may work for some people that would read your story. But also, keep in mind if the customization is not going to alter the look of the characters very much you may not even need to have customization as an option. But in the same vein… many people like to choose hairstyles and other things like that. So again… do what you think upholds your story best. Because at the end of the day, the objective is to create a story that you yourself enjoy and want to share with others ( if you so choose to share your story ).
They might as well just stick with the hair and lip colour templates :))
I am all for full customisations and for limited customisation. I am specifically talking about this point here that you keep on referring to: