My discomfort with writing a principal character from another race or culture is not simply a factor of not being from that race or culture myself. For example, in that discussion with a black classmate, I actually did feel like I understood how she felt while she was telling me I couldn’t understand what it’s like to be black. That’s because I frequently feel that no one could understand what it was like growing up in my statistically unusual circumstances. So, ironically, I think I could write a character who has that degree of anger and perceived isolation.

The problem is, I don’t know enough black people, or Asians, or Hispanics, or…well, frankly, the only “culture” other than my own that I know at all well is British. I know a lot about British people, partly because I’ve lived there a lot, I’ve married two Brits, and I have relatives there. Unfortunately, adding a Brit to one of my books is hardly going to ameliorate Jean’s wish for more diversity in contemporary romances.

But what if I’d had all that experience of another nationality or culture, one more diverse than “northern European”? I could feel more comfortable writing about someone of another race if I’d had more experience with people of that race.

So it’s not an inherent barrier, but a circumstantial one. Under other circumstances, another writer might feel very comfortable writing about a person of a different race.

And yes, I do write about characters of a different gender. Again, I have a lot more experience with men to draw on. But two other things play into the question of cross-gender identification. One is that I’ve consumed a LOT of media portraying men. Yes, mostly white men, but not exclusively. (I actually think I could write a black hero with more confidence than a black heroine.)

The other factor is wish-fulfillment. The heroes in my stories are in many ways idealized. They’re the way I want men to be as much as they reflect how I think men really are.

If I write about a black, Asian, indigenous, or Hispanic character, I risk “making” them what I think they ought to be–and that’s where Kathryn Stockett got into trouble. I’m entitled to some wish fulfillment about men because of the nature of romance as a genre. But if I start tinkering with a set of cultural cues or racial experiences–and particularly without any real experience (which Stockett did have)–I’m heading down a road almost certain to end with some readers being deeply offended.

I’m not afraid of readers, but I think I’m exercising common sense when I decide to avoid making too many assumptions about characters of a different ethnic group. I can (and do) have secondary characters with some diversity, but Jean’s post specifically calls for main characters to be diverse.

Like Jean, I hope this divide narrows. I just know that I’d have a hard time writing a black or Asian heroine, and I’d worry the whole time that I’d written something too pretty or too easy.

BRose: Ugh. I’m so sick of AAR’s bias towards historicals.

BRose, I’m heading straight toward 60 and I am firmly in your camp. Maybe it’s because I didn’t start reading romance until I was in my 50′s and came to by way of mysteries and suspense, but I greatly prefer contemporary settings over historicals. I also enjoy sci-fi rom when it’s well done.

Gigi Young:
I just don’t buy this argument because it’s a hypothetical fear, andunless you pulled out a bunch of racist stereotypes, a few (hypothetical) complaints about “authenticity” should not be a major deterrent to creating a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural “world” in contemporary romance. And IMO, this stance seems to say that an African-American or Korean-American or Indian Muslim romance writer would never have this quibble over writing white middle-class “Christian” characters (aka the “default”).

Gigi,

As much as I’d like to say they are hypothetical complaints, I have seen it over and over again here on the internet. So, no, the complaints are real and they can have a chilling effect.

As to your “default”, I disagree. I think that “that an African-American or Korean-American or Indian Muslim romance writer” would have this issue. They write from what they know the same as white authors write from what they know.

The fact is that race and ethnicity are flashpoints for our society. It’s risky to bring them up.

Ultimately, as much as I think authors might worry about this, I think the answer lies with the publishers. They control what gets published, or at least have for a long time. Now, with self-publishing taking off the way it has, we might see more diversity in that realm and if people go and buy it, the publishers will follow suit and publish it.

I get what you are saying – that the fear of backlash should not stop people from writing those stories. You see it as an excuse. That’s a valid way of looking at it. I just don’t have the same view.

Mo:
he argument is not that white people can’t identify with characters of another ethnic group or race.The argument is that people of that particular ethnic group or race say that they can’t identify with the character of their own ethnic group or race – that the character is “too white” or alternatively does not accurately reflect the prejudice the reader sees in the world.The reason, imo, that some authors tend not to tread there is that they don’t want to offend.In the end, as others here have said “You can’t win for losing”.If you do it, people get upset with how you did it and if you didn’t do it, people are upset you didn’t.

I just don’t buy this argument because it’s a hypothetical fear, and unless you pulled out a bunch of racist stereotypes, a few (hypothetical) complaints about “authenticity” should not be a major deterrent to creating a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural “world” in contemporary romance. And IMO, this stance seems to say that an African-American or Korean-American or Indian Muslim romance writer would never have this quibble over writing white middle-class “Christian” characters (aka the “default”).

dick: One of the posters commented that she didn’t read romance fiction for cultural diversity.I concur.Why should romance authors feel obligated to include culturally or ethnically diverse character in what they write any more than they should have an obligation to write historicals rather than contemporaries?Just as authors should not try to impose their political or moral views on readers, I don’t think readers should insist that authors should write about anything they don’t wish to.

So you don’t care about diversity in your romances? Cool. There are certainly plenty of titles for you to choose from. However, for those of us who would on occasion like to read about characters that look a little like us or even friends of ours we have very few options.

I don’t think anyone is asking authors to write something they’re not comfortable writing. I just don’t buy the idea that these stories can’t and won’t sell. If a publisher really got behind, developed and marketed authors that wrote good stories that featured characters of other races or ethnicities I think those books could sell. Even to white audiences, otherwise I would have to believe that white Americans are just a really shallow people that cannot empathize or relate to people that don’t share their particular hue. I don’t think that view is completely supported given the books in the last few years that have been best sellers in both literary fiction and non-fiction. I just don’t understand why the same cannot be said about romance.

Just to add: The assumption seems to be that white authors should include ethnic characters in their books, while that would be nice and a quick way to remedy the dearth of non-white characters I don’t see why expectations aren’t raised for more non-white authors.

Adding again: This discussion just reminded me of Chimamanda Adichie’s TED speech entitled “The Danger of the Single Story.” It’s on youtube.

I actually have recently fell in love with Nalini Singh’s books. To be honest I started reading her books because her name was Indian. It was so nice to see some diversity in a romance author. Her characters are of mixed race (eg half Russian, half Asian) and her characters come from all over the world.

Gigi Young:
If that fear keeps an author from writing characters of color, then all of these authors should tremble and quake whenever people begin to argue about wallpaper historical romances or unrealistic romantic suspense scenarios or the number of secret pregnancies in category romances, and so on and so forth.

First, they should tremble and quake at those things. I stopped reading almost all historicals for exactly the reason you mention and when you consider that I used to read historicals almost exclusively, that is pretty major.

Plus, this alleged fear does not keep romance authors from using superficial and borderline offensive stereotypes about particular ethnicities as shorthand for “alpha male”.

This is true, and I noticed it recently and commented on it on a totally different website.

Nor do most American authors of British-set historicals care that they are imposing their modern American views onto 19th century English characters (not to mention the hack job that’s done in Scottish historicals).

Another reason I stopped reading historicals.

…regardless of your non authorial status.

My non-authorial status was only mentioned because I said “I could write…” It has no bearing whatsoever on the arguments.

All this does is reinforce the notion that whiteness is a “default” that any one of any background, culture, or ethnic group can “identify” with, but stick a character of color into the main role and only people of that particular ethnic group/race can identify with them. How much sense does that make?

I am not saying it makes sense, Gigi. I happen to read a number of authors who have Asian characters (those authors are also all Asian, btw) and I can identify with them with no problems. I’m sure I miss some of the more subtle things that a Chinese person or Japanese person might pick up on, but the characters themselves are very engaging.

The argument is not that white people can’t identify with characters of another ethnic group or race. The argument is that people of that particular ethnic group or race say that they can’t identify with the character of their own ethnic group or race – that the character is “too white” or alternatively does not accurately reflect the prejudice the reader sees in the world.

The reason, imo, that some authors tend not to tread there is that they don’t want to offend. In the end, as others here have said “You can’t win for losing”. If you do it, people get upset with how you did it and if you didn’t do it, people are upset you didn’t.

Mo:
Because authors get flak for not making the character “ethnic” enough.Your example of a “a black heroine who is a geek working at a tech start-up” is great, and I could write her with my own “white” experiences and simply change the color of her skin, but then reviewers and readers (and I’ve seen it done) will argue that there should have been more shown about how her race affected how others saw her and how she dealt with that.The point is that even in today’s society, much as I might wish it otherwise, these things matter.If you write a non-white character you are expected to highlight those differences in the story, especially if you are a white author.Disclaimer:I am not an author, I was just using myself as a white woman as an example for experiences in life.To answer your question about “How is this different or “harder” than writing a white character who was raised in a foster home and becomes an international assassin for the US government?”Very simply, almost no one who reads romance is a “white [character] who was raised in a foster home and becomes an international assassin for the US government” but there are many readers of romance who are Asian, are African-American and when reading romance want to see their life experiences properly reflected there.So, an author has more leeway for making things up in the foster child turns assassin that she does in writing an authentic “ethnic” character.

If that fear keeps an author from writing characters of color, then all of these authors should tremble and quake whenever people begin to argue about wallpaper historical romances or unrealistic romantic suspense scenarios or the number of secret pregnancies in category romances, and so on and so forth.

Plus, this alleged fear does not keep romance authors from using superficial and borderline offensive stereotypes about particular ethnicities as shorthand for “alpha male”. Nor do most American authors of British-set historicals care that they are imposing their modern American views onto 19th century English characters (not to mention the hack job that’s done in Scottish historicals). So nope, I refuse to accept this as an excuse, regardless of your non authorial status.

All this does is reinforce the notion that whiteness is a “default” that any one of any background, culture, or ethnic group can “identify” with, but stick a character of color into the main role and only people of that particular ethnic group/race can identify with them. How much sense does that make?