27th of March 2021
by Beatriz Gomes
Since I was 13, I liked to create diverse characters, with different personalities and backgrounds. When I read, I could become every character of the book no matter their gender, ethnicity, or background. Yet if I wish to get published, I feel like I can only write cisgender white women because I am one. This rases the question: am I allowed and well-equipped to write about a BAME character? Or any character with a background different from mine?
Writing characters is tricky, it involves putting a part of myself, some imagination and research. Sometimes the amount of research isn’t enough. I feel like I can’t portray them in a realistic light because I don’t live it. For example, when BLM protests started in May last year and black people told their stories, I could empathise with them but not really relate.
As a white woman, I will never know what challenges a woman of colour faces in her everyday life. As a cisgender woman, I won’t ever feel disconnected from my gender. I can talk about situations such as the Sarah Everard. I can relate to her story and other women who don’t feel safe when walking outside alone late at night or go out to a bar and being scared someone will put drugs in my drink. I can also talk about menstruation and pregnancy from a perspective a man can’t.
Yet, I don’t think this mean I shouldn’t be able to write about other ethnicities and cultures. Unpublished and published writers have been known to use sensitivity readers. Rick Riordan, the writer of Percy Jackson book series, wrote about a dyslexic 13-year-old boy with ADHD, despite not having any of those characteristics. Rick based his character off his son struggle’s. Which I think it’s a good demonstration of how sensitive readers help bring accuracy to a piece.
Sensitivity readers review unpublished work based on their own background. Writers contact them when they need to check if their characters are well represented (i.e., unbiased, socially, and culturally accurate).
I remember reading ‘Looking for Alaska’ and ‘An Abundance of Katherines’ by John Green as a teenager, and I couldn’t relate to his female characters since they were all portrayed as quirky and mysterious. As a writer now, I wonder if John Green used sensitivity readers to portray his female characters.
I think that 10 years ago it was fine to write stereotypical characters without receiving any backlash. Many stereotypes and tropes were created because writers probably didn’t do their research, a good example is ‘The Morganville Vampires’. With the rise of organizations that promote and talk about minorities issues, the world felt a need to write more inclusive characters in their books.
Sensitivity readers are a good pathway to BAME representation. For example, ‘Carol’, directed by Todd Haynes, talks about a relationship between two women, portrait in a non-sexualising and non-stereotypical way. The director involved several women in the production of the movie, who worked as his sensitivity readers.
Representation is not always good. As a lesbian, I feel invalidated and reduced to stereotypes, when I watch movies such as ‘Blue is the warmest colour’. So, I’d argue that sensitivity readers are a crucial tool for writers, but I still need to do my own research. They’re not a ‘passe-partout’, the writer still owns their work and has the last word.
Sensitive readers are no more than a guide to the writer, their only purpose is to help the writer create accurate and well represented characters. At the end of the day, it’s up to the writer to choose but I think sensitivity readers are an added value to the writer’s journey.
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