[Media Musing] a conversation i had recently (i.e. just now) has got me thinking about how, like. probably the biggest thing holding back queer stories from getting more spotlight other than corporations being awful is that totally cis, straight writers are afraid of getting them wrong
i feel like the cheat-code to this issue is to put more pressure on the Big Names who say they want to be allies to be allies by going to bat for marginalized creators. Like how Riordan does in his Presents series.
Like it's great when cis-straight (white) writers want to do those stories right, and it sucks if they feel they might fuck it up so bad they're too afraid to Be That Guy, but if you have the power and pull, use it to open that door for someone else and guide them with all that experience you have
after writing a story that had as much Deep Queer Feelings as homestuck despite her supposedly being a "cis straight dude" it's very likely that the reason why he ended up examining gender was because of writing that story
I feel like the best way to go is to just have sensitivity readers and reach out to the audiences they want to represent to make sure they do it well and in good faith
that too. like the creative team for encanto went to colombia to learn and experience and get insight on how to do it right and that really benefitted in how earnest and real that movie comes across
I will say this as a bi-leaning guy, there is a fear of fucking up with subjects and peoples you feel sympathetic to, and it might be bigger for those working for big IPs.
Obviously, one has to study as much as possible about the subject in order to portray it well, but that lingering feeling will always follow the artist whenever if their story is problematic and has stereotypes, whenever if they will accidentally offend a culture, whenever if they got things wrong from their research, and so on.
Sensitivity writers are utterly important, indeed, and if you're going to go public on a story, it is a must-have on your writing process. But, just as well, what is offensive to some may be chill to others, and vice-versa.
yeah there's a certain point where "fear of getting things wrong" just, segregates story telling in a way that feels just as bad, and small and fan products might not have a sensitivity reader(s) on hand. so at least speaking for me and being trans and autistic i'd rather just see people try
my egg literally got cracked by fukaboku!! and i know it sort of put to paper a lot of feelings other similarly Gendery folks were feeling around the time we were all reading it
I think a big thing is- stuff like gender is such a personal thing. Different people handle it in different ways, and different topics may resonate differently, etc.
the thing is i also think even queer people writing from their own experiences can sometimes still be met with an extremely critical response if that experience is something that people could consider wrong. there are some tropes that have real life prejudice and homophobia baked into them which is always annoying because sometimes i personally like them?
queercoded villains are my jam for one. and it's annoying as hell that even though i like them there's still an element of demonizing to it that i think only comes about because writers are so hesitant to include queerness in their stories so representation ends up being lopsided as hell.
treat characters as though they are individuals with wants and drives, who have agency in their own story and the same level of common humanity that you would ascribe to your viewpoint character
It costs you nothing to approach a person who is from thatt community and just say 'Hey, I know I'm portraying this character as a trans man but I'd like your honest feedback on how this is going'
It seriously just takes empathy and humility. Most people, when they sense you're genuinely trying your best and have just erred, will not bite your head off, especially if you come to them.
i'ma tell you a secret
the one trick writers don't want you to know