First of all, very interesting discussion and comments from everyone. Mostly I feel like I am simply Not Intellectual enough to make any serious points about racism and the study thereof that someone else has already made.
This is because I've never seriously studied the subject, and I live in one of the whitest states in the freaking union. It is a problem of invisibility here, frankly. I have very few friends who are not white, because I don't often meet people who are not.
However, this does make me very aware of when I am the only white chick in the room. It also makes me interested in other people's cultures and experiences just because they are different.
It's that difference that attracts me to characters I roleplay. I don't want to play a white twentysomething middle class girl who has a nice house in the countryside. I want something else. One of those differences is bound to be race at some point. But I have not (as of yet) made it a conscious decision to play a character of another race just for that reason.
It just sort of happens, I guess. Lynne talked about her choices with Raven, I guess I chose to make Coyote's PB a native american woman (or man)...but I didn't think about it. I want to get her stuff right, but I have a certain amount of leeway there just because there are so many sources to pick and choose from. I would specifically enjoy some easily accessible information on Navajo culture and religion.
Daniel is a whole 'nother topic. He was Chinese from the start, and I never pictured him otherwise. However, the stereotypes he has floating around him I did pick deliberately. Daniel himself is pretty aware of being one of the only asian kids around, especially in a small Texan town. Some of this is blahblah backstory that hasn't come out yet, but his guardian (who is white) made a deliberate if slightly misguided effort to get Daniel to learn more about his heritage. Thus, his continued fluency in mandarin, even though he doesn't use it much. Also, the kung-fu. He finds the whole thing more than moderately humorous.
I'm sure that someone could point out something from either of them and say Native American and Chinese Culture: You're Doing It Wrong. I would actually probably appreciate that, even if it stung at the time. But I can't do it right if I never try it.
no subject
First of all, very interesting discussion and comments from everyone. Mostly I feel like I am simply Not Intellectual enough to make any serious points about racism and the study thereof that someone else has already made.
This is because I've never seriously studied the subject, and I live in one of the whitest states in the freaking union. It is a problem of invisibility here, frankly. I have very few friends who are not white, because I don't often meet people who are not.
However, this does make me very aware of when I am the only white chick in the room. It also makes me interested in other people's cultures and experiences just because they are different.
It's that difference that attracts me to characters I roleplay. I don't want to play a white twentysomething middle class girl who has a nice house in the countryside. I want something else. One of those differences is bound to be race at some point. But I have not (as of yet) made it a conscious decision to play a character of another race just for that reason.
It just sort of happens, I guess. Lynne talked about her choices with Raven, I guess I chose to make Coyote's PB a native american woman (or man)...but I didn't think about it. I want to get her stuff right, but I have a certain amount of leeway there just because there are so many sources to pick and choose from. I would specifically enjoy some easily accessible information on Navajo culture and religion.
Daniel is a whole 'nother topic. He was Chinese from the start, and I never pictured him otherwise. However, the stereotypes he has floating around him I did pick deliberately. Daniel himself is pretty aware of being one of the only asian kids around, especially in a small Texan town. Some of this is blahblah backstory that hasn't come out yet, but his guardian (who is white) made a deliberate if slightly misguided effort to get Daniel to learn more about his heritage. Thus, his continued fluency in mandarin, even though he doesn't use it much. Also, the kung-fu. He finds the whole thing more than moderately humorous.
I'm sure that someone could point out something from either of them and say Native American and Chinese Culture: You're Doing It Wrong. I would actually probably appreciate that, even if it stung at the time. But I can't do it right if I never try it.