Diversity in YA and my reservations

Can we just admire this artwork for a moment...check out the artist HERE.

By now, most writers and readers are aware of the #WeNeedDiverseBooks movement. Others have already tossed their two cents into the pot, so I though I'd add mine.

DISCLAIMER: In general, I love the idea of the movement. My parents are Chinese and I grew up in a Chinese household, and I resorted to Asian dramas for my dose of Asian characters and leads. As a kid, I never really gave the lack of Asian characters in MG/YA books much thought. But as an older writer and reader of the YA genre, I do notice it. With the pretty healthy state that the YA market is currently in, I agree that it is time to see if we can introduce some variation into the already great stuff that is out there.

But (and from the title of this post, you probably already guessed that there would be a "but") I also have some reservations over the WNDB movement.

What mainly got me thinking about my feelings regarding the movement is the current novel that I am querying: HESPERIA. It's set in a cross between Rome and China (because why not?), and when building the world, I drew upon a lot of my own cultural currency. Those random Asian dramas I watched? Inspiration. Food I ate everyday as a kid and thought it was the norm? Inspiration. The adages of the culture, the general teachings and values? Inspiration.

And it shows in HESPERIA. Readers have consistently praised the world-building. One of my very trusted readers went on to point out that since I do such a lovely job of introducing the Asian element to my world, why not apply the same to my characters?

To give you a sense of where this comment may have come from, I'll let you know that I don't describe what the characters look like all that much in HESPERIA. This was mainly due to theme purposes (HESPERIA was heavily inspired by TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, and so while in TKAM skin color is a pretty big defining characteristic, in HESPERIA seer and magicians vs normal humans is the big defining characteristic, and I didn't want to spend too much time describing differences in looks). It was also a result of personal style--in general I don't like describing the looks of my characters since I trust that the reader will conjure his or her own image regardless, although I can definitely see why a well-drawn out character can make that conjuring process easier.

Second, none of my character names are traditionally Asian. As in, if you took a glance at the name, you wouldn't immediately think this character is Asian. I pulled a lot of the names from my imagination. Since the setting is mainly China influenced, I used some Latin in the creation of my names and some Roman culture in creating the world's justice system.

Anyway, this astute reader of mine pointed out to me that fantasy set in other cultures is huge, and so having more Asian main characters would really help me out in the market.

So I considered amping up the Asian factor in the characters via names and appearances.

And in the end, while I could see the benefits, I decided not to.

Why? Because I realized that I hadn't just gravitated toward the names I picked because I'm inundated with white-washed media or couldn't think of anything good. The non-Asian names, rather, were a conscious choice. While my characters might "fit the bill" (I really dislike how that sounds) as coming from a diverse setting and culture, I don't want to feel pressure to squeeze them into the names they should have to be considered diverse, or the skin colors/eye colors/hair colors that they should have to be considered diverse.

For example, many of the Asians I know don't have Asian names, and many decide not to conform to certain Asian cultural constructs, but they are no less Asian than any other Asians.

My Asian characters can have blonde hair and red eyes for all I care.

And as for all the other Asian elements that I included in the novel? They were also conscious choices. My characters are Asian influenced because they struggle a lot with the whole independence vs conform to society thing (which is actually a direct throwback to Confucianism). They will always think of the ripple effects their own decisions can have on the people around. They eat lychees and water-chestnuts and congee sprinkled with scallions. White is the color for funerals. Silk is the #1 preferred fabric for anyone with some money. But as an Asian myself, I realize that even by typing this out I risk drawing lines around what constitutes as Asian and what doesn't. I risk slapping a specific label onto what is means to be diverse.

Reading offers you the chance to live a life that you might never live in the real world. It allows you to see through the other's eyes and walk in his or her shoes (cliche as it sounds, that's the ultimate goal of a realistic character). Which is why, mostly speaking, I'm so excited that the industry is recognizing the need for expanding the possible horizons readers can explore. I am excited about the diversity movement--I dare not call it a trend because that implies it will eventually die out. Something as important as this should never die out.

But honestly, I'm also very scared. Because it's so incredibly easy to try to fit diversity into a box, to slap a bunch of labels as to what exactly constitutes as diversity. This contradicts entirely what the whole diversity movement is about. But it will happen--and it has. Because while we're lauding the books that explore subjects such as sexuality and race (which we should do and continue to do), it's harder to recognize all the definitions of diversity.

We continue to marginalize the heroine who is too "passive" or too "selfish" or too, dare I say, "unlikeable".  I've read so many reviews where the majority of the review criticizes the character. But...isn't diversity also diversity in character?

For example, very few reviews would say: "I hated him because he was too disabled!"

But so many reviews say: "I hated X character because of Y personality quality she had."

But I would argue that personality is diversity. The specific decisions you gravitate towards, the way you present yourself, the things you like and dislike, are all influenced by your socio-economic background, your physical (dis)abilities, your sexual orientation, your race, your culture, your environment.

The latter list we praise as diversity. We praise it so much that they become the keystones of the diversity movement. But when we reduce diversity down to any "essential element", we risk distorting the real purpose of the mission.

*In case you were wondering, I LOVE the reader I mentioned in this post--she is so very well-read in the YA genre and awesome at giving me crit that actually makes me excited about revision :D Her comment just indirectly prompted my thinking, which resulted in this word spew (as if any of my posts weren't word spews).

What are YOUR thoughts about diversity in YA and the recent movement? I'd love to hear your thoughts--both assenting and differing opinions :)