i agree. simple as that. i agree. if you say “reader”, make it fully inclusive. but i feel that this is may be an overarching statement that doesn’t provide poc!writers with the assurance that it is ok to write or want to write black!readers, desi!readers, asian!readers, latino!readers with culture-specific traditions, clothing, rituals, etc. and they do not have to be considered OCs.
Your experiences are valid in a reader-insert, especially so in this space that has been white-coded for so long. And I want you to push and push until there are enough fics with readers of different ethnicities because an oversanitized self-insert does not begin to capture what everyday life is for minorities and diaspora.
yes, white!writers should properly code their works when it is white!reader and to do their best to omit identifying traits in a reader. but it is also their duty to accept that the poc writers trying to create experiences for people like themselves are not threatening “inclusivity” by creating coded readers.
i take these words from my friend’s mouth when I say that “the solution to inequality is not putting everyone on equal ground, it’s actually understanding who needs more support “.
Equity. Because the contributions are not the same.
i write for me, for others who look like me. who may have or still believe that being ourselves, eating our culture-specific food, mentioning the little habits accumulated over the years of living as ourselves have no place in fiction.
i write for me who once thought that i was less than perfect and did not belong. because perfect also means white.
because sometimes still, i think that my eyes are dark and soulless, i wish they were like the sky, my skin is the color of piss, my face too flat, no one will want to kiss me, my body short and stocky, i would never want to love me.
because it’s difficult and always has been to imagine myself in a self-insert that’s sanitized to CDC standards. i say it again, the default reader has been, and still is, unofficially white-coded. because no matter the efforts you make to write your reader as bland as possible, you still have to say what they eat for breakfast and describe how they speak to their mama and papa, their friends, their lovers.
and when I read that, however “inclusive” it is, I still don’t see us.
so for the writers who don’t see themselves, never see themselves, make it so that you can. make your readers have kinky-coily hair, dark nipples, eyes like rich soil, skin as warm as the sun, wear jewelry brought over from Punjab, wear a bonnet to bed, have them dance to cumbia, practice calligraphy, feed their loves flavorful meals that ignite memories of childhood, of family functions and nosy aunties
write with love. write yourself.
