#‘representation’ i’ve ever experienced but that doesn’t really factor into how i judge a book’s quality idk

[aldieb]

tbh after finishing i kind of retract the enthusiasm of my recommendation (but not necessarily the recommendation itself) for he who drowned the world. i still found some of the themes it covers really refreshing in the fantasy genre (for ex the descriptions of recognizing yourself in others across queer identities felt v real), but the way it covered them ended up feeling incoherent/unfocused in an area that imo especially needs precision in order not to blunder into insensitivity. (i also in the middle of reading saw people saying it treats eunuchs ahistorically, and frankly i know nothing on the topic and wasn’t drawn to the book for its historical elements—“real-world setting with tiny magical component” isn’t my jam—but that does match up with the whole slew of weirdness i’m feeling overall.) i’m glad i read it and the overall plot kept me interested but i’m hoping it’s the start of a trend in the genre rather than something to point to as “hell yeah, they did it”?

[thealpacalypse-archive]

i-haveno-lyfe

replied to your post

“A handy guide to avoid accidental transphobia”

I totally agree with everything you said and all, but on a side note, when you said we don't have to go into detail of his past trauma because it may trigger trauma for Trans people who went through it, isn't that what any writing is like? Yeah sure the trans issue is way more sensitive than other topics, but a lot of gay movies/stories that give an insight into how bad it was for them at the start or being in a shaming society...etc can trigger gays who went thru that-

-also goes for writing about the suffering of a mental illness to ppl with that illness, abusive relationships, losing a close individual, losing a pet, cutting, bullying... Surely whatever you write or indulge into will trigger someone at some point due to some sort of PTSD, so I don't think it's a valid point to use (though what makes it valid is whether you're writing it just to add for no reason or is him being trans the whole focus of this fic you're writing)

Also, really not hating at all and agree with most of what you said, but your view would differ greatly if a trans wrote that fic and decided to write about his 'trauma'. I do understand how irritating it can be to see a cis person 'fantasize about the suffering' but have you considered they may actually be very informed about it or know someone like that close to them? I just think you generalized a bit. Otherwise, very appreciated post

okay so let’s unpack this.

writing as a way to deal with trauma: yes, absolutely, for many people, a way to work through the pain they’ve experienced can be through fiction. I didn’t say no one should write about trauma. I just pointed out that there’s a notorious pattern of cis people writing stories about trans folks that are almost exclusively about the pain and suffering of it. I also asked kindly to put trigger warnings on posts and fic that deal with heavy transphobia, because that’s what people need to be able to engage healthily and in a healing way with media that deals with their trauma. Seems pretty reasonable to me.

everything can be a trigger: yeah, sure, and some triggers are so impossible to predict that we can’t possibly tag everything. but transphobia isn’t one of these triggers that are hard to predict, and if you think about it, it should always be seen as negative instead of like, the song “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” which is a personal trigger for me - the song is harmless and nice, and i’m not gonna judge anyone for singing it, but instead remove myself out of the situation. Transphobia is inherently bad, so it’s to be expected that it’s gonna upset people. So the responsibility to make it safe is for the people talking about it, not for the people triggered by it. which again, is not saying that no one should write about any trauma ever, just that it’s a sensitive topic that should be handled as such, i.e. by tagging stuff appropriately and thinking extra hard about why you’re writing about it in the first place.

the question with representation for me is always: who benefits from it? who is it for? The issue with a lot of trans storylines in media these days is that it’s written and directed by cis people, acted by a cis person, and its target audience are cis people. It’s cool when cis people want to write stuff about trans characters because hey, the more representation the better. But if I write a character from a marginalized group, I always ask myself “who benefits from this story?” - do i write a black character because hey, black people lack representation in media and i wanna do my part to support them? or do i write that because i wanna gather ‘diversity points’ and be seen as cool and #woke? if it’s the first one, then my instinct should always be to take a step back and reconsider when black people tell me what i’m doing is harmful. oftentimes when cis people write about trans people, they don’t do it for us, they do it for the entertainment of other cis people, actually harming trans people at the same time, by spreading misinformation, stereotypes, and ignorance. And especially if writing about the negative, hurtful aspects, you should consider long and hard why you want to do it and who you want to entertain with it. Wanna write a story about a trans character? Sure, go ahead, but keep your audience in mind - if you’re writing about us, it shouldn’t hurt us, but help us.

“they might be very well informed”: again, i never said cis people are not allowed to write anything, and I never said anything like ‘all cis people are inherently bad at writing trans characters’ or anything like that. I never said that, and I never targeted that post towards any specific cis people, so no, i haven’t considered who ever might actually know a proper amount about trans issues, just as much as I haven’t considered all the other people who could possibly think this post is targeted at them. At the beginning of my post i say that it’s for cis people who want to avoid being transphobic, and who are afraid to accidentally mess up, and the post was there to give those people pointers on what they might want to avoid or be careful about. It’s absolutely your choice to decide if that applies to you. Also, no matter how well informed an ally is: if an actually marginalized person speaks up and expresses their discomfort, it should never be an ally’s place to say “but actually, this isn’t problematic” or “but actually, I know your experience better than you, so I have a right to talk about it even though it makes you uncomfortable”. That’s not good allyship. Just because you know someone it doesn’t make you an infallible expert. Just look at the loads of autism mums who are actually spreading misinformation and harming their autistic kids while claiming to know their stuff when it comes to autism.

It would be different for a trans writer: Yes, absolutely, and I’ve said that much in my post. That’s why this post is targeted towards cis people. I would never think of telling a trans person not to write about their own personal trauma, or not to worry about a trans character wearing a binder too much. We make different life experiences, therefore it’s different. Not even the cis people close to us make the same experiences like us - they may catch glimpses, maybe get a good look at the bigger picture, but they cannot possibly know to the full extent what it means to be trans. I once read something on a writers blog that was along the lines of “as a white person, you can and should write black characters, but you can’t write a story about what it means to be black.” And I think that applies to all marginalizations, and to writing trans characters as well. Cis people can and should write stories with trans characters, preferably with the guidance and (fact checking) help of actual trans people. But since cis people will never know what it’s like to be trans, their stories about what it means to be trans will always be lacking, incomplete, relying on stereotypes and limited information, and because of that, they will be useless or even worse, harmful for trans people. Which is not to say that everything trans writers publish is absolutely pure and non-harmful, it’s just putting things in a different perspective. The book Dreadnought by April Daniels is a perfect example for this - April Daniels is a trans woman herself, and her main character is a trans girl. The story is about this girl becoming a superhero while dealing with some pretty hardcore stuff like transphobia and abuse among other things. It sure isn’t pleasant for me to read that, but I still absolutely value it because I can rely on the fact that the author is always on the character’s side, and that the negativity is a lived experience that will not prevail. In that, it is healing, because I know that April Daniels doesn’t want her hero to suffer, she wants her to grow and heal. Oftentimes with cis authors, I can’t be sure about that, just like I can’t be sure when straight writers put queer characters in their stories - I never know if or when they’re gonna get killed off for shock factor, or just treated like garbage in general.

I hope that cleared things up. I never forbade anyone from writing anything - I just gave a few pointers for those who wanted and needed them, at the same time explaining my personal discomfort with some things I’ve seen. That’s all.