#you arent required to like it at ALL but you gotta respect those who do and their right to a space in fandom | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

cisph0bia · 7 years ago

Note

Hey, sorry if this is out of line, but im writing a comic and I have a character who's muslim and nonbinary. Is there anything I should avoid when writing them? Sorry again if I'm being annoying.

im prolly not the best when it comes to giving advice but im glad ur asking someone whos actually nb and muslim lol sorry if my reply is all over the place...

first off u should treat their religion and gender as just another aspect of themself rather than like... a defining aspect?? like its not ur place to go deep into islamophobia or transphobia just because, like make em have a bunch of different qualities and traits as u would with any other character. being muslim or nonbinary isnt always super obvious, like really any person u see can be either and u wouldnt know so dont try to constantly point it out

things to avoid? the obvious stereotypes first and foremost like dont make any terrorism/isis/b0mb jokes like theyre not funny and you shouldnt mention these things at all. dont make it as if the character is "deceiving" you with their gender or give some sort of "sex reveal" or whatever. those r always gross. u should probably look up the stereotypes of both, bc obvious i cant cover them all. google is free and so is tumblr (writingwithcolor and lgbtqwritingprompts are just a few blogs i know)

muslims arent always some overly religious, in your face, holier than you types which is something i see i lot when people writint any non christian characters? its weird and annoying ALSO you dont have to make ur character follow stuff to a T like... ik dressing modestly and wearing a hijab is important, but u looot of muslims dont follow that stuff completely and its cool. i wear tight shit in public when i feel like it, and show skin to my friends bc im just like that.... i know a lot of muslims who dont wear hijabs! its up to u for what they wear but i just wanted to point that out

and nonbinary obviously doesnt always mean androgynous. u can make them as feminine or as masculine or anything else, bc nb ppl express themselves in a lot of ways. makeup, clothes, whatever. i wear a hijab despite the fact that ppl think its for women. u can pretty much go wild as long u dont delve into any transphobic shit that make us look more like caricatures (like putting emphasis on their body). and despite how they look, you can use whatever pronouns you want, even if they/them makes it more obvious that theyre nonbinary to some. and theres no problem with the character coming out in the story, as long as its respectful!

small things like mentioning ramadan/fasting, the character going "oh i gotta pray bruh brb", even them just declining a slice of pepperoni pizza or some beer at a party are cool i like it when muslims characters r like that. a dumb but real interaction is them eating smth with gelatin and some1 pointing it out to them and they could react in a like a ton of different ways (digusted, or just dont care) but when its me im like "WHO said it was PIG gelatin....it could be cow.......or fish..........u dont know -_-" and i keep eating it and my friends laugh. its the little things that are fun to me

i feel like im totally missing stuff bc this became more of me rambling instead of a list of thimgs to avoid and im so sorry bc u seem nice and deserve a better answer but like......im dumb......... i hope this helps, and if it doesnt and you have more questions feel free to come to me again! if anyone wants to reblog or reply with some things i missed, please do so!! and when youre finished with your comic ur legally required to show me it bc i would love to see a character like myself

3 notes · View notes