It's not a secret that the literature is quite dominated by white, heterosexual men. And for most people, it seems like even getting a 50% reading list between male and female authors is quite hard unless you aim for it. If you include things like ethnicity and sexual orientation, you have to even look harder to get them even represented.
But have you thought of who's behind what your read? Or the main character? On diversity of gender,
ethnicity, sexual orientaion etc. And found out that the diversity isn't that good, unless you aim for it?
I counted the authors a little while ago, and I ended on about 60% men and 40% women of what I have listen to in Storytel (Norwegian audiobook app) + my nightstand / backpack. I know I will get a lower percent if I count the gender on the main characters, but I do have a diversety on gender too.
If I count main characters that is not white, or has an other sexual orientation than heterosexual, it's really poor. To be honest, none is LGBT and one is half Brittish and halft Egyptian. I finnished reading "The 7th Scroll" yesterday, and suddenly thought of that Royan is the the closest I get to a main character that is not white for ages.
So why are diversity important? It isn't the gender of the author that makes a book good, or the sexual orientaiton of the main character. So why is it important? If you think that, do you happen to be white? Even male? Then you can probably go into every book or film store with your eyes closed, and find something with a white, male main character, portraied postive/ as a hero. You will find a lot if you look after a white, heterosexual woman too. But try to find a main character that is not white. Or even harder, not heterosexual.
If you belong to a minority, you will struggle to find people to identify yourself with in books. You will often find yourself portaited not always that positive, and with a lot of steriotypes. If you go to horror movies, the black man more or less is always killed. You will find few romantic relationships between an Asian man and white woman.
Gay men are often very stereotypically (special in films) or as I meet them in books, not very positive portrayed. I do not look for books with LGBT main characters, so I just stumble over side characters. The latest four men I've met in books, only one is positive portrayed (Dumbledore in Harry Potter). Two of them has been violent rapists, and one of them even pedophile. The last one is something in between, but at least not a rapist...
Transgender are even rarer, and often been either the killer (Scilence of the Lambs example, even though it's a bit discussed if the killer is transgender or just thinks he/she is transgender) or the victim (a couple of CSI episodes have had transgender victimts, but they have a good story behind why they are killed at least). And we know from real life, that both transgender and gay people are in a higher risk of getting killed, just because they are who they are.
So how is your diversity in litterature? Do you aim for looking for books with authors that isn't white, heterosexual men, or with main characters that is a minority?
But have you thought of who's behind what your read? Or the main character? On diversity of gender,
ethnicity, sexual orientaion etc. And found out that the diversity isn't that good, unless you aim for it?
I counted the authors a little while ago, and I ended on about 60% men and 40% women of what I have listen to in Storytel (Norwegian audiobook app) + my nightstand / backpack. I know I will get a lower percent if I count the gender on the main characters, but I do have a diversety on gender too.
If I count main characters that is not white, or has an other sexual orientation than heterosexual, it's really poor. To be honest, none is LGBT and one is half Brittish and halft Egyptian. I finnished reading "The 7th Scroll" yesterday, and suddenly thought of that Royan is the the closest I get to a main character that is not white for ages.
So why are diversity important? It isn't the gender of the author that makes a book good, or the sexual orientaiton of the main character. So why is it important? If you think that, do you happen to be white? Even male? Then you can probably go into every book or film store with your eyes closed, and find something with a white, male main character, portraied postive/ as a hero. You will find a lot if you look after a white, heterosexual woman too. But try to find a main character that is not white. Or even harder, not heterosexual.
If you belong to a minority, you will struggle to find people to identify yourself with in books. You will often find yourself portaited not always that positive, and with a lot of steriotypes. If you go to horror movies, the black man more or less is always killed. You will find few romantic relationships between an Asian man and white woman.
Gay men are often very stereotypically (special in films) or as I meet them in books, not very positive portrayed. I do not look for books with LGBT main characters, so I just stumble over side characters. The latest four men I've met in books, only one is positive portrayed (Dumbledore in Harry Potter). Two of them has been violent rapists, and one of them even pedophile. The last one is something in between, but at least not a rapist...
Transgender are even rarer, and often been either the killer (Scilence of the Lambs example, even though it's a bit discussed if the killer is transgender or just thinks he/she is transgender) or the victim (a couple of CSI episodes have had transgender victimts, but they have a good story behind why they are killed at least). And we know from real life, that both transgender and gay people are in a higher risk of getting killed, just because they are who they are.
So how is your diversity in litterature? Do you aim for looking for books with authors that isn't white, heterosexual men, or with main characters that is a minority?