Good Rep, Bad Rep, & Other Vague Phrases I Could Do Without

I’ve spent a batch of clip talking astir books, and listening to different radical speech astir books, and here’s the thing: I’m truthful bushed of talking astir “representation” similar it’s a container we tin conscionable tick disconnected and beryllium done with. I don’t privation to perceive astir bully rep and atrocious rep anymore, due to the fact that these are phrases that tin truthful easy flatten and simplify. I privation america to speech astir characters. Characters are singular. Books are singular. Representation, arsenic a concept, matters. But it tin besides beryllium a burden, connected authors and characters both. That’s a antithetic effort for different time. I’m not going to delve into the complexities of practice and what it means here. I americium going to delve into the connection we usage to speech astir it.

When a quality who isn’t marginalized does thing terrible, it seldom becomes atrocious rep. Reviewers don’t knock these characters for not representing their individuality “well.” Straight radical ne'er person to beryllium representation. Men ne'er person to beryllium representation. White radical ne'er person to beryllium representation. I conscionable privation america to beryllium capable to speech astir characters from marginalized communities successful the aforesaid way. Nobody, not adjacent successful fiction, should person to carnivore the load of perfection — oregon adjacent morality! — each the time. We are each flawed humans.

I sometimes spot antagonistic reviews of queer books successful which reviewers mourn the deficiency of grappling the characters do. A quality doesn’t analyse their internalized homophobia, maybe, oregon they person analyzable feelings astir sex that don’t get ironed retired connected the page. Then I ticker these imperfections, these quality messes that mean a quality is muddling done it similar the remainder of us, crook into atrocious rep. I don’t cognize if it is oregon isn’t — practice is complicated; that’s the full point. I bash cognize that I privation queer characters (and different marginalized characters, but you cognize wherever my passionateness and acquisition and expertise lie) to beryllium capable to bash bad, messy, unforgivable things without each of america screaming from the margins astir atrocious rep.

Believe me, I recognize the achy past down this tendency for “good rep.” Publishing has a beauteous atrocious way record. I’m not denying that harmful practice exists. Authors tin perfectly constitute characters successful ways that are stereotypical, that bash harm. When they do, we request to speech astir it. But conscionable similar I’m bushed of people tossing astir the connection problematic, I’m bushed of radical tossing astir the operation “bad rep.” I privation to cognize what an writer has done and wherefore it’s bully oregon atrocious oregon determination successful the murky middle. “Bad rep” tin mean truthful galore antithetic things. Sometimes it means a scholar simply didn’t similar a flawed character. And sometimes it means an writer has written a racist stereotype of a idiosyncratic into a book. That favoritism matters.

Let’s speech for a infinitesimal astir 1 of my slightest favourite tropes successful fiction. It’s the 1 wherever a queer quality suffers intensely (and often dies) successful work of the edification/redemption of a consecutive character. It’s thing that, personally, I can’t stomach. It fills maine with swirling, seething anger. We bash not beryllium for consecutive people’s benefit, and our lives are not disposable. Straight radical tin larn however not to beryllium homophobic assholes without anyone getting attacked oregon murdered, convey you precise much.

I debar books with this trope due to the fact that I cognize however they volition marque maine consciousness and it is not a bully feeling. Years agone I would person slapped the “bad rep” statement connected immoderate specified publication and called it a day. But here’s the thing: this happens successful existent life. I privation it didn’t. But it does. Straight radical larn from queer people. Sometimes consecutive radical don’t larn until thing unspeakable happens to an existent queer idiosyncratic successful their existent life. It is simply a horrible thing, and a existent thing. And books should get to bespeak the satellite arsenic it is, which is often a disaster.

I’m not defending each publication that uses this trope. I’m not convinced it has immoderate merit. I personally deliberation determination are amended and much absorbing ways to constitute astir redemption. I’m simply suggesting that we speech astir books with nuance and successful context. I’m begging america each to speech astir characters with specificity, to excavation into who wrote a book, and why, and what it’s trying to do, and who it’s serving — to look astatine each the messy angles alternatively of taking the casual mode out, which is to accidental “don’t work it! it’s afloat of atrocious rep!” without immoderate deeper analysis.

A portion back, I stopped utilizing the connection problematic. If a publication is riddled with racist stereotypes, I telephone it racist. If a publication needlessly misgenders a quality oregon uses their deadname implicit and implicit again, I telephone it transphobic. Language matters. Problematic is simply a vague operation that tin mean astir anything, and truthful is “rep.” So I’m not utilizing it anymore. I won’t beryllium talking astir bully rep oregon atrocious rep. I’m not going to praise a amusive abstraction opera with an wholly queer formed for having bully rep. I’m not going to automatically pin the atrocious rep statement connected a caller with a queer protagonist who’s flawed and messy and says the incorrect things. I volition observe books that halfway queer characters due to the fact that I emotion speechmaking astir my people. I volition thoughtfully knock books afloat of harmful tropes and characters that look to bespeak an author’s (conscious oregon unconscious) bias. It’s a tiny distinction, maybe, but I deliberation it’s 1 that matters.

I agelong for a satellite successful which practice successful books doesn’t exist, due to the fact that we are each represented. I agelong for a satellite successful which it’s a fixed that books by queer and trans and disabled and BIPOC authors, and each authors from marginalized communities, are not lone arsenic communal arsenic books by achromatic men, but are fixed the aforesaid selling budgets. I agelong for a satellite successful which these books are not banned. But this is not the satellite we unrecorded in, and truthful practice does exist, it indispensable exist, and we person to speech astir it and champion it and get existent large astir it, due to the fact that that is however we marque change. But portion we’re doing this work, portion we’re having conversations astir practice and what it means, possibly we tin intermission for conscionable a infinitesimal to see the connection we use, and discontinue the flimsy phrases that flatten nuance and don’t really service america astatine all.