: Re: Is it more important to provide representation, or to avoid following stereotypes? I have been trying very hard to create well rounded, and developed characters in my book. I have them all figured

@Mendez196

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The Story Comes First.
I think you are worrying too much about trivial points, and this can only make your story more difficult. When you want to portray a stereotype without seeming to do that, you need to get creative: Give a reason for it that makes it seem other than the shallow reason: One of my female characters, a spy, must adhere to stereotypical beauty standards because a large part of her job demands seduction and flirting to get her way. I could have a female character that is an actress or on-screen personality; a news anchor or reporter, and this is part of her job too, even if she thinks it is shallow.
To me, the real stereotype is a woman starving herself to be thin to make herself a hottie, sexually attractive to men; thus voluntarily occupying the role of sex object. Even if she does this to attract a mate, she creates the problem of attracting a mate that cares more about her physical appearance than anything else, which may result in divorce when age finally wins and she cannot compete (on the beauty front) with 24 year olds. (We see this "romantic love interest" actresses all the time; once they begin that role they tend to become typecast with relatively short film careers of ten or fifteen years).
But you can break that stereotype by giving your characters a good reason to be "skinny" (I'd call it "thin"), and portray that in a few sentences or minor part of a scene or conversation.
For example, they can be happy and proud to be thin, because it is healthier than being overweight.
Even if a woman has other self-image problems or doesn't think she is attractive, she can be proud she has not succumbed to the temptations of "eating her sorrow" on top of those problems. She can believe being overweight causes a cascade of problems in older age, from difficulty exercising and working out, to diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
She and her friends can freely admit they adhere to this stereotype because it is just good health sense to be thin. They aren't starving themselves to please shallow men, they just enjoy the activities being fit allows them: walking, running, hiking, some sports like tennis or racquetball or baseball or mountain climbing.
When this is a lifestyle, they aren't worrying about how they look to others; they are worrying about how they feel (healthy, fast, strong, active) and managing their lifestyle to keep that feeling, in part by controlling their eating, in part by play and working out.
Now you don't have to (and shouldn't) info-dump this attitude like I did; it can come out in snippets over time, in conversations or thoughts or prose.

"God," Jackie said, "That was delicious. I could eat three of them."
"Feel free," Karen said. "I'm buying."
"Right, at the end of that road is diabetes, heart disease and an amputated foot, like my aunt Sheila. I'm over it. But baby, those are good."
"I was just being evil. We have to get to the bank anyway, you ready?"

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