: Re: How do I write for the majority, without alienating my minority? This is something of a companion question to How does one write from a minority culture? A question on cultural references I

@Megan928

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I find it somewhat problematic that people seem to desire fantasy books not merely about relatable protagonists, but them in particular. I personally shrug it off; I don't think there's ever gonna be a tale about a quarter-Brahmin Indian, three-quarters-British undergrad with a career completely unrelated to his degree and hobbies alike, but that's neither here or there.

Because frankly, if you're going to do the representation thing for any culture, minority or majority alike, you should ideally strive for accuracy. I would actually go as far as to say 'fuck the majority readers' in this case; they wanna read a book with a Jewish protagonist, welp, they should expect to be exposed to Jewish culture. Maybe they could learn something, heaven forbid.

So my advice is thus: Don't be afraid to challenge the reader. I'd much rather get an accurate, albeit harsh depiction of, say, a woman's life in Saudi Arabia, than have it whitewashed to make it better adhere to western romanticism.

All I can say is thank God I write fantastical cultures, because the representation debate is a tangle of legitimate concerns (such as misrepresentation and lack of research) and illegitimate concerns (like believing that readers only want to read books about themselves).

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