I love books. I love reading about adventures, falling in love, drama, and lasting friendships. I love writing about those things just as much. Those books had a part of shaping my perspectives on life and may have given me a skewed view of reality. But the older I get the more this familiar pattern begins to jump out at me.
Why is every heroine this leggy blonde or brunette bombshell. Every man the classic GQ model? Where are the girls and woman that resemble me? Where are the men who look like my father or my brother. Are we only ever good enough for the second lead?
The other day I went to the club with my friends. It was a large group of law students, medical students, nurses, and other working professionals dressed to impress. We were celebrating the birth of two absolutely gorgeous women turning 26 and drinking. We danced and sung along to the music. I was a driver, so I was sober but enjoying myself when a guy slipped behind me and started dancing.
I played it off. It had been a while since I could come out and I did not have want to ruin my night by getting caught up in something that was not that serious. Normally I have a pretty strict personal space rule. Eventually he whispered in my ear, running his little game, and he was pretty slick so I gave him my number. In my mind I was not really expecting a call or text.
But he text me the very same night wishing me a good night. (Sweet). Then he texted me the next day to check in. (Nice). He won himself some points for those texts, but he almost found himself on the block list a couple of times. He would text sweet things, them make reference to how thick and sexy I was. As if those things were not usually synonymous. As if the very fact that I have a little extra junk everywhere means I cannot have a cute face and a pretty nice body. Those texts made me stop and think.
Why was that? Why is the fact that I am cute so comment worthy? Maybe that his way of flirting. Of expressing his interest. But in the larger scheme of things, all to commonly there is this constant stream of media reinforcing this model thin body type. And it does not just stop on the television screens or the movies. It is also in our books. It is spoon-fed to us everyday.
What we should look like. The role we should pay. The personality traits that should be exhibited to the outside world. These things are constantly being reinforced and disseminated. The woman and men who are deserving of adventure, love, the crown, and all of those other things we love for our books to immerse us in. Are all too often lighter skinned with classically Caucasian features. But then when we try to reach around to search for something more. Too find artistic representations that better match our reality. Not just according to skin tone. But size. Or hair texture. Or family.
The hardest thing is trying to find books for my younger brother. Finding adventure books for a young dark chocolate (Lol) boy not mired in the lifestyle of drugs, or gang violence. Something that does not feed into stereotypes, but teaches him to reach for the spotlight with the same consistency that is passed on to the whiter population. This blog entry is not meant to be a reprimand but it is a comment on how ingrained white privilege is in our society and how privilege should extent to everyone and everything. I would love to pick up a book and see a Turkish girl, Korean girl, Nigerian girl, Ghanian girl blessing the cover of some of my favorite paranormal romance books. Or to read about a girl who weights at least 160 completely dry.
Jen A. Durand
Author of The Secrets, Lies, and Betrayal Series and The Virgins Club, www.Durandpublishing.net
Completed Works
The Secrets, Lies, and Betrayal Series:
Wintr’s Homecoming:
Secrets
Jaguar Nights:
Lies
Pearl Moon:
Betrayal
Shadowy Lights
Fear
The Virgins Club:
The Planner
The Fixer
No comments:
Post a Comment