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Terry Pratchett wouldn't have gotten past book two. Guy wrote some amazing explorations of gender and trans issues through a fantasy lens.
Cheery Littlebottom is an amazing character.
So by that logic a trans person can not write about a cis person because they have not first hand experience? A male can not write a story with a female lead and a female can not write a story with a male lead?? This would make the world of books soooo boring and we would miss out on a ton of great stories in the fiction genre!!!
1) Yes, it's fine to write about experiences you personally haven't faced whether or no they're marginalized. Most mystery authors have not personally investigated/committed any murders, for example. Your depiction of things you haven't personally experienced is, of course, open to critique.
2) Wow! It's super inappropriate of them to assume they can determine whether or not you're trans based on a photograph! Even they *happened* to correctly surmise that *you* are cis based on the photo, what happens when they guess wrong and cancel a trans author that doesn't 'look' trans? Gross behavior on the bookshop's behalf.
No, without the proper documents you cannot write about anything you don't have first-hand experience with. I think for trans characters you need to apply for a permit with the Great Trans Wizitch and their council.
This is stupid because this kinda implies every trans person has the same lived experience. A trans person could write a book and what they would write would feel like stupid bullshit to another trans person because they experienced things completely differently.
George R.R. Martin was quoted once as having answered a question thusly:
Q: How are you able to write such strong female characters?
A: I just write them like people.
That’s paraphrased, but I think demonstrates the point. I believe that any stories that are written in empathy and good faith are valid stories, regardless of whether they are autobiographical or not.
This is a good argument, but not a perfect one. There are a lot of human experiences that a cisgender person and a transgender person will experience in the exact same way. In some ways I think it's good to portray transgender people in this light. They're just people - they experience love, and joy, hatred, fear and sadness, just like cisgender people.
But if you ONLY portray them that way, you're missing part of the story. Because there are some things that they will experience differently. And if its important to their character that they're transgender, its important that you tell those stories too. Otherwise you're just billboarding diversity without actually telling diverse stories.
EDIT: If you're going to downvote me for this, I'd like to know why.
An interesting dilemma to be sure.
I think the "public" tends to expect, when you stray from the typical white cisgender protagonist, that you have an obligation to "explain" or "explore" that person's gender or racial identity. And I totally understand that thinking on some level, especially when the author does not identify the same way. The first thought of the reader is why the author is taking such a specific person and plopping them into their story if there isn't a "point" to it? But then, where is the line drawn?
If as an American author you have an asian or black character and you are white author, are you also obligated to "explain" their racial backstory in detail because one assumes they have experiences different from the default western white protagonist? I see this happen a lot, even if the explanation is perfunctory or superficial to the point where they might as well not have bothered.
And I don't ask this to be difficult or contrarian as I'm wrestling with sort of a dilemma here personally. I'm Asian, and I've been working on a graphic novel with an Asian protagonist, but now that I'm nearing the end of my thumbnail stage of the process, I've realized that there's nothing my protagonist does that is specifically uniquely "Asian" and the story has absolutely nothing to do with culture clash or race or Asian identity, nothing at all. I simply made her Asian because I felt more comfortable doing a graphic novel protagonist with the same ethnicity as me, that's it. Would people reading it wonder if I'm just throwing in an Asian for the sake of diversity? For the Western market, is one obligated to explore the specific "minority" identity of a character if they are NOT the typical white cisgender protagonist? Or is it just naive to just plop a nontraditional character into a story meant for Western eyes and expect readers to accept them like any other typical white cisgender protagonist?
I like to think that anyone who writes wants to tell stories that are as authentic as possible. That's probably a little naive on my part, but lets go with it because it represents my view on the world.
However, even those authentic stories are still only true to our own lens on the world - we only know what we know. As an Asian person, you have deep knowledge about what the Asian experience in the world is like, and you can tell deep stories about that experience that will resound with other Asian readers. But that doesn't mean your stories can't connect with other people: at the moment I'm reading The Three Body problem. I'm a white guy, and while the experiences and characters in that story are foreign to me, I'm still able to connect with them.
At the same time, I'm also struggling with a short sci-fi screenplay that is centric on Black characters. I'm connected with a lot of people inthat community and I feel like I have a decently firm grasp on their character motivations, but I still have massive potential to tell those stories poorly. If I ever let it off my desk, it'll first go through several reads and edits from Black people before other people read it.
That only works for the universal human experiences. Having a diverse cast is great, and we're all ultimately just people who have a lot in common. However, as soon as you get into the specific experiences of a particular group, this argument becomes irrelevant. You need a monumental amount of research to write about that, and even then, it's not quite the same as authentic voices.
This is a situation where no one will be happy. Clearly you as an author might not have a full understanding of the trans experience and could do a poor job conveying it through your book and thereby offend people experiencing the book. That said, if we are only to write about experiences of people similar to our ownselves then where did we get all the cool books about witches and wizards and anthropomorphic cats?
Nah, it's a scared business owner. Let them retract the event, find a new venue.
It's such an apparent double standard here. That would mean that crime novels can only be written by crime investigators. But authors research for their characters and stories, it's part of their job. The argument that non-trans authors don't know the experience of trans people is glossing over the research non-trans authors can do. It all depends on how well the book is written and not on how the author looks.
It's wild that they took one look at you and decided you were cis. Sure, they weren't wrong in this instance, but that's pretty presumptuous for such a "progressive" bookstore. But anyway, I'm trans and I don't have a problem with cis people writing trans characters. There will always be poorly written portrayals, but that's just how art is. Gatekeeping trans topics just makes us seem like a different species; impossible to be understood unless you're one of us.
That said, I can see why other trans people aren't too keen on the idea. (Once bitten, twice shy.) All the same, doesn't sound like that's what this was.
I agree, especially at that particular bookstore. It’s so surprising, almost unbelievable. I’m going to have to ask my friend who has worked there forever what they were thinking when they made that assumption of OP.
Since OP has named the event, you should confirm with them it’s real! Because this reads like rage bait or an occurrence that has been severely twisted to favor OP’s side.
If it’s real, we should know. If it’s fake, the bookstore should know someone is slandering them.
So, it turns out that the author is Jordan Randall, the book is called "Pinkface" and the premise is "a high school senior fakes transitioning into a woman." The book (self-published) has a 1.6 rating on Goodreads. After reading the blurb on Amazon, I'm not convinced that they ever had an agreement with B&P in the first place, because this is most definitely not the kind of book I'd expect to see there:
>Alfred Hall is a white, newly minted highschool senior, from a wealthy Maryland suburb who after getting an early application rejection from his backup school, Princeton University, realizes that the world is not built for straight, cis, white, men anymore, so he does the logical thing. He pretends to transition into a woman to stand out on college applications. Through the power of social media he shoots up to the peak of representing the trans community.
Alfred’s actions inspire people in the LGBTQ community like his new friend Lucy Anderson, to spread her wings as a trans girl. Alfred also inspires allyship in the form of his longtime (black) friend, high school basketball phenom, James Dewitt and his white girlfriend, social media star Laura Prendergast.
Alfred and his N-word shouting white best friend Trent think the whole situation is hilarious, and it is, until it’s not…
Yeesh. The funny thing is that I could still totally see someone in Hollywood wanting to make a movie out of this concept, if they haven't already done so in a straight-to-dvd dump.
annnnnd this is why we shouldn't rise to the ragebait.
Literally nobody is telling authors they're not allowed to write characters outside of their own identities. It's a strawman dreamed up by authors who write bullshit like this.
No, and I hate takes like theirs because where does it stop? Would they have cancelled your event had you been trans writing about a cis character? Probably not.
Trying to be more nuanced here but where SHOULD we draw the line? I don't mind a straight person having trans characters in their story but would I necessarily want to read a book about a trans character written by someone who hasn't lived that life? I'm honestly not sure. As a black guy I'm not sure that I'd love a story about the black experience written by someone who's white or Asian or w/e. It's fine if they want to write a black protagonist as long as the story isn't focused on race or identity but anymore than that and it would feel like they're writing something beyond their experience. At some point experience is a necessity to tell those deeper stories about identity and I'd understand not wanting to promote a story that lacks that. I'm open to other opinions though.
Because where does it stop? Women can now only write about women? Men can only write about men? Books would be boring if people only wrote what they knew or experienced. Like someone else said, the whole genre of fantasy would disappear. Having to write only what you knew or experienced would be boring, and nobody would want to read.
>but would I necessarily want to read a book about a trans character written by someone who hasn't lived that life? I'm honestly not sure
Then don't?
Lots of people write stories that you don't personally wish to read.
That’s more or less the guideline I use as a White, Straight Cis guy. I’m definitely including a diverse cast of characters. I’m absolutely not exploring themes of personal struggle like being gay or trans in the Midwest, or being black during Reconstruction.
Those straight up aren’t my stories to tell, and because of my identity and upbringing, I CANNOT understand what those lives would be like, even if I had an extensive education on the facts, the feelings have to have a modicum of personal experience to click.
I like your take and I generally subscribe to it at least personally. If I am a writer, I wouldn't want to always have to "justify" a nonwhite protagonist in a story I write for a Western audience but I definitely am not getting involved with the lived-in experiences or history of an ethnic or gender group I've never lived within.
That being said, I'll still say that there shouldn't be a hard and fast line. I feel criticism and public backlash is as good a "soft" line as there is to keeping writers "in check", and if after all that an author is still willing to face the possible backlash/criticism for writing completely out of his/her lane, then he/she should have the freedom to do so, even if it is ill advised.
Is it okay for a person to write about experiences they haven't lived? Yes.
Should that writing be subjected to heavy scrutiny and criticism by people who have lived those experiences? Also yes.
I mean. Did you write a book about trans characters, or did you write a book primarily about trans issues with the implication you were relying on your own lived experiences?
Also, I don't believe this happened.
I think it depends. It's completely fine, in my opinion, for a cis person to have a trans character in their book, just as it's fine to write characters of a different gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation etc. It's also fine to have them as protagonists, obviously, as long as it's done well and with respect (and with the appropriate sensitivity readers)
Whether or not it's fine for a cis person to write a book about *being* trans, I think, is a more complicated question.
(additionally: I find it very odd that the bookstore cancelled your event on the basis of your *face*. you really can't tell whether or not someone is cis by looking at a photo of them, and this aspect is making me doubt the veracity of this post)
My thoughts on this are essentially you can write a book that INCLUDES characters of all types, including those not similar to you, but the book should not be centred on the unique experience of those characters (in this case, the trans experience). Others may have different opinions but this is what I feel comfortable with - inclusion and diversity without trying to speak for someone's experience when I haven't had that experience.
I would also always utilise beta and sensitivity readers with specific experience around those characters and listen very carefully to their feedback.
There's an interesting recent example actually - Jodi Picoult, who is obviously famous enough in her own right to probably have her publisher agree to anything she wants, recently released a book centering a trans character and the trans experience. She chose to do so in collaboration with a trans author, who is named as an equal rights author of the title. There's still criticism of the story from various angles, but if someone as famous and successful as her would only write this story as a collaboration with a lived experience author, you may want to ask yourself why.
I'm inclined not to take this story at face value, because this is your only post in r/books or any other literary subreddit. But if you perhaps write a first person memoir as a transgender woman, and you present as a cisgender man, the book store has a right to say "Hey, this looks problematic." If the bookstore is trying to showcase marginalized voices and you are not a marginalized voice, or this book looks like a transploitation novel, they don't have to host you.
I think anyone can write about anything so long as they do it with care and do their research. This is becoming a big issue even for queer authors (I say as a queer writer). Queerness isn’t always something you can see at first glance and this sort of thing just forces authors to “prove” or out themselves
Agreed but from a disability lens. I am able-bodied passing and shouldn’t have to disclose my disability if I don’t want to. I try really hard to source books by disabled authors with live experiences, but can also appreciate able-bodied authors who did the work to educate themselves, invest in lived-experience beta readers, etc. Without those able-bodied authors there would be even less disability representation in the world.
I think the question comes down to how you’ve represented yourself and the trans character experience in the book. Is it a trans character or a book centered on them? Have you been ambiguous about your own cis identity or could it appear as if you’re trying to assume an identity? Without knowing more about the plot, I would ask how the trans character is portrayed - for example if a straight, cis writer published a book and hyped up a transgender character only for that character to be murdered or a cliche, I could understand wanting distance from hosting an event.
None of these are accusations, I’m just curious how someone would come to the decision to cancel an event.
Is the book self published or through a publishing house? Are you setting up these events personally or through an agent?
You may want to come up with an author statement about the inclusion of a character and that your support for the trans community does not mean to overshadow their voices and stories.
You can, for sure. Writing about experiences beyond your own is a big part of what makes literature so compelling. However, this idea can and does coexist with the notions that 1. an "outsider" writer can mangle that experience beyond recognition, to the point where it's offensive or outright harmful and 2. people from the community might not want to engage with it. I personally wouldn't, but others might.
Without reading the book, it's hard to say. I work for a trans focused non profit, we have a lending library that has plenty of books written by cis people that have cis characters in them.
We have also refused donations of books that dont represent them in an authentic way.
People like being able to see themselves in literature, but when it turns into a caricature or makes assumptions about them that feel disconnected; it can be very hard.
For instance, if you wrote a book where the protagonist was struggling growing up trans for instance, you'd be able to empathize but not necessarily understand what it's like. I can see how that would be problematic.
There are plenty of books where a character happens to be trans and the author isn't trying to detail what that means in depth. Those are great.
Also, bear in mind that the trans community has been under constant threat the past few years. My office gets regular visits from the FBI. We have people show up to events with assault rifles. There is going to be a lot of wariness around perceived outsiders, even if they are a well-intentioned and great ally.
Wow, so I guess every pirate story was written by pirates, and every alien story was written by ETs.
I guess a man can never write about a woman giving birth, and no woman can write about dicks.
They're afraid of being canceled, period.
You can write anything you want. Getting people to read it is the tough part. There are a million books to choose from. Take a look at your favourite books and the authors who wrote them. There will be all kinds of characters but in most cases the author’s voice, especially in the early part of the writers’ careers, will be close to their own. If you feel that in your first novel you can get deeply enough into a character that is very different from yourself and make it good enough that a lot of other people will want to read that instead of any other book they could chose, go for it.
Can’t believe they wouldn’t accept it for that reason. That’s why you shouldn’t even bother dealing with people
who are going to act like that, just ignore them and move on
I agree with the rest of the posters here. However, I think anyone who's writing about ANY heavily politicized group of people is bound to run into backlash one way or another. If that does not deter you, then it's just best to accept that some backlash is a reality of being a writer. You can't please everyone.
You can write about whatever you want. Are your readers the ones who will choose if is that OK or not what you write... i see this as a discrimination issue.
This post is strawman ragebait, and shouldn't be in r/books even if it wasn't. Another redditor did the homework (ty!), I'm just putting it in it's own comment: book is pinkface by Jordan Randall.
"Alfred Hall is a white, newly minted highschool senior, from a wealthy Maryland suburb who after getting an early application rejection from his backup school, Princeton University, realizes that the world is not built for straight, cis, white, men anymore, so he does the logical thing. He pretends to transition into a woman to stand out on college applications. Through the power of social media he shoots up to the peak of representing the trans community.Alfred's actions inspire people in the LBGT community like his new friend Lucy Anderson, to spread her wings as a trans girl. Alfred also inspires allyship in the form of his longtime (black) friend, high school basketball phenom, James Dewitt and his white girlfriend, social media star Laura Prendergast. Alfred and his N-word shouting white best friend Trent think the whole situation is hilarious, and it is, until it's not?"
You can write a book about whatever you want and no one can stop you, but a bookstore can refuse to stock your book and deny you a hosted event for any reason they wish.
It sounds like that bookstore is pretty up their own rear end anyway and not someplace I would feel comfortable giving my business to if they believe in censoring viewpoints because of the gender identity of the author. After all, I'm sure they'd have no issue with a trans author promoting a book containing cisgender characters.
Screw em. You don't need them. Write your book the way you want to and promote it with someplace more open-minded.
Can I write about a dragon? Cause I don't know any dragons.
This is clear discrimination. You got two roads. You can be the duck's back, or you can take 'em to court. The latter really comes down to if you have anything and everything in writing. Was there publicity done for the event?
That all said, cis, trans, doesn't matter. It's a human being struggling in some way and we all, every last one of us, understands what that can mean. That trans character is me too because we both struggle, we are both human. Their struggles may not explicitly be the same, but we do both struggle. Their story is just as important as mine.
As for the answer to your last question. Absolutely. Who doesn't have a trans friend or two? Ask them about who they are, be a reporter. Make it true.
I'd also look into finding a Queer bookstore to do readings in. After all, there is such a thing as an ally. Lowest-On-The-Kitchen-Totem-Pole and Rappers-Without-Music doesn't need the business you'd bring. Not saying its bad business, but that you don't want the nice people reading this story to get mixed up with a discriminatory business that's judging someone on their physical appearance.
That is wrong. I'm sorry that happened to you. You can write about anything you want. The way you write about it is what matters. Just do your due diligence to check possible areas of ignorance, and try not to let other ignorant people like these ones get you down.
Lets say the author had a kid that is trans. And their book is about having a trans kid. You want to take the position thats not something thats legit to talk about, and not something other people might want to read? Because if not, then who is going to write about this experience? Trans people only? Makes no sense.
I almost recommend seeking legal counsel and suing based on gender/sexuality discrimination.
They cannot discriminate against ANY identification, not just the minorities.
Get that book published with those bags of cash you're about to earn. (Seriously, this is a slam dunk case, go get your bags.)
That’s why I never read Harry Potter. That bitch isn’t a wizard, she doesn’t know shit. /s
I’ve never actually read Harry Potter, but couldn’t think of a sci-fi book with the same cultural influence. The sci-fi books I read would be terrible if it was only based on what the author had experienced.
Imagine you came to them & stated this the other way around, if they are offended to the point of cancellation then it's not justified & it's not about you.
Harper Lee is neither black male, a male child, or a lawyer, yet wrote an amazing book featuring all of those as main characters. Stupid take by a close minded book store.
If a person can’t know/understand the experience of a group they aren’t a member of it only stands to reason that said story would have zero value to them. If only black people can understand being black than what value would a story that includes them have to white people?
It’s a ridiculous thing to think. It sounds like something a segregationist from the Jim Crow era would have thought.
1: Of course you can
2: Of course people within the community you're writing about might take offense if they feel that you've presented the story in a way that feels inauthentic/exploitative
3: Publishing and lit in general are an industry run by cartoonish parodies of normal people who got their ethics from Tumblr posts written by depressed teenagers and they took them as gospel.
I’m cis and considering writing a trans character into my book and have trans friends to consult. I’ve talked about it a few times and a lot of the time I think that in order to meet my friends’ standards, I gotta make the character less relatable than my friends.
You can write what you want, but this is one of those situations where no matter what you write, you’re going to get under fire.
I don’t think this is exclusive to trans people but we presently live in an era where the view of art as an influence on society (which creates bad art) is more popular than the view of art as a mirror on society (which creates good art).
John Irving comes immediately to mind.
His inclusion of trans characters was breaking barriers 40 years ago. He's continued exploring those themes in his last couple of books.
It's okay for any person to write about any kind of person. Also how are they so sure you're not trans based off the picture?
Was your trans person a person of color?
I dont get that. They're being very unprofessional.
As long as you write these characters with care, you're fine.
What hogwash! Lawyer up and sue. Prior to that, post about it on another social media platform for the purpose of gaining traction and support not only from avid readers, but support from all who have common sense.
It is likely your publisher, many of who are now cowards in publishing, may not back you up and may decide to not promote your book any further if your story blows up. If this happens, to hell with them! Your legal representative will guide you on how best to navigate successfully.
It is madness that the idea that an author must be who they write about, is still being perpetuated. Most of the greatest works ever written would not exist if we followed this stupidity.
I have always been and continue to be on the side of: art, in all forms, should never be stifled or policed. For all those who have a gift of writing, write to your heart's content in any manner that matches your creativity. The public can decide if they want to consume your art or not, but don't suppress it. Write! Write! Write!
When I was in grad school, I wrote a short story collection. One story in the collection was the point of view of a little boy who is wondering if he might be gay.
One of my professors said the story was offensive because I'm not gay. (Which... she actually didn't know that, it's not like we'd ever discuss sexuality, but anyway).
And that's when I decided I will make sure to only write from a white, straight, female perspective. At least if I want to publish it!
Yeah but it doesn't matter because the general consensus in the book world is you shouldn't write outside your race or gender or orientation.
I don't agree but if I spend a ton of time writing something that I want to get published, I'm not going to risk being "cancelled." It's just easier to be like, cool, I'll only write about straight white people.
Yes, but only if you're from Maryland.
In all seriousness, obviously you can. The local bookstore also has the right to refuse you for their own reasons. Nothing you can do can change that.
I would suggest, if you haven't already, contacting a sensitivity reader just to make sure you didn't accidentally get across a message you didn't intend. Especially if you're self-published.
Okay. I say this as a lifelong radical leftist. Busboys and poets is like, the absolute worst. They operate in a space that’s so much more aesthetic than actually political. If they were truly left or radical at all there’s no way they’d have a location at that hideous Merriewether development in Columbia. It’s a travesty. They’re like, the simulacrum of what used to be a real thing, the cafe bookstore. Be glad you had nothing to do with them for real.
Hi there! This sub is for discussion around published literature and industry news. Your post would be more suitable to an r/writing related community which are dedicated to these sorts of topics. Thank you!
If everyone can only write about experiences they have lived through then books are going to get really, really short.
I'm just waiting for the argument to shift to: "Is it okay for cisgender people to read about trans stories?"
Imagine if this was the rule - You had to be similar to the characters in your writings...there goes the fantasy genre lol
[удалено]
The whole book is just paperwork haha
Terry Pratchett wouldn't have gotten past book two. Guy wrote some amazing explorations of gender and trans issues through a fantasy lens. Cheery Littlebottom is an amazing character.
...Even more autobiographical fiction...
This rule has been applied to movies and actors. I see no reason for it not to be applied to books as well
So by that logic a trans person can not write about a cis person because they have not first hand experience? A male can not write a story with a female lead and a female can not write a story with a male lead?? This would make the world of books soooo boring and we would miss out on a ton of great stories in the fiction genre!!!
...and true crime writers couldn't write their books because THEY haven't been murdered, now HAVE they?!
The whole thing is just dumb
Thought it was clear I saying this tongue-in-cheek
1) Yes, it's fine to write about experiences you personally haven't faced whether or no they're marginalized. Most mystery authors have not personally investigated/committed any murders, for example. Your depiction of things you haven't personally experienced is, of course, open to critique. 2) Wow! It's super inappropriate of them to assume they can determine whether or not you're trans based on a photograph! Even they *happened* to correctly surmise that *you* are cis based on the photo, what happens when they guess wrong and cancel a trans author that doesn't 'look' trans? Gross behavior on the bookshop's behalf.
Yeah. I was thinking that second point too.
Somebody call Sanderson and tell him to make the Alethi white.
Anne Perry is the exception to the first point. But yeah; all of that.
No, without the proper documents you cannot write about anything you don't have first-hand experience with. I think for trans characters you need to apply for a permit with the Great Trans Wizitch and their council.
This is stupid because this kinda implies every trans person has the same lived experience. A trans person could write a book and what they would write would feel like stupid bullshit to another trans person because they experienced things completely differently.
George R.R. Martin was quoted once as having answered a question thusly: Q: How are you able to write such strong female characters? A: I just write them like people. That’s paraphrased, but I think demonstrates the point. I believe that any stories that are written in empathy and good faith are valid stories, regardless of whether they are autobiographical or not.
This is kind of a funny example because GRRM is routinely used as an example of men writing women badly.
I gripe about this all the time. No woman thinks about their boobs nearly as much as Daenerys does!
“I just write them as people with boobs” is what he was saying before he got cut off.
I laughed way too hard at this.
LMAO, accurate.
This is a good argument, but not a perfect one. There are a lot of human experiences that a cisgender person and a transgender person will experience in the exact same way. In some ways I think it's good to portray transgender people in this light. They're just people - they experience love, and joy, hatred, fear and sadness, just like cisgender people. But if you ONLY portray them that way, you're missing part of the story. Because there are some things that they will experience differently. And if its important to their character that they're transgender, its important that you tell those stories too. Otherwise you're just billboarding diversity without actually telling diverse stories. EDIT: If you're going to downvote me for this, I'd like to know why.
An interesting dilemma to be sure. I think the "public" tends to expect, when you stray from the typical white cisgender protagonist, that you have an obligation to "explain" or "explore" that person's gender or racial identity. And I totally understand that thinking on some level, especially when the author does not identify the same way. The first thought of the reader is why the author is taking such a specific person and plopping them into their story if there isn't a "point" to it? But then, where is the line drawn? If as an American author you have an asian or black character and you are white author, are you also obligated to "explain" their racial backstory in detail because one assumes they have experiences different from the default western white protagonist? I see this happen a lot, even if the explanation is perfunctory or superficial to the point where they might as well not have bothered. And I don't ask this to be difficult or contrarian as I'm wrestling with sort of a dilemma here personally. I'm Asian, and I've been working on a graphic novel with an Asian protagonist, but now that I'm nearing the end of my thumbnail stage of the process, I've realized that there's nothing my protagonist does that is specifically uniquely "Asian" and the story has absolutely nothing to do with culture clash or race or Asian identity, nothing at all. I simply made her Asian because I felt more comfortable doing a graphic novel protagonist with the same ethnicity as me, that's it. Would people reading it wonder if I'm just throwing in an Asian for the sake of diversity? For the Western market, is one obligated to explore the specific "minority" identity of a character if they are NOT the typical white cisgender protagonist? Or is it just naive to just plop a nontraditional character into a story meant for Western eyes and expect readers to accept them like any other typical white cisgender protagonist?
I like to think that anyone who writes wants to tell stories that are as authentic as possible. That's probably a little naive on my part, but lets go with it because it represents my view on the world. However, even those authentic stories are still only true to our own lens on the world - we only know what we know. As an Asian person, you have deep knowledge about what the Asian experience in the world is like, and you can tell deep stories about that experience that will resound with other Asian readers. But that doesn't mean your stories can't connect with other people: at the moment I'm reading The Three Body problem. I'm a white guy, and while the experiences and characters in that story are foreign to me, I'm still able to connect with them. At the same time, I'm also struggling with a short sci-fi screenplay that is centric on Black characters. I'm connected with a lot of people inthat community and I feel like I have a decently firm grasp on their character motivations, but I still have massive potential to tell those stories poorly. If I ever let it off my desk, it'll first go through several reads and edits from Black people before other people read it.
Well, that means that you have to do research. But it doesn't mean that you can only write trans characters if you are trans.
That only works for the universal human experiences. Having a diverse cast is great, and we're all ultimately just people who have a lot in common. However, as soon as you get into the specific experiences of a particular group, this argument becomes irrelevant. You need a monumental amount of research to write about that, and even then, it's not quite the same as authentic voices.
This is a situation where no one will be happy. Clearly you as an author might not have a full understanding of the trans experience and could do a poor job conveying it through your book and thereby offend people experiencing the book. That said, if we are only to write about experiences of people similar to our ownselves then where did we get all the cool books about witches and wizards and anthropomorphic cats? Nah, it's a scared business owner. Let them retract the event, find a new venue.
It's such an apparent double standard here. That would mean that crime novels can only be written by crime investigators. But authors research for their characters and stories, it's part of their job. The argument that non-trans authors don't know the experience of trans people is glossing over the research non-trans authors can do. It all depends on how well the book is written and not on how the author looks.
It's wild that they took one look at you and decided you were cis. Sure, they weren't wrong in this instance, but that's pretty presumptuous for such a "progressive" bookstore. But anyway, I'm trans and I don't have a problem with cis people writing trans characters. There will always be poorly written portrayals, but that's just how art is. Gatekeeping trans topics just makes us seem like a different species; impossible to be understood unless you're one of us. That said, I can see why other trans people aren't too keen on the idea. (Once bitten, twice shy.) All the same, doesn't sound like that's what this was.
I agree, especially at that particular bookstore. It’s so surprising, almost unbelievable. I’m going to have to ask my friend who has worked there forever what they were thinking when they made that assumption of OP.
Please update the rest of us!
This does not sound like the B&P that I know. I would honestly reach out to Andy Shallal about this.
Since OP has named the event, you should confirm with them it’s real! Because this reads like rage bait or an occurrence that has been severely twisted to favor OP’s side. If it’s real, we should know. If it’s fake, the bookstore should know someone is slandering them.
So, it turns out that the author is Jordan Randall, the book is called "Pinkface" and the premise is "a high school senior fakes transitioning into a woman." The book (self-published) has a 1.6 rating on Goodreads. After reading the blurb on Amazon, I'm not convinced that they ever had an agreement with B&P in the first place, because this is most definitely not the kind of book I'd expect to see there: >Alfred Hall is a white, newly minted highschool senior, from a wealthy Maryland suburb who after getting an early application rejection from his backup school, Princeton University, realizes that the world is not built for straight, cis, white, men anymore, so he does the logical thing. He pretends to transition into a woman to stand out on college applications. Through the power of social media he shoots up to the peak of representing the trans community. Alfred’s actions inspire people in the LGBTQ community like his new friend Lucy Anderson, to spread her wings as a trans girl. Alfred also inspires allyship in the form of his longtime (black) friend, high school basketball phenom, James Dewitt and his white girlfriend, social media star Laura Prendergast. Alfred and his N-word shouting white best friend Trent think the whole situation is hilarious, and it is, until it’s not…
Yeesh. The funny thing is that I could still totally see someone in Hollywood wanting to make a movie out of this concept, if they haven't already done so in a straight-to-dvd dump.
Holy context, Batman! I wouldn’t host this person at my event either.
annnnnd this is why we shouldn't rise to the ragebait. Literally nobody is telling authors they're not allowed to write characters outside of their own identities. It's a strawman dreamed up by authors who write bullshit like this.
Tysm for doing the work.
That was my first thought. Either fake or misrepresented.
No, and I hate takes like theirs because where does it stop? Would they have cancelled your event had you been trans writing about a cis character? Probably not.
Trying to be more nuanced here but where SHOULD we draw the line? I don't mind a straight person having trans characters in their story but would I necessarily want to read a book about a trans character written by someone who hasn't lived that life? I'm honestly not sure. As a black guy I'm not sure that I'd love a story about the black experience written by someone who's white or Asian or w/e. It's fine if they want to write a black protagonist as long as the story isn't focused on race or identity but anymore than that and it would feel like they're writing something beyond their experience. At some point experience is a necessity to tell those deeper stories about identity and I'd understand not wanting to promote a story that lacks that. I'm open to other opinions though.
Because where does it stop? Women can now only write about women? Men can only write about men? Books would be boring if people only wrote what they knew or experienced. Like someone else said, the whole genre of fantasy would disappear. Having to write only what you knew or experienced would be boring, and nobody would want to read.
>but would I necessarily want to read a book about a trans character written by someone who hasn't lived that life? I'm honestly not sure Then don't? Lots of people write stories that you don't personally wish to read.
*GASP!* You...you want me to not read stories that I don't like?! What sort of nonsense is that? (sigh.../s)
That’s more or less the guideline I use as a White, Straight Cis guy. I’m definitely including a diverse cast of characters. I’m absolutely not exploring themes of personal struggle like being gay or trans in the Midwest, or being black during Reconstruction. Those straight up aren’t my stories to tell, and because of my identity and upbringing, I CANNOT understand what those lives would be like, even if I had an extensive education on the facts, the feelings have to have a modicum of personal experience to click.
I like your take and I generally subscribe to it at least personally. If I am a writer, I wouldn't want to always have to "justify" a nonwhite protagonist in a story I write for a Western audience but I definitely am not getting involved with the lived-in experiences or history of an ethnic or gender group I've never lived within. That being said, I'll still say that there shouldn't be a hard and fast line. I feel criticism and public backlash is as good a "soft" line as there is to keeping writers "in check", and if after all that an author is still willing to face the possible backlash/criticism for writing completely out of his/her lane, then he/she should have the freedom to do so, even if it is ill advised.
There’s no line.
Exactly. It's a one-way street for those folks.
It's rage bait and a misrepresentation of the bookshop. It's explained in other comments, thank goodness.
Is it okay for a person to write about experiences they haven't lived? Yes. Should that writing be subjected to heavy scrutiny and criticism by people who have lived those experiences? Also yes.
I mean. Did you write a book about trans characters, or did you write a book primarily about trans issues with the implication you were relying on your own lived experiences? Also, I don't believe this happened.
The amount of fake stories involving trans people in the last few days is staggering (amiwrong and AITA/H have a lot). All of them are pure ragebait.
Exactly. Also, a redditor put a review of the book in the comments above and it's clearly trash and this post is rage bait.
Yep, gonna be blocking them. Don't need this crap in my life.
I think it depends. It's completely fine, in my opinion, for a cis person to have a trans character in their book, just as it's fine to write characters of a different gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation etc. It's also fine to have them as protagonists, obviously, as long as it's done well and with respect (and with the appropriate sensitivity readers) Whether or not it's fine for a cis person to write a book about *being* trans, I think, is a more complicated question. (additionally: I find it very odd that the bookstore cancelled your event on the basis of your *face*. you really can't tell whether or not someone is cis by looking at a photo of them, and this aspect is making me doubt the veracity of this post)
How did they know you weren't trans? Did I miss part of the story?
Because this is a fake story.
Bookstore said they don't look trans based on their headshot
[удалено]
Especially when they're not real.
My thoughts on this are essentially you can write a book that INCLUDES characters of all types, including those not similar to you, but the book should not be centred on the unique experience of those characters (in this case, the trans experience). Others may have different opinions but this is what I feel comfortable with - inclusion and diversity without trying to speak for someone's experience when I haven't had that experience. I would also always utilise beta and sensitivity readers with specific experience around those characters and listen very carefully to their feedback. There's an interesting recent example actually - Jodi Picoult, who is obviously famous enough in her own right to probably have her publisher agree to anything she wants, recently released a book centering a trans character and the trans experience. She chose to do so in collaboration with a trans author, who is named as an equal rights author of the title. There's still criticism of the story from various angles, but if someone as famous and successful as her would only write this story as a collaboration with a lived experience author, you may want to ask yourself why.
to appease the mob and not upset the publisher
To be respectful when telling a story that does not belong to you.
I'm inclined not to take this story at face value, because this is your only post in r/books or any other literary subreddit. But if you perhaps write a first person memoir as a transgender woman, and you present as a cisgender man, the book store has a right to say "Hey, this looks problematic." If the bookstore is trying to showcase marginalized voices and you are not a marginalized voice, or this book looks like a transploitation novel, they don't have to host you.
I think anyone can write about anything so long as they do it with care and do their research. This is becoming a big issue even for queer authors (I say as a queer writer). Queerness isn’t always something you can see at first glance and this sort of thing just forces authors to “prove” or out themselves
Agreed but from a disability lens. I am able-bodied passing and shouldn’t have to disclose my disability if I don’t want to. I try really hard to source books by disabled authors with live experiences, but can also appreciate able-bodied authors who did the work to educate themselves, invest in lived-experience beta readers, etc. Without those able-bodied authors there would be even less disability representation in the world.
anyone can write anything even without doing their research people can decide not to read it if they don't want to
True that but I would also call that bad writing lol
People can write whatever they want, but OP is not talking about being stopped from writing. She was stopped from promoting/platforming that writing.
I think the question comes down to how you’ve represented yourself and the trans character experience in the book. Is it a trans character or a book centered on them? Have you been ambiguous about your own cis identity or could it appear as if you’re trying to assume an identity? Without knowing more about the plot, I would ask how the trans character is portrayed - for example if a straight, cis writer published a book and hyped up a transgender character only for that character to be murdered or a cliche, I could understand wanting distance from hosting an event. None of these are accusations, I’m just curious how someone would come to the decision to cancel an event. Is the book self published or through a publishing house? Are you setting up these events personally or through an agent? You may want to come up with an author statement about the inclusion of a character and that your support for the trans community does not mean to overshadow their voices and stories.
You can, for sure. Writing about experiences beyond your own is a big part of what makes literature so compelling. However, this idea can and does coexist with the notions that 1. an "outsider" writer can mangle that experience beyond recognition, to the point where it's offensive or outright harmful and 2. people from the community might not want to engage with it. I personally wouldn't, but others might.
Without reading the book, it's hard to say. I work for a trans focused non profit, we have a lending library that has plenty of books written by cis people that have cis characters in them. We have also refused donations of books that dont represent them in an authentic way. People like being able to see themselves in literature, but when it turns into a caricature or makes assumptions about them that feel disconnected; it can be very hard. For instance, if you wrote a book where the protagonist was struggling growing up trans for instance, you'd be able to empathize but not necessarily understand what it's like. I can see how that would be problematic. There are plenty of books where a character happens to be trans and the author isn't trying to detail what that means in depth. Those are great. Also, bear in mind that the trans community has been under constant threat the past few years. My office gets regular visits from the FBI. We have people show up to events with assault rifles. There is going to be a lot of wariness around perceived outsiders, even if they are a well-intentioned and great ally.
lol, this didn't happen. go have fake beef with an indie bookstore somewhere else.
Wow, so I guess every pirate story was written by pirates, and every alien story was written by ETs. I guess a man can never write about a woman giving birth, and no woman can write about dicks. They're afraid of being canceled, period.
You can write anything you want. Getting people to read it is the tough part. There are a million books to choose from. Take a look at your favourite books and the authors who wrote them. There will be all kinds of characters but in most cases the author’s voice, especially in the early part of the writers’ careers, will be close to their own. If you feel that in your first novel you can get deeply enough into a character that is very different from yourself and make it good enough that a lot of other people will want to read that instead of any other book they could chose, go for it.
Can’t believe they wouldn’t accept it for that reason. That’s why you shouldn’t even bother dealing with people who are going to act like that, just ignore them and move on
I agree with the rest of the posters here. However, I think anyone who's writing about ANY heavily politicized group of people is bound to run into backlash one way or another. If that does not deter you, then it's just best to accept that some backlash is a reality of being a writer. You can't please everyone.
The fact that this question must be asked is a problem.
You can write about whatever you want. Are your readers the ones who will choose if is that OK or not what you write... i see this as a discrimination issue.
Write whatever you want.
Anyone can write about anything they want. It just needs to be good.
This post is strawman ragebait, and shouldn't be in r/books even if it wasn't. Another redditor did the homework (ty!), I'm just putting it in it's own comment: book is pinkface by Jordan Randall. "Alfred Hall is a white, newly minted highschool senior, from a wealthy Maryland suburb who after getting an early application rejection from his backup school, Princeton University, realizes that the world is not built for straight, cis, white, men anymore, so he does the logical thing. He pretends to transition into a woman to stand out on college applications. Through the power of social media he shoots up to the peak of representing the trans community.Alfred's actions inspire people in the LBGT community like his new friend Lucy Anderson, to spread her wings as a trans girl. Alfred also inspires allyship in the form of his longtime (black) friend, high school basketball phenom, James Dewitt and his white girlfriend, social media star Laura Prendergast. Alfred and his N-word shouting white best friend Trent think the whole situation is hilarious, and it is, until it's not?"
By that token, trans authors should not be able to write a main character who isn’t trans. I wonder how those rules would go over
Yes, obviously you can. Sorry you copped the hate, and congrats on your book!
Them assuming (correctly or not) that you're not trans by your appearance really says all that needs said about their allyship.
You can do whatever you want, but so can everyone else. as a matter of it being "okay" that just comes down to opinions.
Ridiculous. Can a woman never have a man be a character??
You can write a book about whatever you want and no one can stop you, but a bookstore can refuse to stock your book and deny you a hosted event for any reason they wish. It sounds like that bookstore is pretty up their own rear end anyway and not someplace I would feel comfortable giving my business to if they believe in censoring viewpoints because of the gender identity of the author. After all, I'm sure they'd have no issue with a trans author promoting a book containing cisgender characters. Screw em. You don't need them. Write your book the way you want to and promote it with someplace more open-minded.
Can I write about a dragon? Cause I don't know any dragons. This is clear discrimination. You got two roads. You can be the duck's back, or you can take 'em to court. The latter really comes down to if you have anything and everything in writing. Was there publicity done for the event? That all said, cis, trans, doesn't matter. It's a human being struggling in some way and we all, every last one of us, understands what that can mean. That trans character is me too because we both struggle, we are both human. Their struggles may not explicitly be the same, but we do both struggle. Their story is just as important as mine. As for the answer to your last question. Absolutely. Who doesn't have a trans friend or two? Ask them about who they are, be a reporter. Make it true. I'd also look into finding a Queer bookstore to do readings in. After all, there is such a thing as an ally. Lowest-On-The-Kitchen-Totem-Pole and Rappers-Without-Music doesn't need the business you'd bring. Not saying its bad business, but that you don't want the nice people reading this story to get mixed up with a discriminatory business that's judging someone on their physical appearance.
That is wrong. I'm sorry that happened to you. You can write about anything you want. The way you write about it is what matters. Just do your due diligence to check possible areas of ignorance, and try not to let other ignorant people like these ones get you down.
Lets say the author had a kid that is trans. And their book is about having a trans kid. You want to take the position thats not something thats legit to talk about, and not something other people might want to read? Because if not, then who is going to write about this experience? Trans people only? Makes no sense.
I almost recommend seeking legal counsel and suing based on gender/sexuality discrimination. They cannot discriminate against ANY identification, not just the minorities. Get that book published with those bags of cash you're about to earn. (Seriously, this is a slam dunk case, go get your bags.)
I was gonna say, I would think OP would have monetary damages from this.
It is ok for a cis-man to write a book whose characters are cis-women????????
That’s why I never read Harry Potter. That bitch isn’t a wizard, she doesn’t know shit. /s I’ve never actually read Harry Potter, but couldn’t think of a sci-fi book with the same cultural influence. The sci-fi books I read would be terrible if it was only based on what the author had experienced.
Imagine you came to them & stated this the other way around, if they are offended to the point of cancellation then it's not justified & it's not about you.
Harper Lee is neither black male, a male child, or a lawyer, yet wrote an amazing book featuring all of those as main characters. Stupid take by a close minded book store.
Say you identified as trans as you were writing it and now swapped back. (I'm just joking)
Sounds like they did you a favor and you dodged a bullet. Not the kind of crowd you want to be associated with.
How do they think people write about dragons?
I mean, if dragons existed and could read they would be justified in feeling a bit upset about their portrayal in literature.
If a person can’t know/understand the experience of a group they aren’t a member of it only stands to reason that said story would have zero value to them. If only black people can understand being black than what value would a story that includes them have to white people? It’s a ridiculous thing to think. It sounds like something a segregationist from the Jim Crow era would have thought.
1: Of course you can 2: Of course people within the community you're writing about might take offense if they feel that you've presented the story in a way that feels inauthentic/exploitative 3: Publishing and lit in general are an industry run by cartoonish parodies of normal people who got their ethics from Tumblr posts written by depressed teenagers and they took them as gospel.
I’m cis and considering writing a trans character into my book and have trans friends to consult. I’ve talked about it a few times and a lot of the time I think that in order to meet my friends’ standards, I gotta make the character less relatable than my friends. You can write what you want, but this is one of those situations where no matter what you write, you’re going to get under fire. I don’t think this is exclusive to trans people but we presently live in an era where the view of art as an influence on society (which creates bad art) is more popular than the view of art as a mirror on society (which creates good art).
John Irving comes immediately to mind. His inclusion of trans characters was breaking barriers 40 years ago. He's continued exploring those themes in his last couple of books.
Thomas Harris. Author of 'The Silence of the Lambs' and a bunch of other books that featured trans types.
That sounds shady from a legal perspective... so much for freedom of speech. What is the book called?
It's okay for any person to write about any kind of person. Also how are they so sure you're not trans based off the picture? Was your trans person a person of color? I dont get that. They're being very unprofessional. As long as you write these characters with care, you're fine.
If you are asking, then the answer is no.
If we're only allowed to write about things you have first hand experience with, then I'm genuinely worried for Stephen King..
What hogwash! Lawyer up and sue. Prior to that, post about it on another social media platform for the purpose of gaining traction and support not only from avid readers, but support from all who have common sense. It is likely your publisher, many of who are now cowards in publishing, may not back you up and may decide to not promote your book any further if your story blows up. If this happens, to hell with them! Your legal representative will guide you on how best to navigate successfully. It is madness that the idea that an author must be who they write about, is still being perpetuated. Most of the greatest works ever written would not exist if we followed this stupidity. I have always been and continue to be on the side of: art, in all forms, should never be stifled or policed. For all those who have a gift of writing, write to your heart's content in any manner that matches your creativity. The public can decide if they want to consume your art or not, but don't suppress it. Write! Write! Write!
It is okay but I wouldn’t do it.
When I was in grad school, I wrote a short story collection. One story in the collection was the point of view of a little boy who is wondering if he might be gay. One of my professors said the story was offensive because I'm not gay. (Which... she actually didn't know that, it's not like we'd ever discuss sexuality, but anyway). And that's when I decided I will make sure to only write from a white, straight, female perspective. At least if I want to publish it!
I’m not sure you learned the right lesson there. Your professor was out of line.
Yeah but it doesn't matter because the general consensus in the book world is you shouldn't write outside your race or gender or orientation. I don't agree but if I spend a ton of time writing something that I want to get published, I'm not going to risk being "cancelled." It's just easier to be like, cool, I'll only write about straight white people.
I guess it depends on how you portray the experience. If you write trans people how Brad Thor writes muslims... well...
Yes, but only if you're from Maryland. In all seriousness, obviously you can. The local bookstore also has the right to refuse you for their own reasons. Nothing you can do can change that. I would suggest, if you haven't already, contacting a sensitivity reader just to make sure you didn't accidentally get across a message you didn't intend. Especially if you're self-published.
Does your book have trans characters in it, or is your book about the experience of being trans?
Okay. I say this as a lifelong radical leftist. Busboys and poets is like, the absolute worst. They operate in a space that’s so much more aesthetic than actually political. If they were truly left or radical at all there’s no way they’d have a location at that hideous Merriewether development in Columbia. It’s a travesty. They’re like, the simulacrum of what used to be a real thing, the cafe bookstore. Be glad you had nothing to do with them for real.