Another meme, worth doing

[minxy]

Characters of Diversity, Fanfic, Mine meme. As seen in hossgal's and hesychasm's LJ. Three makes it a meme, right?

Methods and Materials

Fics considered: all posted fics in this LJ, including snippets.

Measurements: Using pov character(s) or main character of focus, count stories with one or multi povs, and classify the race, gender, and other attributes of the pov character.

Considerations/definitions:

Jack is an older male in any fic set after S8.

Non-white is Black, Hispanic, Asian, Arab, American Indian, Hawaiian, African, Space Aliens played by an actor of one of these classifications and just about anything not European. Does not include Jews, Gypsies, Irish, Catholics, Welsh, Slavs, Texans, Blue-Eyed People or other people Just Not Brown Enough.

Old is a character who looks, acts, or is treated as though they are past their prime. Teal'c is not old.

Gay or bi is canonically gay or bi; subtext is irrelevant for the purposes of this census.

Other notes at the end. Author is not a math geek, Scully, and so must point out that these categories are not mutually exclusive.

Census

Total Stories: 24 (wow, when did that happen?)
Total Stories of over 500 words: 24 (yup, that would be all of them.)

Stories with only 1 POV: 22
Stories with multiple POVs: 2
Stories with only 1 pov, Minor Character: 1
Stories with only 1 pov, Original Character: 1

Stories with White Male POV only: 12 (default to Daniel or Cameron)
Stories with White Female POV only: 7 (Sam and Janet and Kate and Vala)
Stories with Non-White Female POV only: 0 (Wow. Again. Since I've written in Atlantis, I'm not going to try to excuse this.)
Stories with Non-White Male POV only: 5 (Teal'c and Bra'tac)

Stories with Old People POV only: 1 (Jack; Bra'tac was a young man in his story.)
Stories with Canon or OC Gay/Bi Character POV only: There are no canon bi or gay characters in Stargate, and I've only written in Stargate.

Stories with Multiple povs, more than one gender: 0
Stories with Multiple povs, including non-white characters: 0

Stories with Mix-Race Relationships, where relationships are distinctly romantic: 7
Stories with Non-White, Old, or Gay/Bi Characters in speaking roles: 13

Authors Notes:none.

Comments

[hossgal.livejournal.com]

pssst: it's hesychasm - I dropped an 's'.

I think this is all very interesting - I really am not 100% behind making it a numbers game -

story, dammit!

- but if it gets me more stories about the characters I like, I'm for it.

- hg

[http://users.livejournal.com/_minxy_/]

'Tis interesting. 'Tisn't everything there is to it, but you can't hide from numbers (as I once memorably announced in the middle of the night after having a math-based nightmare.)

It's also a way I haven't broken down my stories before, and I am pleased with how the diversity broke down, ultimately.

Yes, though, STORY. Also, though, equality.

I am also behind all kinds of devious new memes if they get me more stories about characters I like. And I need sleep. All that counting makes a girl sleeeeeepy.

*changes hesychasm's handle first*

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

Hmm. This seems like kind of an interesting exercise, and I started to think about doing it with my own stories, but I quickly run into questions like: How do you characterize an alien character who's played by a white male but who, within the canonical racial politics of the show's universe, is definitely part of an oppressed racial minority? Do human/alien relationships count as interracial if they're both played by white people? Does it make a difference if the other characters react to it as if it were an interracial relationship? What about characters played by props, puppets, or bits of CGI? Is the race of the voice actor relevant?

Possibly I overthink this sort of thing too much. Or maybe I just have weird-ass fandoms. Or both. :)

[rydra_wong]

Contextually: one of the points that came up in the fandom&race discussions is that white fans don't seem to have any problems writing aliens played by white actors (or by CGI or animatronics) even when they are coded within the show as part of an oppressed group, but do often seem to shy away from characters (human or alien) played by actors of colour.

So, for the purposes of this meme, I'd say that Stark (for example) would count as a white character, even though he's a member of an oppressed and enslaved minority in the show.

OTOH, Dayna Mellanby would count as a character of colour, even though she's from a comparatively privileged background and IIRC we never see any indication that racial discrimination exists even as a concept within B7-verse.

And Moya, Pilot and Orac don't count one way or the other - they don't win you "diversity points", even though they may win you "way cool non-humanoid POV points" *g*.

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

Contextually: one of the points that came up in the fandom&race discussions is that white fans don't seem to have any problems writing aliens played by white actors or by CGI or animatronics) even when they are coded within the show as part of an oppressed group, but do often seem to shy away from characters (human or alien) played by actors of colour.

Ah, yes, _minxy_'s definitions make perfect sense in the context, then. They seemed a bit confusing or narrow if the question was something more along the lines of how and whether people are willing to deal with race issues, or whether people are writing "diverse characters" in some broad sense.

It seems like a very odd sticking-point if it's true... I confess that my own fic probably wouldn't score all that high on the diversity scale by those standards, but I believe I'm handicapped by the fact that, for whatever reasons, the fandoms that I write in have very few (humanoid) characters that aren't portrayed by white actors. There are a lot of fandoms where many of the characters I'm mostly strongly drawn to are the non-white characters; those just don't happen to be among the very few shows that I'm obsessed enough with or feel competent enough at to write. Who knows, though, if 7 seasons from now I'm feeling enough Stargate love, you may just get Teal'c fic out of me. :) And I fully expect to write Martha Jones at some point.

OTOH, Dayna Mellanby would count as a character of colour

Sigh. It's a pity that she is, IMO, the least interesting of all the regulars on that show. :(

even though they may win you "way cool non-humanoid POV points" *g*.

Well, at least I get some points. Yay. :)

[rydra_wong]

Yup, it's certainly very dependent on fandom. Some canons have far fewer characters of colour and female characters in major roles to begin with.

Who knows, though, if 7 seasons from now I'm feeling enough Stargate love, you may just get Teal'c fic out of me. :)

I have every intention of encouraging this shamelessly, you know. Teal'c needs more love!

It's a pity that she is, IMO, the least interesting of all the regulars on that show.

I'm fond of Dayna, but I suspect that's at least partly because I imprinted on Josette Simon when I saw one of her RSC performances at an impressionable age *g*.

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

Some canons have far fewer characters of colour and female characters in major roles to begin with.

Yeah. 1970s British television? Not exactly a hotbed of diversity. :)

Teal'c needs more love!

He does! Although, I dunno... I distinctly remember thinking, while watching season 1, that if I weren't watching this after the rest of the universe had already seen a decade or so more of it than I had, I would probably be writing little snippets of Teal'c fic exploring his backstory and what was going on in his head. Now that said backstory's been revealed a little more (from my POV) and he's settled in a bit, the urge is less strong, and I'm actually starting to notice there are other characters. :) I still totally have the Teal'c love, though.

I'm fond of Dayna

I'm glad somebody is. She ought to have people who are fond of her, I just can't manage to be one of them. :)

[http://users.livejournal.com/_minxy_/]

Ah, yes, _minxy_'s definitions make perfect sense in the context, then. They seemed a bit confusing or narrow if the question was something more along the lines of how and whether people are willing to deal with race issues, or whether people are writing "diverse characters" in some broad sense.

*nods*

Isn't it funny how exercises become such big picture things when race is involved? It's really so fascinating. This was just a simple little numbers game for my own navel-gazing reasons, but hossgal went into much more detail than is required in Stargate 'verse to deal with definitions of Space Aliens and race. Her breakdown fell out much as Rydra described: Aeryn is white, Harvey (being as he's a figment of John's mind) reflects John and is therefore white.

It becomes rather non-sensical after a while, but ultimately I don't know that I'd have realized that I've never written from a non-white female POV.

There are many, many other aspects of fanfic that could be considered in correlation with race that fall outside the realm of this exercise, like story, as you mentioned. POV is but one way of categorizing.

Which is all to say, yes. And 'what RW said.'

[ct]

Interesting. I'm going through my own fic mentally, and the results are mostly what I'd like to see. I'm going to have to do something about never having written from a non-white male's POV. I have no idea how it is that I've never written Sam/Teal'c fic before now.

Numbers are funny things. If I'm using this as a checklist, it looks like I should be pleased with myself for having written a mixed-race romance twice. I usually think of Teyla and Laura Cadman (or most anyone, really) having massive cultural differences, though, not racial ones. Scifi fandom doesn't fit into neat boxes very well.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_minxy_/]

Yes, definitely. I mean, to consider your fic from purely a racial (and only the actor's race, after all, not the character so much) and POV standpoint is narrow in the extreme. But if you realize something nifty, like that you haven't written Sam/Teal'c or you haven't ever written a non-white female POV, it might challenge you to branch out, yeah?

Scifi fandom doesn't fit into neat boxes very well.

Indeed it does not.

[eve11]

hm. How does one count 3rd person non-omniscient POV? I have a few stories that make no attempts to get inside anyone's head, but just go for narrative and description.

But hey, my most recent Stargate story is actually a 1st person POV from an old, non-white, bi, male original character. Go me! ;)

[rydra_wong]

I did two counts, one for POVs and one for lead/co-lead characters, because yup, sometimes the POV isn't the central character or isn't the only central character.

Ultimately, I don't think perfect precision or point-counting is what it's really about, though - I think it's the self-scrutiny and looking at the trends that's interesting and worthwhile.

But hey, my most recent Stargate story is actually a 1st person POV from an old, non-white, bi, male original character.

And a very fine story it is too! :)

[eve11]

And a very fine story it is too! :)

Oh, thanks! *blushes*

[http://users.livejournal.com/_minxy_/]

Ultimately, I don't think perfect precision or point-counting is what it's really about, though - I think it's the self-scrutiny and looking at the trends that's interesting and worthwhile.

Indeed. And how lucky am I that you were around to explain my motives whilst I slaved away at work?

It's funny how the gaps in this simple little exercise are motivating, though. I *yearned* for there to be a little Teyla ficlet somewhere in a comment fic. YEARNED, I say, because filling in a 0 under 'fics written from a non-white female POV' was Hard. Therefore I proclaim that the exercise has merit, for I have realized something I hadn't considered before.

And also? Stargate needs more non-white female leads.

[aurora-novarum.livejournal.com]

There's way too much math with this! (and then remembering...wait, did I stick with one point of view...? Okay, old people here...wait, it's old or non-white or gay/bi...recount!

It is an interesting self-analysis though. Obviously, the answer is here you need to write more fic. ;-)

P.S. Have you seen the sd_ficathon stories are published now? If you have a spare moment, you may find something to enjoy.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_minxy_/]

Heh, well I do need to write the fic I'm committed to writing.

The exercise has such narrow definitions and is really such a simple little thing that angsting over categorizing the POVs is waaaaay too much emotional investment. I made sure a couple of the numbers added up and left it at that.

I have bookmarked a couple of SD ficathon stories, and get a warm glow knowing that they're there. I have the best intentions (and thank you for the pointer! Hee! You remembered me.)