Malinda Lo
Blog
Jun 7, 2010
Avoiding LGBTQ Stereotypes in YA Fiction, Part 1: Major LGBTQ Stereotypes
A few months ago, I gave a talk at a local SCBWI chapter about LGBTQ1 stereotypes and how to avoid them when writing YA fiction. I’ve been meaning to post that talk here on my website for some time, but deadlines and travel got the best of me. Now it’s June, which is also Pride month, so I thought this was a great time to finally do this.
I’m going to divide my talk into five blog posts, with one posted every day this week. Here’s the schedule:
Part 1: Major LGBTQ stereotypes
Part 2: Gender
Part 3: Words to watch out for
Part 4: Secondary characters and gay jokes
Part 5: Resources
A few notes before I begin:
- The acronym LGBTQ is fairly long and unwieldy. Sometimes I use the term “queer” as shorthand. Some people are not comfortable with the term “queer” because it sounds like an epithet. However, many people in the LGBTQ community (including me) have taken back the word because it operates as an inclusive, umbrella-like term. “Queer” encompasses all letters in LGBTQ (a bisexual person may also identify as queer), whereas terms such as “gay” are increasingly used to describe men only.
- The term “homosexual” tends to carry a homophobic taint, so I normally don’t use it to describe the LGBTQ community.
- These posts are for primarily for heterosexual (straight) writers who are interested in writing LGBTQ characters in YA fiction (although this info can also apply to adult fiction). If you’re an LGBTQ person, you’re probably already familiar with much of what I’m going to blog about. So I especially encourage you to participate in whatever dialogue emerges in the comments, and to share your perspective.
On to part 1 …
Major LGBTQ Stereotypes
In order to avoid accidentally inserting LGBTQ stereotypes in your writing, it’s important to first know what stereotypes are out there. Here are some of the major ones:
The effeminate gay man
"His Brother Love" by Russ Trainer (Satan Press, 1965)
For many gay people, the flaming queen is a mixed blessing. I’m not denying that flamboyant, feminine gay guys do exist. In fact, one could argue that they paved the way for many gay folks to come out of the closet, because they haven’t been able to hide their sexual orientation. It takes a ton of courage to be out as a flamboyant gay man in our culture.
But in many representations of gay men, being effeminate is dismissed as a joke — as something to laugh at, as entertainment. Being labeled as effeminate can also result in physical assault, verbal abuse, and murder.
Keep this in mind if you’re writing about a character who is a feminine boy: Understand that living in the world is a more dangerous place for him because he presents as feminine. And if you describe a gay character in feminine terms, ask yourself: Why have you chosen this kind of representation? How does that change him? It’s not just about acting like a diva and being a girl’s best friend.
The mannish lesbian
Similarly, butch women have also been on the front lines of gay representation, because this is what mainstream society tends to recognize as lesbian.
"The Damned One" by Guy des Cars (Pyramid, 1956)
But unlike stereotypes of feminine gay men, I think that the masculine woman is rarely seen as something fun or entertaining. Mainstream society often condemns her as unnatural, or as a threatening figure.
It also takes a lot of courage to walk in the world as a butch lesbian. To endure taunts and about your lack of femininity; to battle for your right to wear what you want. In the worst cases, those taunts can result in violence.
From day 1, it seems, our culture encourages little girls to love the color pink and to want to be princesses. If you don’t want to do that, you challenge a deeply held belief about what a girl is. So if you’re writing about a lesbian who is masculine or butch, keep this in mind: Being butch doesn’t mean that you want to be a man. It’s a different way of being a woman.
The promiscuous or deceptive bisexual
"A Choice of Sexes" by Carol Caine (Midwood, 1968)
The stereotype of the bisexual as promiscuous or deceptive is probably less prevalent in YA than in adult fiction, film, or television, largely because this stereotype involves sex. But keep it in mind if you’re writing a character who is bi.
Often, people mistakenly believe that bisexuals have many sexual partners, or that they change sexual partners frequently. Alternatively, they may believe that bisexuals are being deceptive about their sexual orientation in order to trick someone. Even gay people can have the mistaken belief that bisexuals aren’t really bi; they’re just confused about whether they’re gay or straight.
But that’s not true. There is no evidence that bisexuals are any more promiscuous than anyone else. The word “bisexual” does not mean that a person is equally and continuously attracted to people of both sexes. It means that a person could potentially be attracted to people of both sexes. It may be true that all of us are, to some degree, bisexual.
Transgender stereotypes
I’ll be the first to say that I’m not an expert on transgender issues, but I do know that there are probably more stereotypes and mistaken beliefs in the media about trans folk than there are realistic representations.
"Glen or Glenda?" (Screen Classics Inc., 1953)
So if you’re going to write about a trans character, you need to do your research inside and out. There are so few novels about trans people that your story will make an impact whether you like it or not. Be honest with yourself about your own beliefs about transgender people, and be open to learning that your beliefs are outdated and wrong.
Transgender people2 are often described in sensationalist tones: as freaks, as confused, as monsters. Violence against transgender people is a major problem.
Another common (and incorrect) belief is that a feminine gay male or a masculine lesbian is actually transgender and they haven’t figured it out yet. But being trans is different than sexual orientation. When someone transitions from male to female or from female to male, they are changing their gender — not necessarily their sexual orientation.
Common storytelling motifs in YA
There are plenty of other stereotypes prevalent in television and film, but they’re less relevant to young adult fiction. In YA, there are a few stories about LGBTQ teens that recur with enough frequency that they verge on cliché.
- The gay boy football player or the lesbian cheerleader
- The coming-out story as a painful yet ultimately uplifting story of self-discovery
Although these storytelling motifs do appear with some regularly (especially the coming-out story, which essentially reduces a complex experience to an issue novel), I’m not entirely convinced that they’re played out. I think that there is still some use in subverting popular perceptions of lesbians and gay boys by casting them in traditionally hyper-heterosexual roles.
I’ve personally read plenty of coming-out stories and don’t feel the need to read more, but at the same time, coming out is still a major experience for LGBTQ kids. I think these kinds of stories can still be extremely meaningful for them and are still needed.
* * *
Do you have any questions about stereotypes? Are there any you’ve encountered that I haven’t listed? Please note: Comments will be moderated, and homophobia is not tolerated on my website.
- Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer [↩]
- The term “transgender” is an umbrella term for people whose gender identity is different than the one they were born with. “Transsexual” is an older term that carries medical connotations, and some transgender people do not identify as transsexual. The identities of trans folk are, by definition, in the process of change, so you should ask a trans person how they wish to be identified. [↩]
I’m 22, bisexual, and have been dating my girlfriend for three and a half years. I have encountered a few stereotypes throughout the years. When I first came out when I was 18, many people told me that I was just choosing to be attracted to women because I hadn’t had a lot of experience or luck with men. Now, at 22 and in a committed relationship with another woman, many people just think I’m a lesbian. I don’t mind when people think I’m a lesbian because they’ve only known me to be in my current relationship and have never been told the truth. But even when I explain that I’m bisexual (and I’m actually more attracted to men, but I enjoy being with women more … if that makes sense), people have told me I’m a lesbian anyway. It’s hard to be bisexual and be in a committed relationship, because unless you’re dating a man and a woman, people will assume you’re either straight or gay, depending on the gender you are with.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Sara. That is certainly one of the biggest problems that bisexual people have to deal with. It can be really frustrating for others to not believe you when you tell them who you are.
Great post!
My one comment is that I agree that coming out stories hold less appeal for *me* anymore, at least as they are typically played out. BUT, I do think there is room for coming out stories that focus on the coming out experiences of today’s kids. We often see them with contemporary settings and kids, but with the emotional and societal repercussions of the 1990s or even earlier. Coming out can still be an emotionally rich time and even a devastatingly hard process, but it isn’t always. And even when it is hard, it’s a different kind of hard than it was even ten years ago.
For coming out stories to continue to ring true, the authors must find the new versions of these stories, taking into account today’s realities.
Too often we still see the coming out story ignore that most teens today not only have greater familiarity with queer people and issues, and have seen those issues debated in real life and on TV, in the news, etc., but many have already met someone they at least perceive to be queer and have greater access to support and queer culture. And so when someone comes out in their world, or they themselves acknowledge they might be/are queer, it is from a different place and context then it was even ten years ago, and certainly than it was fifteen or more years ago. And the coming out stories written about them need to take these changed realities into account.
All very true, very well-said.
I would add: the “coming out” story may still have a role in the world, but there’s a major, major bias against it at most YA publishers today, and among most YA book reviewers. And frankly, I think it’s for good reason: the story has been (well) told so many times already. As a writer, I don’t believe it’s enough to tell a “good” story — I believe you also have to tell a “new” story (or at least a fresh, new spin on an old story, if you believe there are no truly “new” stories).
The standard line today is, “It’s needs to be about more than just coming out.” And I pretty much emphatically agree.
My predictions? Multiculturalism will be big in the years ahead: the fact is, most GLBTQ stories are still overwhelmingly “white.” I always encourage writers to explore gay characters of color.
And cross-genre is where it’s at. If you’re drawn to GLBTQ characters, consider placing them in some genre other than realistic fiction.
As a bisexual (or more accurately, pansexual), I’ve experienced some of these issues as well. The belief that bisexuality is a myth is damaging and restrictive… and is the true myth!
Because we still live in a world where heterosexism runs rampant, people do assume I’m heterosexual because I happen to be married to a man. Not so. Were I single, I’d be just as likely to date women as men, and as likely to date people who are transgendered/transsexual as people who are gender normative.
Thank you to Malinda for this wonderful post. I hope it generates thoughtful conversation and examination of both stereotypes and privilege, and how we tackle these issues in our writing for any age group.
Thanks for your comment! It’s amazing and frustrating how easily “bisexual” is erased simply by the presence of a partner.
This is really a good point. Things really have changed, and coming out today is totally different than it was when I came out.
Thanks for commenting, Brent! I think you’re right about publishers wanting a book to be about more than just coming out now. And cross-genre. I would love to read more genre novels in YA with characters who just happened to be gay.
Thanks for this. I’ve had a number of submissions in which the effeminate-gay-best-friend trope is used, and while sometimes used well, still supports a stereotype, especially when that best friend isn’t fleshed out as a strong character in his own right. I think it’s important to remember that no matter whether it’s a main character or supporting character, gay or straight (or etc.), that stereotypes = flat characters.
Real life people are complicated. In storytelling, of course, it’s hard to flesh out all minor or supporting characters, but if it’s important enough to include a character as a best friend, it’s important enough to show why he *is* the best friend–and why this girl is *his* best friend.
The thing I found most useful about this post is probably not what you’d expect. I try my best to be sensitive to names, because the name you give something or what you call it gives that something meaning, whether good or bad. While I realize that individuals within a group/race/gender/sexual preference may well prefer different names, I want to know how they refer to themselves. That way I can show them respect by using the name they choose.
Since I’m not surrounded by a large queer community, I didn’t know the polite term, and so I felt embarrassed whenever I spoke about LGBTQ issues because I worried someone would think me rude or prejudiced. So thank you for explaining the current meanings of various terms because I honestly didn’t know.
As a side note, I’d love to see a guide or discussion of what each group, etc., prefer to be called. The terms often change so swiftly that I’m never sure if I’m being respectful or rude.
I hope this all makes sense, because it does in my head but I’m not sure I explained it well.
I’m working on this now in my new WIP and it’s something I’ve been struggling with (been meaning to email Brent, in fact!). One of the best friends of my main character is gay and this *is* a genre novel — his being gay isn’t really a factor in the plot; it’s honestly who this character is. And I am basing him on people I knew in my own life.
That said, I’m a little worried that he’s too stereotypically gay (he is a total drama queen, for instance). I really want it to be a non-issue that he is gay, but I don’t want to turn any readers off if he doesn’t read as a real person (though, to me, he’s very real in that he’s very like a friend of mine from high school).
Oh, and he’s Asian as well…
Thanks for your comment and question, Kimberly. The fact that this stereotype exists obviously doesn’t mean that you must avoid writing any feminine gay boy characters. I’d just think very carefully about why your character is feminine. He may be based on a real-life friend, but think about your character. Why does *he* act that way? What’s in it for him?
I don’t know what the world is like in your genre novel, but in the real world, even in ultra-gay San Francisco, there are still consequences for being flamboyant. Pretty much every LGBT person I know has had to struggle with when to act straight in order to avoid harassment. How would that affect your character? It’s not like he has to explain it directly to readers, but knowing that about him will help to flesh out the character to you, the writer, which then informs his actions in the book.
Thanks for your comment, Stacy. I agree about the best friend thing, especially.
Thanks for your comment, Michelle. I totally understand the confusion over terminology. It can be very hard to figure out what the right thing to say is. I’ll be posting more about this later on in the week, specifically in Part 3 on words.
Excellent!
Those are all good points about gay stereotypes. I especially agreed with this “Being butch doesn’t mean that you want to be a man. It’s a different way of being a woman.” I thought that was a great point. Also I’m glad you included the bisexual part. I consider myself open to both sexes when it comes to love and I suppose that the proper label would be bi, and I find my friend telling me that he thinks that I might as well consider myself gay and for a while my mom told me she thought that I was mostly straight. To me it doesn’t really matter either way, I’ll fall in love with who I fall in love with. But in my experience it is true that most people want to think of you as mostly straight or gay rather then just thinking that you have the potential to fall in love with a man or a woman.
I thought that in Ash it was refreshing to have a main character, who was lesbian and the conflict of her love with the huntress was not the fact that they are both women. I understand that many times conflicts in young, gay, relationships have a lot to do with the fact that both parties are the same sex, but that issue seems to me to be not as important, especially now a days. I also thought that it was refreshing that it didn’t even seem to be an issue that two women would fall in love with each other in this story. Now if your book was historical fiction a lot of things, not only the accepted gay relationships, would be just ridiculous. But that’s the beauty of fantasy.
This was an excellent and eye opening post, thank you so much for sharing it Malinda!
As a reader I try to read more books about GLBT. To be honest, before blogging I might not have ever picked up a book about someone who was LGBTQ (I’m so glad that I finally did!) mainly because I didn’t think I could relate to a coming out story and that’s all there seemed to be. I’ve come to realize that coming-out stories are important, but I agree with what Brett said above, there needs to be more fresh spins on old stories (and more multiculturalism!). I love novels like Ash or Orphea Proud, where being LGBTQ just IS. I would love to see a series of books about a girl dectective who just happens to be lesbian, or a vampire hunter who is transgender, etc. YA needs to see more than just a ‘coming of age’ story.
The trope that I personally hate the most is straight women using effiminate gay men as handbags. You know, Sex and the City-style. It’s just… ugh. I’m sure it CAN be done well, but it’s so very rare that I’ve generally stopped reading long before I get that proved, which, I suppose makes my idea of this as being done badly a self-fulfilling prophecy. Although, admittedly, TV is worse at this particular thing than books. Usually.
Also, my friends find it hilarious (in a nice way, mind you), that all my characters turn out queer. Particularly the women. Except, of course, the ones I was sure WOULD be. I’ve found myself that being a lesbian and not fitting neatly into either the butch or the femme camp, I enjoy writing characters that have a bit of both, because when I came out, so many years ago, that made me feel rather weird. Though, I have to say, those lines seem less strict these days.
I too am tired of reading coming-out-stories, except, of course, that I’m kind of finding myself writing one… Luckily it’s only one of a handful storylines, so it’s not the sole focus. I find that makes a world of difference!
Anyway, I’m blabbling. Thanks for writing about this, it will be fun to read all the other posts as well.
Malinda, I just wanted to say, I’m glad you are blogging about this. I think I’m going to learn some things, and I really want to learn! So thanks for doing this, I look forward to your posts and to the discussions.
I’ve worked as an editorial intern in a YA publishing house, and I cannot tell you HOW MANY submissions I’ve read that follow this basic plot line:
Girl has guy best friend.
Guy best friend comes out to her as gay.
Girl says “SO GREAT SO PROUD OF YOU”
Girl and GBF dish on boys (especially straight boy that Girl really likes, usually new to school) and boy that GBF met at Secret Gay Meetings
GBF’s parents find out about his orientation
Girl and GBF have some sort of falling out regarding his coming out/sexual preference/etc but don’t really explore this conflict or relationship.
Girl and Straight Boy help GBF stand up to his parents/school mates/pastor
Girl, Straight Boy, GBF and GBF’s boy all have ice cream.
I’ve read at least four or five submissions like this. I think part of the reason is the talent base: most of these authors are middle aged ladies who likely lean liberal but haven’t taken a Gender and Sexuality course in their whole lives. And, they write to what they think their audience would be: teen girls who see everything fabulous in having both a Gay Best Friend (TM) and a Straight Boy Who Desires Me.
Please, more stories from the perspective of the teen doing the hard work of coming out (like the fantastic ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY NOT… GAY) or at least something where a character has to actually struggle to identify with her dear friend now that everything she’s ASSUMED about him for so many years has been reversed or changed. But that would be hard to write. And that would mean admitting to ourselves that some of us do carry deeply seeded homophobic (or racist, or sexist, etc) kernels of darkness within us. And no one likes to admit that– even if writing might help to expose these seeds to the light, and thereby help get rid of them.
Great post, Malinda! Do you mind if I link to it in the resource list I’m making of “resources for allies” for the workshop I teach for writers about getting past privilege/appropriation?
And Sara M. you’re experiencing what a lot of bisexuals have experienced. It’s frustrating that monogamous bisexuals have our identity “erased” by public perception and people’s assumptions. A good friend of mine who is a bisexual woman likened being married to a lesbian as like a mixed marriage. When her mother said something to her like “well, you’re a lesbian now, because you married one” (not in a mean way, just misunderstanding) her daughter had to explain, no Mom, I didn’t just “choose” to become a lesbian now, in the same way she didn’t convert to her partner’s religion either.
I try to wear my Bisexual Pride T-shirt to queer events, at least!
I also just want to add (and i’m just reading this thread so i apologize if i’m reiterating something that’s been mentioned further down in comments) that it has been *extremely* hard for me to accept my own queer identity because the societal pressure on you to be one thing or the other is so great. If can be extremely hared to to accept “multiple genders” as an option when you’ve spent all your life listening to messages that say that you’re just “confused” if you like both men & women, that you were supposed to have “just known” early on whether you were gay or straight.
i don’t really like the word “bisexual” because it posits the existence of both a sexual & a gender binary, which is problematic, but i use it because it’s the easiest way to explain what i am to people when they ask (i self-identify as “queer” but then i always have to follow-up and clarify what that means). but “bisexual,” just as this post points out, comes with its own associations and tricky areas.
Great post, Malinda. Thank you for writing about this.
If you don’t mind clarifying, what is pansexual? I’ve never heard that term before.
oh, another thing about the word “queer”–when i came out to my co-workers, I came out as “queer,” and their immediate reactions were strongly ones of shock that i was using the word. one of them even asked me not to use that word around him because it made him uncomfortable! So I had to explain to him that I get to choose how I want to be identified, he doesn’t get to choose for me. But it was a giant eye-opener for me, because it’s been so long since I’ve been around people who weren’t comfortable with the everyday vocabulary that I use to talk about GLBTQ issues.
I like the idea of characters who just happen to be gay. I have written such characters, but then I worry that I’ve given them “stereotypical” characteristics, when I’m just trying to make them people. ER. Fictional people, but real to me and readers.
“But that’s the beauty of fantasy.” Absolutely! Thanks for your comment, Ariel.
Of course, Cecilia, feel free to link to it.
The best way I can describe it is that pansexuals have the potential to be sexually attracted to anyone of any sex or gender identification. There’s some implication of the rejection of the gender binary; that is, one could be sexually attracted to those who fall outside it and/or reject it.
Yeah, I’ve had a similar experience. Actually, when I presented this info as a talk at an SCBWI chapter, I used the word “queer” all over the place and ultimately had to explain why it was OK. That’s why I included that note at the beginning.
Thanks for your comment, CM. The funny thing is, I know that a lot of straight women have great gay best friends. I think that they may not be thinking about the gay best friend’s perspective. As writers, we need to think about each character’s perspective.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pansexuality
someone else please correct me if i’ve misrepresented this; as i understand it, ‘pansexual’ is a term specifically used to be inclusive of all forms of gender expression & identity; it clearly delineates a non-binary construction of gender, and i think people tend to prefer it over using the word ‘bisexual,’ which explicitly posits an either/or construction of gender.
Thanks, Ari.
Thanks for your comment, Kaia.
You’re welcome! Hope they’re useful for you.
Hi Malinda,
It’s so interesting, because I think you’re right, that we’ve moved past the coming out story, which has been done so many times before. And at the same time, we have to remember that coming out remains, for many teen readers, the major stressing event that they’ve been faced with. I think we’re going to see more and more novels that deal with “out” characters who “happen to be gay,” where coming out remains a very significant part of the backstory. I loved Ash, by the way!
One of the challenges I find in writing fiction about people in the LGBTQ community is the fear that someone will assume that a given character is somehow representative of an entire group of similar people.
In one of my stories, I have a minor character that is bisexual and she’s not the c lassiest or nicest of characters. She works at a strip club and tends to sleep around, none of which has anything to do with the fact that she’s bi.
There is clearly the danger of feeding into a stereotype, which I try to alleviate through developing the character enough to show that her promiscuity is the result of other factors and not her orientation.
On a separate note, I also strive to write stories that don’t fall into the usual subgenres of coming out stories, romances, erotica and lesbian murder mystery. Lord knows, there’s more to life as a queer person than coming out, falling in love, having sex and tripping over dead bodies.
Thanks, Bill!
Thanks for your comment. You’ve certainly bit off a lot with your bisexual supporting character — it’s tough to take a major stereotype and rework it so that it rings true for the character. I think it’s almost harder to do that for a minor character than a major one, because you have less space on the page to develop the character. I’ll be blogging about that tomorrow. Good luck with your writing!
Hi Malinda,
As you know I’m a straight woman who writes YA and in my newest book I wrote about a young gay. I have a lot of straight, gay, and lesbian people in my life, so when I decided to put this character in I did so only after some careful thought. What if my friends hated what I wrote about this person? Lee Wind read a draft and gave me one okay. Now I wish I’d asked you for an opinion, but knew you were kind of busy with your debut of Ash.
Thank you for this. The portrayal of LGBT characters in popular culture really hurts me. If there’s a single LGBT character anywhere in the cast, there’s a good chance they’ll be offensively stereotypical – and since LGBT sexuality is threatening, they’ll either be evil or dead. Creators treat the slashing of characters in fandom as a desecration of their characters’ pure, wholesome straightness. It makes me sad.
On a lighter note, I accidentally dug myself a deep hole of fail. I’m working on an epic fantasy in which most characters, including the female protagonist and several female antagonists, are bisexual. Halfway through revising I realised that the only same-sex romances actually shown onscreen were destructive and/or exploitative relationships between the protagonist and various antagonists. The subtext was that bisexuals were evil, female sexuality was evil, same-sex relationships were evil, etc. Oops.
(Now adding many more LGBT romances of a healthy and non-evil persuasion!)
Thank you for posting this! In my next wip, my guy mc has a gay best friend. He’s been out for a while, so it just is what it is. Both guys are athletic but not “jocks”, basically just good, smart kids. And good friends.
I just want to make sure I stay away from stereotypes when I write him! So I am looking forward to reading this series!
Thanks again!
Lee, I’m sure you did a fine job with your book. Besides, everybody has different opinions. If you give the book to enough people, you know you’re going to find someone who disagrees with your perspective. At some point you have to go with your gut, too.
Thanks for your comment, Janelle, and good luck with your wip!
Well, it’s good that you’re aware of that.
It’s crazy how easy it is to accidentally fall into such traps. Good luck with your novel!
Thanks, Malinda. The thing about this character is that I totally enjoyed him. He was everything I’d like in a friend, so my gut said, “You’re telling about him just right.” Guess we’ll see.
The whole discussion of stereotypes in a fascinating one: what about people who do fit the “stereotypes”? But honestly think that it’s “stereotypes” per se that people criticize, but when stereotypical characters are treated as (a) objects of ridicule, (b) not fully fleshed out, or (c) somehow an “other” — lacking a basic human dignity that makes a characters seem “real.” Maybe I’m fooling myself, but I feel like I can tell when a writer is writing stereotypes while keeping the character at arms-length. It’s not about the “character” — it’s about the stereotype.
If a character is “real” and has dignity, I can’t imagine anyone taking offense.
That said, I caution everyone, gay or straight, to take a good hard look at one’s “conception” of “gay people.” The fact is, we’re ALL influenced by media stereotypes. Our sense of ALL minorities comes not just from direct experience, but from pervasive media stereotypes, which I think are far FAR more powerful than most people realize or acknowledge. It’s good to give this some thought before/while you write.
I just wanted to say thank you so much for posting this, and to everyone who commented too.
I’m working on a dystopian now with a pretty complicated MC who I guess I would call queer, because I’m not sure she fits into any other category precisely (she’s a lesbian, and she has been living in disguise as a man due to the society/situation she lives in, and answers more readily to her male identity than her female one, but she has no desire for a sex-change op when offered the chance. Although I’m not sure ‘she’ is the right pronoun to even refer to her with, since she does partly identify with her masculine side), so I’ve been really trying to make sure she doesn’t fall into any stereotypes. Her sexuality and identity is only a minor background point in the novel, since mostly it’s about the crime she accidentally witnessed and is now being framed for, but I really want to get it right, because I agree that YA needs more diversity across the board…
Thanks again!
Thank you for this series of posts! I really liked what you said about making sure every trait a character has really speaks to that character as a fully fleshed out person. So whether it’s being queer or wanting to be an astronaut, that has to be an essential part of the character’s drive and direction, not just set dressing. Inspirational and a great reminder that I needed!
I just read Ash and loved it, by the way! Gorgeous!
At first I used to find identifying as bisexual as problematic, but then I read a different definition of what being bisexual could mean. They suggested that instead of it meaning that one is attracted to male and female people or men and women, that it might mean that one is attracted to the masculinity and/or femininity present in a person. This made a lot of sense to me and I think it definitely twists the gender binary in some ways.
Glad you enjoyed ASH!
I want to start by saying: Malinda, I think you are a miracle worker. When I heard that there was a realistic, lesbian retold fairy tale on the *mainstream YA* market, I thought I would die. Now that I’ve read through your blog, I think you are doing very necessary and powerful work. Thank you so much.
I was really excited to read this blog. Hideous stereotypes exist outside as well as inside of the GLBT community, particularly when it comes to bisexuals and genderqueers. I’ve had the privilege of writing for a brand of books, comics, games, etc. with a powerful and diverse group of writers who love to spin stereotypes. In my first comic series, I featured a mixed race straight couple with an adopted child, a mixed race, committed lesbian couple (where one of the women would probably identify as asexual more than lesbian), heavy weapons specialists who wear prada, androgynous and soft butch mothers, devoted single fathers, gay people who are also very Christian, girls who fight, and, though many of my characters are strong women, there is no emasculation of men and more. It’s great fun and, I’ve found, realistic. People are never cookie-cutter.
On the subject of coming out stories, I agree that the market has been saturated with them, but I do think they are still necessary, particularly if addressing current-day issues realistically. While acceptance of the queer community is on a rise, opposition to it is getting deeper in some areas. As a woman who came out in a very conservative Christian household, it was extremely hard to not only accept my own sexuality, but try to face down what my sexuality meant in regards to my religion and sense of faith. I spent years leading a complete double life (which is so damning and exhausting on the soul) and, once reconciled and proud, I had to face nearly everyone I knew and grew up with telling me about hell and sin and every ugly anti-gay argument imaginable. Kids in this situation (or who come from any anti-gay background, whether religiously or culturally or personally) need to know that 1.) They’re not freaks. Nor are they alone, 2.) The importance of being true to themselves and finding no shame in being who they are, and 3.) They *can* lead good, happy lives despite everything they’re told about being gay. This helps the panic many go through when their world starts changing and they’re not only worried about the life they live now, but their eternity as well. There are so many terrifying practices on the rise right now, from “therapists” making thousands of dollars offering medication and counseling to “cure” kids of their gayness to people actually performing exorcisms on teenagers. The biggest thing about writing such stories is that they have to be realistic and fleshed out. There are so many other fears and worries that go through someone’s mind when coming out than just “how do I deal with being attracted to the same sex.”
Hmm. Seems I have written an essay. Forgive my wordiness.
Thanks for your comment, Launa, and for sharing some of your experience, too.
Malinda, thank you so much for writing Ash! I am currantly writing my own novel about a bisexual girl in her middle school years. At first I was afraid to write it, but after I read Ash, I decided to start writing it after all! Thank you so much for inspiring me
Thanks for your comment! Good luck with your own novel — you can do it!
I remember when I first received this email months ago I was very uncomfortable with the idea of ‘avoiding’ stereotypes in writing. Over the years, I have had straight people tell me that I don’t come across as gay, as if that’s supposed to be some kind of compliment. (In actual fact I would only pass as straight with the obtuse or highly sheltered.) I decided to respond on this blog after all this time because of my recent experience watching hundreds of ‘It Gets Better’ Youtube clips. A great number of testimonials are by people who would be easily identified as gay out of this context. How many of us, even without the added clues of haircuts and ways of dressing are spottable because of qualities of voice, ways of speaking, and mannerisms? And while there are gay people in all walks of life, listening to these hundreds of clips does reinforce that many of us have interests and careers that have often been associated with sexual orientation. So, while I treasure every well-written book that portrays queer people against type, I embrace those that flame on every page as well. I had the wonderful experience of teaching Brent Hartinger’s GEOGRAPHY CLUB to my high school class last year: it’s a literary gem that gave me a safe way to open discussion about a whole variety of issues because the main character could indeed ‘pass’. But for the thousands upon thousands of queer kids who could never identify with that main character, I am relieved to know books like Joe Babcock’s THE TRAGEDY OF MISS GENEVA FLOWERS are also out there, capitalizing on one stereotype after another. In short, the issue has nothing to do with whether or not a character fits a stereotype: there are good books which lead us successfully through a thoughtful exploration of characters and experiences, and there are not-so-good books which don’t succeed. Writers need courage and craft, not burdens about whether their characters are politically correct or not.
Sebastian, it seems that you may have misunderstood the point of these blog posts. I was certainly not saying that no gay people exist who might have some stereotypically “gay” qualities. I think we’re talking about two different things here.
As I noted at the beginning of the first post in this series, these posts are primarily meant for straight writers who are interested in writing LGBTQ characters. I should add that they are also meant for those who don’t have much prior knowledge of LGBTQ people. My purpose in listing out these stereotypes is to simply provide a safe place to talk about them. I’ve met a number of writers who don’t even know where to begin when it comes to thinking about stereotypes.
Obviously not every gay person “passes” — and those who do “pass” have to deal with other, complex issues. My goal here is to do my part to educate writers, so that when they write an LGBTQ character, they understand that gay people are more than a simple (and often misunderstood) stereotype.
And, you know, I made an It Gets Better video, too. I’m a lifelong fan of “mannish women.”
Malinda,
Thanks for this whole series, which I found thanks to Julie Peters’ recommendation. It’s very helpful! I appreciate all the leads in the Resources post as well.
Malinda,
I’ve always seen queer lit as full of stereotypes and oversimplifications. I just have to tell you how much I love the complexity- and the humaness in the literature you have created. I always wondered how- when it’s my turn- I will do that, make it queerness ok naturally in a book. You’ve done a very, very, very good job.
Thank you for doing what you are doing- as a woman, in love with a woman, raising a daughter, expecting twin girls- I think books like Ash will create a warmer society for our family to live in. Can you imagine a world where anything is a possibility? When you don’t have to “come out” because well it doesn’t matter if it’s a man or woman? Books like Ash set the stage for that. Thank you, again.