Hiii! it's me again, me! 👋🏾😊 i read ur essay (i guess?) on Cass and the ornamentalism in Cass's writing. And while i'm not white, i'm also not asian either. You seem pretty well informed on topics like this, and i want to try my absolute best not to write her as those other writers have. I'm definetly gonna reread your essay again, and the essay that you linked in it, because I have quite a few asian characters. And i always try my best to write characters who're of different ethnicities than me in the most non-stereotypical and non-racist way possible. Ranting a little bit, sorry. Anyway, i want to avoid subconsciously/inadvertently writing Cass in a wrong, stereotypical, racist, or ornamentalizing way. So, I'd love like a bullet point or any tips you have on how to avoid that, and any articles/essay i can read to avoid doing so as well. This is especially important to me because The center of my project/film is going to be Cass. A really big goal of mine for this film is to avoid doing all the trashy things that DC does. Sorry if this is a lot, or a big ask, and ik this is a really long rant. 😅
🌺💌🫶🏾
Hi!!! I appreciate you attempting to portray Cass as nuanced as possible :))). I have two major caveats to the following answer: 1, that I'm just a non-expert with a narrow perspective so I can't speak for all Asians - take what I say with a grain of salt! And 2, that there is no completely 'non-stereotypical' portrayal. To base a portrayal of an Asian character merely on the avoidance of stereotypes would be to reinforce the notion of those stereotypes - in the avoidance is a reaffirmation that the stereotypes exist. In other words, there is no easy way to be 'non-racist' when portraying characters of colour, no simple rules to follow that will magically absolve a portrayal of all biases. Being anti-racist is a continual process of questioning with no simple answers.
That being said, the difficulty does not mean there's no point in trying! The most essential point to making Cass a well rounded character is simply that - to see her as a three-dimensional character with complex emotions, motivations, and relationships. You're already off to a good start by making her the protagonist!! For blogs that have general resources for writing Asian characters, see @checkyourasianbias and @writingnothanyu.
That being said (again), Cass' specific story is important to understanding how to portray her. The rest of this ask will deal with potential pitfalls & racist stereotypes that are more specific to Cass, and what you might do to avoid them (but also note that sometimes stereotypes can be invoked on purpose - I'll discuss that later).
Silent Asian / Inscrutable Oriental: 'Silent Asian' refers to the trope of Asians characters not speaking, while the related 'inscrutable Oriental' refers to Asian characters being presented as stoic or emotionless. While Asians who don't speak or are stoic exist in real life, the problem with these tropes is they sideline Asian character's emotions and narrative presence, and often portray Asians as passive or submissive. Cass' language disability makes it very easy for people to do this to her.
But avoiding this is also easy! Cass is canonically neither submissive nor emotionless, and highlighting her stubbornness & emotionality is already subverting this trope. Having Cass as a protagonist also subverts this trope - by showcasing her internal thoughts & reactions to the things around her, she is shown to not be inscrutable to the audience. (See this excellent post for a deeper dive into how inscrutability is subverted in her comics!)
Model Minority: Model minority refers to the idea that Asian people are inherently 'better' than others, particularly other minoritised groups (note that it is rooted in anti-Blackness). In fandom, this often looks like people using Cass as a 'mediator' or 'therapist' for other Batfam members, because assumedly she has no issues of her own. It can also look like statements that Cass can 'do no wrong', that she is a 'perfect golden child', that she always follows the rules, etc.
Cass' relationship to the model minority is complicated. Batgirl (2000) invokes this stereotype when David & Bruce call her 'perfect', and she herself believes in that perfection; she is, after all, an incredible fighter. But Cass' story makes it clear that a) she is far from problem-free and b) the pressure of perfection acts negatively upon her. My recommendation is not to avoid the invocation of the model minority, because it's an essential part of Cass' character, but to explore how being 'perfect' affects Cass' mindset and relationships. For example, her being perceived as perfect by Bruce forms a barrier between her and Steph, and also encourages some of her early suicidal tendencies. (See this post for more of my thoughts on the model minority in Cass' story).
Infantilisation: Infantilisation refers to the portrayal/perception of Asians (particularly East Asian women) as younger and more child-like. This happens in canon to Cass in the garbage that is Batman & Robin Eternal, but also in fandom by aging Cass down (she's mid-20s now and she was late teens when she first showed up), her calling people "big brother" "little brother", and in portraying her as not grasping simple concepts or speaking only simple words.
Cass does have an unusual upbringing & speech cadence but it is very important not to lean too far into infantilising speech patterns. For a lengthier analysis of the evolution of her speech (and which speech patterns to avoid), see this post. Also DO NOT make her call everyone big brother & little brother that one just irks me, and do not deage her. Finally, remember that Cass is not stupid! Her being a good fighter and her language disability do not and have never equalled stupidity.
White Saviour: The White Saviour trope happens when a White character 'saves' or 'redeems' a character of colour. In Cass' case, this is seen primarily in the fandom tendency to say Bruce gave Cass her moral code, or that he 'saved' her from David (more egregiously, that he 'saved' her from Lady Shiva). This also bleeds into the demonisation of Lady Shiva for not being present in Cass' life or a misattribution of David's abuse to Shiva. This can also look like a downplaying of the harm both Bruce and Babs caused Cass.
Avoiding this entails acknowledging the harm basically every White person enacted upon Cass. Rather than there being a unilaterally 'good' White person in Cass' life, explore the way her race is a fundamental part of how all the White people in her life view her. Obviously some people are more evil than others, but it is a lot more complex than just 'David = bad' and 'Bruce = good'. Also, her moral code is her own. It may be influenced by others, but she was ultimately the one who rejected her destiny and recognised killing as wrong.
Racial Essentialism: The link is a succinct definition of racial essentialism as the belief that "some traits, abilities, and characteristics are innate" to racial groups. In fandom, this often pops up in headcanons where Cass likes Chinese things - her favourite type of dance is Chinese dance, she loves to cook fried rice, she quotes Chairman Mao (these are all things I've seen 😭😭). This can also show up in the assumption that Cass knows Mandarin or Cantonese.
It's not that Cass can't like or know these things, but these hcs tend to stem from the mere fact that she's Chinese, as if there is an 'essence' that endows Chinese people with a love of dumplings or something. Cass is a character who is quite detached from her heritage, even I would argue during her stint in Hong Kong (sending her to Hong Kong was also racism on DC's part). I do think there is room to explore Cass learning more about her heritage, but this must be done carefully, and ideally from Chinese people who know Cass' character well. Otherwise, it's best to steer clear of these assumptions that can read as racial essentialism.
Asian Monolith: The Asian monolith refers to the homogenization of various Asian cultures (often into just East Asia). This particularly happens to the Asian American community as the link describes, but I would argue applies to Asians globally as well. The Asian monolith is prevalent in canon - Cass was just 'Asian' for the longest time until she was more recently established as Chinese. This can also look like mixing multiple Asian nationalities for 'Asian stories', such as the ninja narrative in Batgirl (2024), or the portrayal of Lady Shiva over the years.
Since Cass is relatively detached from Chinese culture, it's easy to avoid this trope if you're not discussing Asian cultures at all. However, Cass has non-East Asian side characters - Tai'Darshan and Aruna Shende come to mind - who deserve research and care if you choose to include them. Asians are also not a monolith within the same culture. Xanthe Zhou, Damian Wayne, and Cass are all Chinese, but all three characters have different relationships to being Chinese. The best way to break the monolith is to do research and carefully consider each Asian character as their own individual!
NOTE: While I recommend avoiding these stereotypes, there is also room for these stereotypes to be invoked and deconstructed. I already discussed how the model minority does that in Cass' story, but you can consider how the White figures in Cass' life - particularly Bruce - might hold some of these stereotypical beliefs, and how that might impact their relationship with Cass.
Here are some other minor things I would recommend avoiding:
Cass being 'twins' with one of her brothers. I know it's supposed to be a lighthearted joke, but the constant desire to associate Cass with a White boy is aggravating and collapses her character into her relationship with them
Cass loving ballet/wanting to be a ballerina. While she does like ballet, her love for it is often overemphasised when she's liked other dances far longer. It sometimes reads as a desire to make her more traditionally feminine. But read this post by @buggiebugga for a more nuanced understanding of dance's role in Cass' story
Cass using ASL. The idea that it would be easier than English for Cass to learn is a misunderstanding of both ASL as a language and her disability. See this post by @floatingnebulas for a great write-up on this
Let's end with some things you SHOULD do:
Read Batgirl (2000)! I'm sure you're already reading her comics but once you finish Batgirl (2000) you'll have a great grasp on her characterisation. And it's also just a wonderful comic!!!!
Include her hobbies outside of ballet! She's also a lover of reality TV, a huge foodie, and she likes to mosh!!! A very popular Cass fandom thing is saying her favourite food is burgers and she loves to chug huge glasses of milk :))))
Explore her nuanced relationships! Cass' relationships with David, Bruce, Babs, Steph, and Shiva are so complex & nuanced & wonderful! They all have their ups and downs, and digging into those complexities always makes for wonderful Cass stories.
Consider her themes! Cass' story involves very rich themes including agency, love, redemption, hope, and change. A good Cass story to me usually invokes one of more of those themes!
Read good Cass meta! Here are some of my favourite Cass meta posts that I've come across.
Let her be flawed! Cass is a wonderful character because she's complex and three dimensional. You'll see her flaws for yourself when you read her comics, but here is my own interpretation of them!
Most importantly, be self-interrogative! Even if we follow every bullet point to the letter, we still might have racial biases left unchecked. Whenever we make a creative choice, it's important to ask why we made the choice, and what effect it will have on the narrative. That doesn't mean raking ourselves over the coals, but just always being aware that none of us are perfect and we can always do better :)
Further Reading
Cass-related
How Cassandra Cain Defies A Stereotype
The Saga of Cassandra Cain's Batgirl (Or: How to Put a Popular Minority Superhero Through a Character Assassination So Thorough She Disappeared From Comics For Nearly A Decade Afterwards) by @fantastic-nonsense
Shadow of the Batgirl Interview
Asian Representation in General
Ornamentalism: A Feminist Theory for the Yellow Woman
Orientalism: Edward Said's groundbreaking book explained + Orientalism (Introduction and Chapter 1)
Fu Manchu, Yellow Peril, and Sinophobia
The Silk Road to Better Representation: Marvel’s Silk and the Progress of Asian American Female Representation
East Asian "China Doll" or "Dragon Lady"?
Techno-orientalism in Science Fiction (not that related to Cass but a really important concept, especially since this is prevalent in comics!)
Fic rec: Catch You On The Flip Side by waterunderthebridge12
https://archiveofourown.org/works/67205863
Summary:
“I had a… friend.”
Brenda looked at her for a long time. “A friend? Like a normal friend, or...?”
"I don’t know. We never… I never told her…”
“Oh,” she said. “Why not?”
Cass closed her eyes, letting the words tumble out of her mouth. “She’s dead.”
Stephanie Brown is gone. Cass moves to a new city, meets a new girl, and tries to survive a world that doesn’t make sense anymore.
Continuity: Post-Crisis
Era: Modern Age (1985–now)
Comic/Comic arc: Post-Batman: War Games
Main Characters: Cassandra Cain
Main Relationships: Cassandra Cain/Brenda Miller, Cassandra Cain/Stephanie Brown, Cassandra Cain & Everyone
Comment: Submitted by anon.
What helped me write trauma better is remembering that the nervous system learns predictions. If danger used to come after quiet, calm can feel threatening. If kindness used to come with a price, kindness can feel suspicious. So healing is not just “they know they’re safe now.” Healing is the slow, annoying, deeply unfair process of teaching the body that the old prediction is not always the present truth.
trans men absolutely are in sex work, the majority just present as women for work because it's much harder to make money if you don't. You don't see them because they're forced to detransition for work or you haven't even tried to look for the ones who are presenting masc. They're all over the sex work forums if you know what to look for and how they talk about it.
there is no "trans men aren't pushed into sex work" privilege. It is not a privilege to be forced into it AND have to detransition for it. This isn't a competition
I think a lot of "trans men aren't affected by this" stuff boils down to the trans men in question that ARE affected being deminished to not being men at all or being forced to detransition/pretend to be women
A lot of talk about boymoding and how hard it is but trans men do the exact same thing the other way around and a lot of times specifically because they are forced into sex work
The trans community in general would be way healthier if we realized we literally go through the same exact stuff
I highly recommend, infact greatly urge, that everyone read "Working Guys: A Transmasculine Sex Worker Anthology" edited by Jack Parker.
Working Guys is a collection of essays, personal narratives and interviews about the lives of transmasculine sex workers, in our own words.
It has writing by everyone from girlmoding full-service ecorts to medically transitioned porn stars.
It's one of the only published works on the topic (in fact, I think it might be currently he the sole published work on the topic in English).
As a trans man who has done sex work in vairey of context both while girlmoding and after socially and medically transitioning, I found it to be an excellent collection of raw and honest writing by people whose stories are so often erased.
Sorry we really went from free the nipple, take back the night, slut walks, and ending gender/sex segregation in sports being fucking milquetoast feminism 101 concepts to fucking girl dinner and "I just worry about fairness if we let trans girls play against cis ones" and "it was right of that woman to call the cops on a black man for existing near here in public during the day time because men are all violent monsters" and "radical feminism isn't transphobic we just need to kill all men including trans ones those oppressive traitors" and I will legit never be able to be normal about it. What the FUCK happened. I'd say I wonder what the feminists of my youth would say about this but I'm one and lemme tell ya I want to throw up. Go fucking read bell hooks or do something else useful please because all of this learned helplessness, gender essentialism, and transphobia dressed up as feminism is actively holding us back.
i do think the concept of individual instances of male sexualization vs the pervasive sexualization of women in comics kicks peoples ass. because to be honest superhero comics have a long history of misogyny, and the way every female character is drawn as a pinup no matter the context of the panel is part of that. and there are plenty of cases where men are drawn to show off their ass or muscles, but its never to the same degree of objectification as it is to women. the costumes, the poses, the storylines, everything contributes to the disrespect female characters get in comics. not to mention, most times men are sexualized in a comic's art, its in a single panel and the rest of the book they are drawn normally. whereas with women, when an artist is sexualizing them, there are no panels in the book that dont have her arching her back or showing off her tits in some way. every time a man is sexualized its individual, and every time a woman is sexualized its contributing to a culture of misogyny
anyway read Sunburn by Chloe Michelle Howarth if the following elevator pitch sounds interesting to you: "Good Luck Babe if it was a book told from the perspective of the other girl"
I think NTT has a very present theme of consent and bodily autonomy. Because yeah, there's that thing with Slade and Terra, but beyond that every character deals with it in someway, even if it isn’t necessarily addressed as such.
There's Raven's conception and some elements of her relationship with Trigon.
Wally's torn feelings between love and hate for Raven as a result of the love spell she put on him and his fear of doing something with her that he wouldn't have wanted prior to it.
Cyborg's modifications to his body when he explicitly didn't want them and would have rather died;
Similarly, Gar's genetic change at the hands of his dad dictating the rest of his life, plus all the flirting he does which at times borders on harassment (which he uses as a way to distract himself, but it's still really wrong);
Kory's status as a slave, and Mirage disguising as her to pose naked on a magazine;
Mirage tricking Dick to sleep with her when he clearly wouldn't have otherwise;
Donna marrying a much older man (which isn't necessarily bad but it does have to do with her agency);
Hijab is not much different from many different hair coverings which used to be extremely common throughout the world. All of those had their own religious connections with them. Hair coverings were often a tool of both religion and "modesty", the loaded gendered concept. Nowadays it's most commonly associated with Islam therefore it strikes out as Abnormal. A bra too serves the same purpose, yet its considered the "acceptable" tool of Modesty with no loaded baggage whatsoever while Hijab is the "backwards" tool of modesty with Evil Baggage. The same concept, when it's Muslim racialized, is Backwards and Violent, yet the violence of the bra, because it is accepted among White people too, is acceptable and invisible
Can you imagine if tomorrow wearing a bra was seen as completely backwards, but nothing else changed socially for women, yet the new policy was to force women to take their bras off in public? What, that sounds like the wrong way to go about it to you because it would be humiliating and misogynistic? Now lets apply that humanity to other people's cultures
Helena Bertinelli and Renee Montoya: two of the non-Bat Gotham vigilantes! They have a super intense friendship and sometimes partner up together, and I love them.
Birds of Prey (2010) #13
It can be really hard to figure out which comics to read to find a ship's interactions, so hopefully this helps someone! If I missed anything, please let me know!
The Question: Pipeline
Convergence: The Question #2
The Question: Pipeline (2011) - Helena and Renee team up to bring down organized crime. Featuring the two of them kicking ass and taking names, and bonding over their relationships to the original Question. Probably the meatiest bit of HelRenee canon. Also found as backups in Detective Comics #854-865.
Birds of Prey (2010) #12-13 - Another team-up, this time with Helena trying to recruit Renee to the Birds of Prey. They're friends!
Convergence: The Question - Part of the larger Convergence event, but here they are staying together and end up teaming up to stop Two-Face. (They also team up with Renee's ex, Kate Kane.)
Lois Lane (2019) #10 - the reader is briefly shown a number of alternate universes, including one where Helena and Renee are together. Only one image but it's a nice touch!
Birds of Prey (2010) #12
(If you're looking for a more exhaustive reading list, this is a pretty good place to start for Renee and there is a fairly comprehensive guide to Helena here.)
— in a way that will also protect them from their parents & guardians right?
"what"
— if a parent or guardian wanted to abuse their child, would what you're trying to do make it harder for them?
"..."
— *pulls out a chart that shows 76% of abused children were victimized by a parent or legal guardian* will what you're advocating for make it easier for the majority child abusers, which is overwhelmingly parents & guardians, to get away with abuse?
"idk what this has to do with anything we just want to restrict children's freedoms more & give parents more control over them. you know. to protect them from adults who want to abuse them"
Tumblr added a bunch of tracking shit to share urls, so now ill teach you how to get rid of them
if you copy a url by sharing on the website, the link will look like this
getting rid of tracking in these is easy, just delete everything after the question mark and you are golden
in the case for the app, its slightly more complicated
first you have to delete at. that appears before tumblr(.)com the other tracking shit on this one has a lot more info, so please, clean app urls. after the first set of numbers, there's a / you have to delete everything after it
I heavily recommend getting very good at spotting Meta glasses. Like I'm talking so good all you need is a glance. Otherwise, I would go about public life bearing in mind that more and more people are wearing expensive camera glasses that can record you without you realizing.
Learn how to identify smart glasses through visual cues, behavioral patterns, and recording indicators. Handle privacy concerns with this pr
Ready or not, the smart glasses future is upon us.
With smart glasses, there are concerns around being recorded. Fortunately, you can watch for indicator lights and certain movements as a way
Here are some basic primers. If someone is wearing what look like Meta glasses, they usually have a small circular camera in the outer corners of the lenses, like the one on your phone.
I would also regularly check their own product pages so you're on top of what the models look like. They tend to have larger frames, but come in a variety of shapes and colors.
Shop every style. Every color. Prices from $299 to $499. Browse Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley Meta AI glasses and sunglasses to find your pair.
The creator of Nearby Glasses made the app after reading 404 Media's coverage of how people are using Meta's Ray-Bans smartglasses to film p
A new hobbyist developed app warns if people nearby may be wearing smart glasses, such as Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses, which stalkers and harassers have repeatedly used to film people without their knowledge or consent. The app scans for smart glasses’ distinctive Bluetooth signatures and sends a push alert if it detects a potential pair of glasses in the local area.
The app comes as companies such as Meta continue to add AI-powered features to their glasses. Earlier this month The New York Times reported Meta was working on adding facial recognition to its smart glasses. “Name Tag,” as the feature is called, would let smart glasses wearers identify people and get information about them from Meta's AI assistant, the report said.
Not necessarily, because Meta has military contracts (source 1, source 2, source 3), is testing surveillance tech on their own employees and their customers (source 4, source 5), and there are at least two class action lawsuits against them for privacy violations (source 6, source 7, source 8). There is also some sketchy stuff about workers being forced to review material, which may or may not be used without the customer's permission, that is sensitive, graphic, and/or pornographic (source 9).
The American Foundation for the Blind has said that "The Ray-Ban Meta glasses are an accessibility tool only by coincidence. That makes them more affordable and, in many ways, unaware of the needs of users with reduced vision" although they do have seemingly positive views on Meta Glasses as a whole. (source 10). It also seems like their marketing push as accessibility devices began last year (source 11).
But to add even more into the nonsense, Meta is now toying around with adding a "limit" to the functionality of their glasses unless their users pay for more access (source 12). AND, as stated above, Meta has officially added facial recognition code in their glasses and only admitted it after being called out, which is basically the death of privacy as we know it (source 13, source 14, source 15). And oh look another lawsuit because of it (source 16) THAT THEY LOST (source 17)!
Long story short: I don't begrudge someone using them as a disability aid overall, but ultimately both their privacy and other people's privacy are being disregarded by Meta and that is not and should not be acceptable by any means.
I understand there is no ethical consumption under capitalism but there is a level of personal responsibility someone has to take when using them if they truly truly need them, such as opting out of sharing information, not filming strangers without permission, not posting footage of strangers online, opting out of facial recognition if possible, etc.
Disabled people deserve assistive technology AND privacy rights, and Meta is not the solution.
