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Dark features/people as blessed, white and light people as sick
ladyoftheseastuff asked:
I'm writing a fantasy story where the world is permanently covered in snow & ice. The people share a common culture & are loyal to their city states, but they are not homogeneous in appearance; there will be many, many characters coded as PoC. The main religion centers on the sun, & those with dark features are 'favoured' by the sun god, while pale people or anyone who has white/blonde hair are thought vulnerable to "snow sickness", a disease caused by environmental factors (1/2) & have other rules and customs to gain religious approval. It's dangerous & infectious but not well understood. It affects social standing and opportunities, but it's meant to be tied with ideas of youth, vitality, & fear of aging & sickness: it's not limited to those coded as white. This is a cultural detail and not part of the main conflict, but I want to avoid unintentional allegories/parallels & fetishization. Is this a concept that's too close to crossing any of those lines? (2/2)
This feels less like a means to show dark skinned people in an empowering light and more like a weak attempt at subversion. My primary concern (which you have not specified) is how do the "blessed" class treat the "sickly" so to speak. We have fantasy stories like The Grisha Trilogy and Girls of Paper and Fire, which deal with magical ability/feature-based segregation and conflict.
In both cases there is a sense of entitlement which comes with hailing from the "favoured" class, quite obvious, since there will always be an inherent othering metaphor whenever you create such a division, whether it was meant to be a source of conflict or not.
However, the two mentioned series use the "magical people are blessed, non magical people are to be pitied" arc which is somewhat more subtle than divisions created just on the basis of skin colour.
Disclaimer as I do not have albinism or vitiligo: The latter can be extremely harmful, and not just in a racial context, but in cases of albinism, vitiligo etc.
~Mod Mimi
The pitfalls of subversions
While it is always lovely to see dark features considered in a favorable way, there are some issues you may come across. Such a story could easily end up dressing those you wished to uphold as bad guys in the readers' eyes, even if the story's society and the sun god etc. thinks they're amazing, and white and light people as the victims of dark people, deserving reader sympathy. This may especially be the case based on how these groups get treated in the story.
These sort of subversions lean dangerously into "reverse discrimination" plots which are not overall accurate or favorable allegories for your real, human audience. There being diversity on both sides doesn't necessary fix this issue or remove racial or ethnic implications. On that note, and as Mimi mentioned, being demonized and ostracized particularly for skin and genetic disorders like albinism is already a thing. What does your concept say of them?
I think Dark/Black as good and Light/white as bad is a doable concept. Your concept differs a bit from simply subverting black/white tropes. This is not just Black good guys and night skies being peaceful or neutral. It's not just white/light villains (as opposed to victims) or snow symbolling death or sickness.
White and light people are quite blatantly being declared as sick and unfavored and they may very well be victims in the reader's eye with the dark people being the villainous, unsympathetic bunch. Is this your intention?
More to consider
Such a concept requires thoughtful, careful planning and intentional writing. You should have an understanding of what your story implies to the readers and the real-life takeaways.
I think it's possible to make dark skin the favored skin of the sun god without it meaning white/light people stand in a negative light and are sick or unworthy.
Consider what it is that you like about the concept of your story. Can you keep the essence of whatever it is that excites you about your ideas, without denying a whole group of people favor? If not, how will you go about telling such a tale that is not meant to symbolize a sort of reversal of roles discrimination?
Why does the sun god get to determine what is good?
Are there other gods that might have different strong opinions? Perhaps who is favored varies by time of day, season, region, culture, god?
Can dark skin get its favor without white and light features being deemed unfavorable as a whole?
How big of a deal does this favor have to be? I advise reconsidering it being the point of discrimination to white/light people for all the reasons already described.
No matter the directions you go, please research and get the appropriate beta-readers for feedback on the in-depth concepts and story.
~Mod Colette
"hurt feelings are not oppression"
Sure but knife attacks to the heart, neck, face, abdomen, and legs are a lot more than just "hurt feelings" especially when they are racially motivated.
250k white girls raped by 87%-95% pakistani muslims is a lot more than "hurt feelings"
Also I dont want to hear shit when black people are so quick to bring up "micro aggressions" whenever a white person does literally anything and not even trying to be demeaning either, they just hate white people and get mad when having to interact with them.
Arrested Cincinnati Attacker Looks Amused & Bored in Court
This is one of the violent thugs responsible for that unconscionable attack in Cincinnati... "How dare you harass me for committing a crime... RACISTS!"
White woman detained by border patrol as she crosses back into the US from Mexico. When we start seeing this happen to White people, just know that, 1st, we told you so, 2nd, y'all voted for this, and 3rd, no one will be untouched by Trump and his unqualified and wicked administration. Because of Trump's ultimate goal, the typical, everyday White people are no longer insulated from the very treatments that Black and Brown people have endured for decades & centuries...welcome to the club!
Republicans’ “anti-DEI” bill is a disgrace. On one hand, it says that racism doesn't exist. On the other hand, it says there’s rampant “reverse racism." This is the unserious work of the Republican Party. P.S. they should keep MLK’s name out their mouth.
@reppressley
