*** This ask has been edited and condensed for clarity and context.
Anonymous asked: I have 3 Asian characters in the main friend group of my story. One is mixed race (Indian and Dominican), one is Chinese (comes from a Cantonese-speaking family), and the last one is a Japanese critique on Tumblr coquettes and the effects of of toxic internet communities on teenage girls. I'm kind of concerned about my South Asian character coming from a low income household, but I'm worried that my Japanese character might embody some traits that fit into stereotypes about Asian girls being rude and unhinged, especially because I explore a lot of complex and taboo subjects with her character. I do have sensitivity readers and was told (by an Asian person) that the character is a a breath of fresh air because she defies a lot of expectations placed on Japanese girls, but is there something else I should do as well? Could this be an offensive portrayal of a Japanese-American girl with a mental illness?
I'm not Japanese-American, so I am not the best person to tell you whether or not this could be an offensive portrayal of a Japanese-American person. What I can tell you is when it comes to writing about race-based and cultural-based experiences (like racism, diaspora, and being raised by immigrant parents), and exploring sensitive topics (like mental illness, addiction, sexuality, and violence) through a racial and/or cultural lens, if you are not yourself of that race or culture, you have to ask yourself whether you're the best person to tell these characters' stories.
We do need more diversity in fiction, and not only does that mean boosting "own voices" writers, it means making an effort to create casts of characters that are reflective of the world around us. However, there's a big difference between including diverse characters in your cast versus presuming to explore the experiences of race, culture, ability, and identity from the outside, having never had that experience yourself.
And yes, as writers, a big part of what we do is write about things we haven't or can't experience. Andy Weir has never been to Mars. Stephenie Meyer has never been a vampire. Leigh Bardugo wasn't born able to manipulate the elements. But, what all of these things have in common is they're things either no one can experience or anyone could experience. They're not something you could only experience only based on your race, culture, ability, or identity.
There are those who deeply feel you should not write about racial, cultural, ability-based, or identity-based experiences you have not yourself experienced, even if you do a lot of research and use sensitivity readers. And there are those who deeply feel all writers should be able to write about anything they want, no matter what. I can't tell you where you should fall in that, but I can offer advice, which is this: if you choose to portray racial, cultural, ability-based, or identity-based experiences that you have not had and could not have because you're not of that race, culture, ability, or identity--even if you do a ton of research and use lots of sensitivity readers, you have to be prepared to be heavily criticized by people who don't feel you had the right to write about these things coming from outside the experience.
And most of all, if your gut instinct is telling you you're doing something potentially offensive and/or harmful, you absolutely are. Listen to your gut and reconsider why you're even writing this in the first place. Far too often, it's coming from a place of fetishism rather than a unique desire to tell a story that has yet to be told.
So, just some things to consider. At the very least, continue to do a ton of research and make sure to work with multiple professional sensitivity readers from the backgrounds you're choosing to portray.
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