Trope Discussion: Tokenism / Having Only One Blind Character
What if I told you there was a solution to that blind character you’re worried about? What if I could give you a solution to your fear that your blind character will perpetuate stereotypes? What if I could suggest a way to soothe much of your anxiety around representation in your story?
Add more than one blind character to your story.
That’s my suggestion to almost every story I am presented with as a sensitivity reader.
For some reason, many people give me pushback on this. I have heard every excuse about why the story cannot have more than one blind character, even while the writer worries about the portrayal of that character.
I suspect that this is because having more than one blind character is assumed to be unrealistic in general or to the setting. Perhaps it doesn’t fit the plot the writer wants to write about. Perhaps the writer simply cannot think of ways to portray blindness that won’t feel repetitive to them.
Whatever the reason, my advice is often the same. Add another blind character.
Avoiding Stereotypes
Adding more than one blind character can have many benefits. One of which is dealing with stereotypes or tropes you may feel nervous about. Perhaps your blind character is a musician. You want to write this story, but you don’t want to feel like you’re falling close to the trope of a blind music prodigy. Adding another blind character with a different interest could help show readers that blind people are all different, with many different hobbies and careers.
Perhaps your blind character went blind through a work-related accident. You want to show a character going through this in a realistic way, but you don’t want readers to come away believing the stereotype that all blind people go blind in accidents that are super tragic and awful. My usual suggestion here is to add at least two other blind characters who don’t go blind through traumatic accidents.
My preference is actually three.
This can alert readers to many different experiences with blindness. Not only does this help to ease the issue of stereotype, but effectively challenges it. It works best if the one who goes blind through an accident or incident is not the main character.
Showing the Spectrum of Blindness
Yes, blindness is a spectrum. Not all blindness is the same and not everyone has the same experience with blindness.
Showing the spectrum of blindness is possible when the story contains more than one blind character. It allows audiences to become aware of this spectrum and may even spark the urge to learn more.
The spectrum of blindness influences not only what people see, but how they navigate the world. This will influence the kinds of assistive devices they use and problems they may need to get around. I wrote a little about this in this post on myths that harm blind people.
Having More Than One Blind Character
Portraying the spectrum of blindness may also make it easier for people to have more than one blind character. I suspect this is a challenge because of the ableist idea that having more than one blind character would be unrealistic; we must directly challenge this idea, asking why it has to be that way.
This may not work for every story, but an exercise could be helpful. While I know Avatar: The Last Airbender is certainly not a perfect show and not everyone has watched it, I will use it for a brief example. I know many people, including blind people, who enjoyed the show as young people.
Toph, for example, is a popular blind character. Her popularity and unique personality would not be diminished by Avatar: The Last Airbender having another blind character or even multiple blind characters. Perhaps the audience could have seen Iroh adapt to vision loss due to old age, or experienced Zuko live with vision loss after his banishment. If low vision was not already part of the reason his father saw him as weak, or why he targeted Zuko’s face the way he did. Perhaps we could have learned how the Fire Nation treats disabled people.
On a lighter note, it would have been interesting for Aang to remember a blind Air Nomad. How interesting would it be for a blind character to be able to fly?
Additionally, while Toph’s isolation is huge part of her character arc, imagine what it would have done for the story for her to meet other blind characters and learn how they live. Imagine how it may have felt for her to learn how other parents interact with their blind kids. The complicated feelings that would have stirred up at meeting even one other blind person on their travels.
If you don’t like Avatar or want to use something else, feel free to share it with me sometime!
Your blind characters should have a community even if they aren’t interacting all the time. The community means friends, yes, but it also means learning about O&M and assistive technology. It allows blind people to know others who are like them.
Giving your blind character other blind characters to interact with is so important and often overlooked.
And on that note:
Write For Blind People, Too
I write often on this blog about how important it is for content to be accessible for blind people. What writers don’t consider as often is that they are writing for blind people, too.
This means letting blind people have characters who are like them. Characters who are not only blind, but who interact with their blindness in different ways. Characters who have blind friends, acquaintances, teachers, etc.
Blind people need to see characters like them who interact with characters like them. Give blind characters a community so your audience can experience that, too.
If you worry that having more than one blind character might seem unrealistic, consider how unrealistic it is to have all abled characters and only one disabled character. You aren’t only writing to avoid stereotypes and reach a non-disabled audience, you are reaching a disabled audience as well. You are reaching, even drawing in, a blind audience. They don’t need to be convinced about the realism of community.
Don’t forget to write with your blind audience in mind.
In the end, having more than one blind character can only enhance your story.
Trope Discussion: Blind Characters Covering Their Eyes
The majority of the projects I am asked to beta include blind characters who cover their eyes. Modern characters wear sunglasses. Other characters wear blindfolds for older settings. The story usually justifies the decision in some way, but I always ask: why?
I also neglected to include this in my post on Things I Want to See More of / Less of in Blind Characters. I don’t think I considered it at the time. However, unlike my post on blind seers, I think this trope actually causes some harm in subtle ways and I usually encourage avoiding it. I’ll discuss why in this post.
What’s Wrong With Blind Characters Covering Their Eyes?
Keep in mind that blind characters are not so common. Because they aren’t very common and because not everyone in your audience knows a blind person in real life, the way the character is represented could lead audiences to believe that is how blind people are. This, coupled with a general lack of information given in everyday life, allows writers or artists to unintentionally influence how real life blind people are perceived.
Sure, blind people create blind characters as well. However, we don’t usually get as much exposure or opportunities. We could be held back by other barriers, such as poverty. This means it can be hard to counteract tropes we don’t like or that activity harm us.
Blind characters covering their eyes is potentially harmful for a few reasons.
One reason is that it is assumed that all blind people always cover their eyes. This means that in real life, blind people are not as easily recognized even when they have a cane. The white cane is supposed to be what alerts others that a person is blind. Instead, people get confused about why a blind person isn’t wearing sunglasses if they’re blind. This leads to unnecessary explanations, lost time, refusal to help, and sometimes hostility. Wearing sunglasses helps some blind people communicate blindness more easily. They may feel forced to adopt the stereotype.
Another reason is that it unknowingly touches on the pressure some blind people face to cover their eyes. This could be because they are self-conscious about them or because of pressure to make other people feel more comfortable. This pressure could originate from the way their eyes look or move, or even due to lack of eye contact. Sometimes, stories present these ideas as normal for blind people, which increases the idea that blind people should be ashamed of their eyes or that they should prioritize the comfort of others for something superficial.
Where Did the Stereotype Come From?
While I am not sure about the exact origins, the stereotype probably comes from a few sources: shorthand symbolism and abled actors playing blind characters.
-Shorthand symbolism could be used in art or plays to indicate a character’s blindness.
-Because films and shows are so popular and more easily consumed, audiences are more often exposed to blind people on the screen. Actors who aren’t blind often wear sunglasses to make them appear blind to audiences who would perceive eye movements as breaking character. The actors in live-action material often wear sunglasses to hide their eyes. Why blind actors aren’t hired initially is another story.
-Some blind people who wear sunglasses for any reason may also simply be more recognizable as a blind person as opposed to blind people who don’t wear sunglasses. This means others may not be aware that blind who don’t wear dark sunglasses exist.
The Sunglasses Stereotype
I should mention here that blind people are simultaneously expected to wear sunglasses as a signifier of blindness while also accused of faking for wearing them. The rationale is the idea that blind people can’t see the sun and therefore would never need sunglasses. This, of course, depends on the stereotypes that all blind people are totally blind, which is not true. Most sources I have found over my time writing this blog state that less than 10 to 15% of blind people are totally blind, which means about 85 to 90% of blind people have light perception or some residual vision.
When Should Our Characters Wear Sunglasses or a Blindfold?
Many writers have characters cover their eyes because it feels right. Some assume the character would feel uncomfortable with the way their eyes look and that they prefer to hide them. In order to write this trope well, you must understand your reason behind it.
Let’s examine why blind people wear sunglasses in real life. This page is a good one to read and was very helpful in constructing this post.
Light sensitivity, or photophobia, occurs when people have sensitivity to light, usually sunlight. Blind people can also expirience this.
Sunglasses are used to shield their eyes from the sun when outdoors and from big windows when indoors. Some sources state synthetic lighting is not usually an issue and others state some people may want to wear their sunglasses indoors.
For characters who aren’t modern, the equivalent of sunglasses would probably be a blindfold or eye patch.
Blind people like fashion just as the next person. They might enjoy wearing sunglasses occasionally. However, they don’t wear them all the time.
Blind people might also want to protect their eyes from dust or injury, whether they can see or not. This can be accomplished with sunglasses or regular glasses.
How Do We Write Blind Characters Covering Their Eyes Respectfully?
This is one of those tropes I prefer people avoid. I say “avoid” because I want to come across it less which means way less people need to use it.
Think about why you want your blind character to cover their eyes.
Is it because it simply feels right to you? Is it because you believe it will help audiences understand or accept that your character is blind? Is it because you can’t imagine your character any other way? Is it because your feel deep down that your character’s eyes would make other characters uncomfortable?
Think about where this idea comes from and whether you really want to use it.
If you have decided it makes sense for your character to cover their eyes, here are some tips for you to do it well.
1. If they use sunglasses for fashion, have the blind character go without the accessory periodically throughout the story. Consider avoiding them covering their eyes when they are first introduced, as first impressions can be memorable. Your blind character should not be the only one who happens to wear sunglasses as part of their style.
2. If they are sensitive to light, do research on photophobia. Consider where the character is when covering their eyes. Do they mostly wear sunglasses outside and near big windows? Do screens bother them? Make it clear in the story.
3. I always suggest having more than one blind character in a story. This is important for moments such as this. Having a blind character who doesn’t cover their eyes shows that not all blind people cover their eyes. This, in addition to a writer understanding exactly why their character covers their eyes, will help immensely.
This trope is a problem when no reference to the alternative is made, usually because the writer doesn’t understand what they’re writing about. They haven’t considered the reasons blind people cover their eyes and therefore aren’t aware that not all blind people do so. Having more than one blind character in the story shows more than one experience, including covering or not covering eyes. Showing different experiences eliminates the idea that blind people “just do” certain things. It makes people think.
If you want audiences to think, you first need to ask: why?
When writing marginalized characters, remember that their marginalization decreases the amount of accurate information available about them. Audiences don’t have as many resources to check. They may even lack the inclination to do so at all. This could be because of a desire to maintain biases or simply because they don’t consider blind people much outside of entertainment or pity. Surprisingly, some people are even actively resistant or hostile to the idea of taking time to learn about the experiences of blind people.
This means your story could be more impactful than you realize.
When you’re writing, ask yourself the question: why? You might realize that it makes for a richer, more informed story.
most people who don’t use white canes themselves tend to not understand how they work, and so, when portraying blind characters who use them, tend to get it very wrong. so, i thought i’d write up a small informative post about white canes, how they’re designed, and how they’re used.
most of these misconceptions seem to be based around the mistake of thinking a white cane and a cane meant for mobility are more similar than they actually are. which makes sense - most people know at least one person who uses a cane for mobility, while relatively few people interact with the blind. so, because they’re both canes, they must be the same, right? the answer: nope.
purpose
mobility canes are meant to provide additional support for people who, for whatever reason, have difficulty walking without more support.
meanwhile, the main purposes of a white cane are to:
detect obstacles
give the user detailed info about the texture of the ground
detect ledges, steps, and curbs
identify them as blind to the people around them
these things and the things mobility canes are meant to do, beyond the incredibly general “Help user get around”, don’t really overlap at all. so of course, they’re different to suit their different uses.
design
first things first: canes for the blind don’t come in any other colors, they’re always white. thus white cane is synonymous with cane for the blind - it is a color meant to identify the user as a person with a vision disability.
one thing about white canes is, because they are not meant to support weight, they don’t need to be particularly strong. it’s not like you could easily grab one and break it, of course, but they simply do not need to be the same kind of solid and sturdy that a mobility cane is.
strength isn’t a priority here. thus, their design is based around convenience instead.
white canes are hollow, making them more lightweight. also, most of them fold up so it’s easier to hold them while sitting down. if i’m on the train or the bus, i typically fold down the top section, and when i’m in class, i fold it up, pull the loop over to hold it together, and keep it by my feet.
[image: a white cane partially folded]
another thing about white canes is that they’re long. generally, they’re meant to reach to around a little bit under your shoulder. for example, im 5'3"/160cm tall, and my cane is 4'5"/132cm long. that’s a huge portion of my height!
[image: a person holding a white cane in an inactive position, while to their left is a person walking white holding a white cane.]
looooooooong
one more thing! tips.
white canes have removable tips, and this is pretty important for several reasons.
the tip of a cane will get VERY dirty. personally, when i get home, i remove the tip before i use my cane indoors; this helps keep dirty and water off my floor!
and because white canes are used by either dragging or tapping them across the ground, the tip wears down. tips can be bought separately, meaning you don’t need to replace your cane entirely every time it’s worn down too much.
and that opens up some possibility for different tips!
[image: white cane tips, from left to right: a standard tip, a teardrop tip, a metal tip, and a roller tip.]
standard tips are the ordinary kind, and come with the cane.
teardrop/marshmallow tips (different names for the same thing) are fatter. the thing is, white canes dragging across the ground will get caught in a LOT of things. listen. when my cane gets stuck in a crack in the sidewalk, the inevitable thing is that it gets jammed into my thigh and a giant bruise forms. because of their shape, marshmallow/teardrop tips get caught less often.
metal tips are very narrow and made of metal. they’ll make a louder sound when tapped, and they last way longer than nylon tips. using them outside is guaranteed to get caught even more frequently than a standard tip, but they’re quite useful in large indoor areas like a mall or a school.
roller tips are basically like a ball - they roll straight over cracks and stuff, and are the least likely to get caught. they’re also the most expensive type to get.
use
there’s several ways to use a white cane.
these two methods are the most common, and both serve the purpose of letting the user know about obstacles in their path and notifying them of curbs and steps. in both cases, the cane is swiped from 2in/5cm out from their shoulder on one side, to 2in/5cm out from the other:
method 1: tap a point on the ground out from one side and to the other repeatedly. this involves lifting the cane off the ground.
method 2: swipe the cane out from one side to the other without lifting it, keeping it in constant contact with the ground.
when standing, typically the user will hold the cane upright to take up less space and decrease the likelihood of tripping someone. so yeah they’re not gonna just keep it out stretched.
end
that’s pretty much it! if you have any questions, feel free to ask, and please tell me if my word choice is unclear/there’s some place that’s too confusing.
all of this information is stuff i learned while being trained to use a cane, as well as my experience using one.
websites where you can get more info about blindness:
Things I Want to See More of/Less of in Blind Characters
Format borrowed from WritingWithColor]
Note: This is not an excuse to harass blind/visually impaired/low vision writers writing in the ‘Less of’ category. You’ll see I have included several instances where a story should be written by a blind writer. You should also consider that blind writers have a lot more insight and flexibility about what they can write than you do, by nature of being blind themselves and therefore able to portray things in a more nuanced way. They cannot misrepresent themselves.]
Here are some things I personally would like to see in stories about blind characters!
-Characters with varying types of blindness.
I wanted to include more information at the request of my followers who felt confused by some of the wording, so I have edited this post as of 2022.
Types of blindness include: cortical blindness, progressive vision loss, blind spots, total blindness (meaning no light perception), characters with only light and shadow perception (note that some people also refer to themselves as ‘totally blind’ or ‘totally blind but with some light perception’ for ease of communication outside of medical contexts, but totally blind generally refers to people without any light perception at all), eyes with differing kinds of blindness (partial blindness, total blindness in one eye but not the other, etc), characters with low vision in both eyes, characters with prosthetic eyes. Keep in mind that visual acuity is measured through a person’s best eye with best correction.
-Blind main characters. Blind heroes and blind villains. Blind love interests!
-Blind characters who are considered attractive or charismatic
-LGBTQ blind characters! Polyamorous blind characters. Blind characters with additional disabilities. Blind characters of color.
-Active blind characters: in sports, martial arts, theatre, nature-y things, and art. Blind characters doing unexpected things. Playing instruments, being competitive, etc. This also applies to jobs.
-To add to the last point: I want to see them using adaptive technology or skills rather than magic that completely erases their disability. So rather than magic that enables someone to read, magic or technology that reads to them, like real-world technologies, or use of Braille.
-Using technology. Using phones, especially modern phones which have more accessibility options. Too many people don’t believe blind people can use phones and if you perpetuate that idea in your modern styled narrative, you need to fix it. Blind people also have radios, TVs, etc, and they do use them.
-Reading and writing in Braille
-Using canes, guide dogs, or a combination of both. Learn the pros and cons of these and maybe include more than one for different characters
-Stories with more than one blind character. Especially stories with blind characters interacting and having a sense of community, perhaps exploring diversity of opinions and ways of navigating the world. One thing I try to show on this blog is that blind people are diverse even in how they interact with their blindness.
-inventions or magic for blind people being invented/developed BY blind people
-acknowledgment of difficulties that blind people face: economic challenges, ableism from family (although stories focusing on this as a plot/theme just might be best left up to blind writers), barriers in transportation due to being unable to drive, lack of accessibility in entertainment and education
Things I Want To See Less Of:
Blind characters: -being portrayed as sad or broken because of blindness
-wanting to be sighted
-hating their glasses or canes
-being innocent, helpless, or unrealistically kind and selfless only because of their blindness
-being portrayed as ungrateful or rude in general but mostly when refusing help they don’t need. Characters like Toph are fine because her attitude has nothing to do with her blindness when refusing to make strangers feel good.
-being portrayed as rich or overly privileged in order to portray the character as spoiled/ungrateful, particularly for refusing unnecessary help or for asking for accessibility. [This worked with Toph because riches and privilege were used to explore different sides of her, such as a more socially competent/powerful side. It is important to remember that many disabled people struggle with income and finding employment due to various factors such as ableism in hiring, transportation difficulties, lack of accessibility in the workplace, changing vision conditions and other resulting health problems.]
-going blind due to accidents or trauma. I want to see this less often, as the leading causes of blindness today are unrelated to tragic accidents/incidents. The leading causes of blindness worldwide, according to the World Health Organization in 2022, are uncorrected refractive errors and cataracts. Workplace accidents, however, are the exception to this according to my research. In instances where you want to write a character going blind due to accidents, incidents, or other traumatic injury, it is helpful to consider how blindness is often portrayed as tragic. Narratives about traumatic accidents can strengthen the idea that blindness itself is inherently traumatic and tragic, even for those who are born blind. It can also increase the misconception that an accident is the most common cause of blindness. Because this idea is so strong, I usually prefer to avoid characters going blind through one-off traumatic accidents, and instead prefer characters going blind through other ways. However, if someone wishes to write characters going blind this way, such as due to a workplace accident, it is helpful to make an effort to separate trauma from the blindness itself where possible, rather than focusing on blindness as trauma throughout the story. These posts may help: oneandtwo.
-avoiding certain words. Blind people do not go out of their way to avoid sight-related expressions unless it is an ironic joke. No one casually says ‘I was listening to a show’ unless it is audio-only. “Listening to a show on TV’ is not a thing unless it was on in the background- ‘watch’ is perfectly acceptable
-blind characters being ‘cured’, at least when they have conditions that cannot be cured completely or at all, such as Retinitis Pigmentosa—and, no, fantasy is not an excuse. The cure narrative is especially common for totally blind characters who have never been able to see, which would require lots of adjustment in real life. Cures also tend to erase blind characters from stories. I feel that stories like this are best left up to blind writers themselves. However, this post may help when writing a blind character’s remaining vision improving, complete with an addition from a person who had visual rehabilitation.
Of course, if you want to try writing some of these things, you are free to do so! I suggest consulting with a few blind people either way. My intention is not to hold anyone back, but to make people think. Many of my readers ask questions I had not considered and it is fantastic to engage with people thinking on this post and how to make some of these things work well in their stories.
