#diversity in media
DES LIENS POUR TOUJOURS PLUS DE FUN !! :
- Le site du Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media et celui de Miss Representation (d'où viennent pas mal des chiffres sur genre et médias cités ici)
- Un pdf sur les femmes au travail dans les films et à la télé et un autre sur les disparités de genre dans les films familiaux US du GDIGM
- Un chouette et court article sur Feminist Disney sur “arrêtez de vous offenser parce qu'il n'y a pas de personnes de couleur dans les films !” (basé sur cette étude)
- Un article avec 10 exemples de rôles de personnages POC (people of color) joués par des acteurs/trices blanc/ches (comme si y'avait pas assez de rôles de gens blancs à la base)
- Un article sur la représentation des personnes handicapées.
- Un article sur les clichés négatifs sur les transgenres dans les médias etun très bon épisode de Need More Gay sur le trope “It’s a trap !”
- Un article sur la représentation LGBT etun autre de GLAAD sur le même sujet .
- Un fact check sur les 13 personnages Disney féminins entre 1937 et 2005.
- Le site bechdeltest.com, qui répertorie tout un tas de films en notant si ils passent ou non le Bechdel Test.
- Le strip original du Bechdel Test
- Les conseils du site mediasmart (habilomedia en français) dont celui sur la phase de la princesse dont je parle ici - ils ont des conseils pour les parents sur plusieurs sujets, dont les stéréotypes raciaux par exemple.
- L'association Smart Girl at the Party, d'Amy Poehler (ma personne pref), qui travaille sur plein de sujets en rapport avec le féminisme, dont la représentation (il y a un tumblraussi).
- Et enfin, puisqu'il est important de donner des sources, l'histoire du cheval médium utilisée en boutade. Yes sir !
Unfortunately, I am sick once again so I’ve been absent for a while. I logged back in to address a really odd take I’ve seen circulating Twitter lately. I’m not going to link to any of the tweets because I’m not looking to dogpile, but they’re saying stuff like:
“Wholesome stories are fine but why are we in an era where wholesome queer content is seen as morally superior? There’s nothing gross about queer sexual desire or displaying that sexual desire[…] Ofc I’m aware that sexy/horny queer storytelling exists, I just find it interesting that these pieces of media are never the ones that ‘break out’ and become incredibly popular. Just stuff to think about!”
I chose this particular tweet because it outlined their viewpoint so succinctly. I don’t agree with it. This is a really weird, myopic take on queer media lately.
I assume this is in response to stuff like Heartstopper,Stephen Universe,The Owl House, and Love, Simon.Setting aside the fact that these were marketed toactual kids, they are by no means the most popular queer films and TV shows to come out in the last five years.
Examples of queer film that isn’t “wholesome?”
- Call Me by Your Name
- Pose
- Killing Eve
- Schitt’s Creek
- Happiest Season
- Euphoria
- The Power of the Dog
- Booksmart
- Orange is the New Black
- Gentleman Jack
- Portrait of a Lady on Fire
- The Favourite
- The L-Word: Generation Q
- The Magicians
- Sex Education (though this is debatable)
That’s off the top of the freaking head. I’m not even including all the very sexy media that includes queer characters, but not as leads, nor the TV shows that aren’t mega-popular (e.g. shows found on Netflix like Bonding,Trinkets,Russian Doll,I Am Not Okay with This,Young Royals, ect).
Anyway, my only point is:
Not every piece of queer media is for every queer person.
I think that’s a good thing!
Diversity isn’t just important for race, sexuality, ethnicity, religion, physical and mental health. It’s also important in things like class, region of the country/world, and (yes) age. I’ve got kids that are, in my opinion, too young to watch EuphoriaandSex Education, but too old for TheOwl House.Stuff like Heartstopper,Love, Simon, and The Half of It fills a very necessary gap.
Anyway, back to sleep for me.
Keep yourselves so safe for me. Always.
XOXO, Earnest
Worth mentioning, too, that Heartstopperis actually a very “sexy” show, within the context of a younger audience. It has a lot of passionate kissing between both the mlm and wlw characters, much of it overflowingwith sexual tension. My kids were twitterpated throughout!
Unfortunately, I am sick once again so I’ve been absent for a while. I logged back in to address a really odd take I’ve seen circulating Twitter lately. I’m not going to link to any of the tweets because I’m not looking to dogpile, but they’re saying stuff like:
“Wholesome stories are fine but why are we in an era where wholesome queer content is seen as morally superior? There’s nothing gross about queer sexual desire or displaying that sexual desire[…] Ofc I’m aware that sexy/horny queer storytelling exists, I just find it interesting that these pieces of media are never the ones that ‘break out’ and become incredibly popular. Just stuff to think about!”
I chose this particular tweet because it outlined their viewpoint so succinctly. I don’t agree with it. This is a really weird, myopic take on queer media lately.
I assume this is in response to stuff like Heartstopper,Stephen Universe,The Owl House, and Love, Simon.Setting aside the fact that these were marketed toactual kids, they are by no means the most popular queer films and TV shows to come out in the last five years.
Examples of queer film that isn’t “wholesome?”
- Call Me by Your Name
- Pose
- Killing Eve
- Schitt’s Creek
- Happiest Season
- Euphoria
- The Power of the Dog
- Booksmart
- Orange is the New Black
- Gentleman Jack
- Portrait of a Lady on Fire
- The Favourite
- The L-Word: Generation Q
- The Magicians
- Sex Education (though this is debatable)
That’s off the top of the freaking head. I’m not even including all the very sexy media that includes queer characters, but not as leads, nor the TV shows that aren’t mega-popular (e.g. shows found on Netflix like Bonding,Trinkets,Russian Doll,I Am Not Okay with This,Young Royals, ect).
Anyway, my only point is:
Not every piece of queer media is for every queer person.
I think that’s a good thing!
Diversity isn’t just important for race, sexuality, ethnicity, religion, physical and mental health. It’s also important in things like class, region of the country/world, and (yes) age. I’ve got kids that are, in my opinion, too young to watch EuphoriaandSex Education, but too old for TheOwl House.Stuff like Heartstopper,Love, Simon, and The Half of It fills a very necessary gap.
Anyway, back to sleep for me.
Keep yourselves so safe for me. Always.
XOXO, Earnest
Oh. Oh, those bastards.
If CBS All Access subscriptions don’t jump after the debut of Star Trek: Discovery, they’re not going to say “nobody wants to pay a monthly subscription fee for one show.”
They’re going to say “nobody wants to watch a genre show with a diverse cast and a Woman of Color as the lead.”
They are setting it up for that.
In the (unlikely?) event that CBS All Access gets a landslide of new viewers, what do you think we’ll see more of? Diverse action-adventure shows with non-white male leads?
Or “exclusive” series only available behind a paywall?
They will insist that any success proves the validity of the business model, and any failure is due to problems with the series.
One in four adults in the United States has a disability, but the representation of disability in media is few and far between. But it’s still there! Partners for Youth with Disabilities, the group that gave the Autism in Anime panel at Anime Boston 2018, highlighted some of the best anime and manga that include disability as a theme.
REAL
This manga from Takehiko Inoue, the creator of Slam Dunk, tells a story about wheelchair basketball players. This story, which has been ongoing in Shonen Jump since 1999, focuses on a teen who becomes a paraplegic after an accident, but still continues to pursue basketball.
REAL is available in English on Amazon.
Perfect World
This ongoing manga by Rie Aruga is published by Kodansha. It tells the story of 20-something Sugumi, who reunites with her first crush from high school, Itsuki. He works on helping disabled people find accessible housing, and the story doesn’t sugarcoat the struggles of his daily life.
You can read Perfect WorldonKodansha.
Megalo Box
While the main character, Joe, is not disabled, this anime takes place in a world where characters are surgically modified with metal frames that make their attacks more lethal. When removed, they cause permanent damage. The show explores themes of PTSD in veterans, acquired disability, and the intersection of trauma and disability.
Megalo Boxisstreaming on Crunchyroll.
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure - Part 7 - Steel Ball Run
Johnny Jostar, the protagonist of this section of the story is a paraplegic athlete. However, he is never defined by his disability. Living in the magical world of the story, Johnny balances fantasy adventures with depictions of his daily life as a disabled athlete.
A Silent Voice
Written by Yoshitoki Oima, this manga turned movie tells the story of Shoya, a boy who bullies his deaf classmate, Shoko. Later, while trying to make amends for his earlier mistakes, Shoya learns JSL and finds a re-connection with Shoko. This movie is a particularly good representation of deaf culture since Shoko is voiced by a deaf actress.
You can read A Silent VoiceonKodansha.
GANGSTA
Written by Kohske, this monthly comic turned anime has been running in the @Bunch magazine since 2011. It tells the story of Nicholas, a deaf assassin who uses lip movements and vibrations to process sound. It shows how living with this disability affects his unusual life and career.
GANGSTAisstreaming on Hulu.
— Lauren, AB Staff Blogger
What do you think of when you think of magical girl anime? Maybe you think of a lighthearted classic magical girl, like Sailor Moon. Maybe you think of something more modern or darker, like Madoka Magica. But no matter who you think of, odd are they share the following characteristics: light skinned, slim, and come from a typical background.
But the magical girl genre can be more than that. It’s a genre about people who use magic or hyper-advanced technology to become so much more than they typically are. That doesn’t have to be limited to just your typical anime pretty girl. Fortunately, there are anime that have expanded their reach and shown a more diverse vision of what the magical girl genre can be. That was the subject of Ninapedia’s panel “Diversity in the Magical Girl Genre”. Here are some of the anime she listed which embraces a more inclusive vision of magical girls:
PreCure: This is a long running magical girl franchise with, through its various iterations, has included a very diverse cast. There are characters which are LGBT, characters with a variety of racial/ethnic backgrounds, including a biracial magical girl, characters with atypical family backgrounds, such as divorced or interracial parents, and characters which mental health issues, such as PTSD. Even the boys get in the act, with one of them, who identifies as a boy, publicly wearing a dress because he thinks it look pretty.
PriPara: This is a magical idol show with an impressive variety of body types. This show features a magical girl who is fat, but she isn’t shamed or excluded. It features adult magical girls, which is daring given Japanese cultural attitudes towards older women (look up the term “Christmas cake” if you’re unfamiliar). It also features a trans characters and a boy and a girl who cross-dress.
Revolutionary Girl Utena & YuriKuma Arashi: Ah, Kunihiko Ikuhara. If there’s a go-to person for works that deconstruct the magical girl genre, it’s Ikuhara. And as you would expect, that means lots of diversity. Both UtenaandYuriKumaare full of queer characters (heck, YuriKuma’sname translated to English is “Lesbian Bear Storm”), and rampant subversion of gender norms. Also, the character Anthy in Utena is a rare example of a magical girl whose skin is a truly dark color, without it just being a lighter skinned person with a tan.
But these are just a few of the series Ninapedia mentioned, and she went well beyond just anime. There is a large amount of non-anime magical girl projects with diverse casts (such as Emara: Emirates Hero & Steven Universe), as well as numerous indie media projects. So look around and you’ll be rewarded by the wide variety of viewpoints you can find in this one genre.
- Andrew, AB Staff Blogger
There’s going to be a sequel to the “Love, Simon” book (”Simon Vs The Homosapien Agenda”) where his best friend Leah comes out as bisexual. And I would REALLY like to see this book, as well as the potential movie adaptation, get as much attention as its predecessor.
It’s called “Leah On The Offbeat” and it comes out next month on April 24, 2018. So READ THAT SHIT!
Also Katherine Langford, who plays Leah in the movie, is a very staunch LGBT activist and while I’m not sure about her sexuality, she DID post a song she wrote for a girl she liked back in high school on her YouTube channel several years ago, soooo.
Bisexual representation and wlw representation is very important. Especially when it is mainstream the way Love, Simon has been. SUPPORT THIS, YOU GUYS!
