Sunday Swoons | Diversity in Relationships (LATE I'M SORRY)


This week we're discussing diversity in couples. As always, GO CHECK OUT BRIANA'S POST. Oh, sorry, *smiles sweetly* didn't mean to scare you. Please go (That was better, right?).
For a more detailed list of rules, you can go here.

Diversity in Couples
This is a very relevant topic, that hasn't been dealt with enough. According to me. I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this post because I'm already two days late (bad, Skylar) but it's definitely something that is very important, maybe even more so to me since my mom and dad are different races and, when they met, they had different religious beliefs too. 

But for now I'm going to focus more on the "race" part. Mostly I'll be focusing on it as it relates to America, but if you have comments and input on it whether you're from America or not feel free to. :) 

This is SO important. America is a nation of diversity, with many different kinds of people. Why isn't this portrayed in novels then? I've read one book where a half-Asian was in a relationship with a white person. I know there are a few at least of Asian and white pairings but they're not too common. What about black and white? Black and Mexican? Arabic and Asian? 

It's just not out there and it's frustrating. 

There's no reason why I, as a reader, wouldn't want to read it. I love experiencing different cultures from characters' perspectives! 

It's something that I've wondered about for a while. With all this diversity surrounding us, how can we still just write white couples (or our respective nation's dominant race) without falling behind our world. And for that matter, how can we do that without not respecting or understanding the fact that there are other kinds of people besides ourselves? 

I'm a Protestant Christian but that doesn't mean I won't respect Catholics or Muslims. We are all people who deserve respect as humans. I'm half Taiwanese and half (white)American. That doesn't mean that I'm conflicted or hold strongly to just one culture. I'm proud to be Taiwanese. And to be American. 

This should be portrayed in novels not because we don't embrace diversity because I know that the book blog/tube etc. community is generally very understanding and loving. BUT I am saying that this stiff mold that is being stuck to can influence us subtly until we expect every pairing to be the same race. We expect that there won't be mixing. It even goes further (past relationships) that sometimes, I admit, I expect every main character I read to be white if I haven't read anything about it. 

It makes me kind of uncomfortable to think about because this shouldn't be a problem. 

Diversity for the win! 

Sorry for the short-ness and the kinda somewhat rant. I tend to get...excited.

Next Week's Topic: Romance in Personal Writings (but with an awesomer name after B and I talk about it)

What are your thoughts? Do you have experiences with this in real life or in books you've read?


Comments

  1. Great post! It gave me a sort of aha moment. What if people dont write about it because they aren't comfortable with their knowledge or other religions and cultures/races, and fear they will offend people or get things wrong?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's a really good point! And one I didn't think of. I can understand that completely, but I don't know...I wish writers who did know about a certain culture other than American would write about it. I love reading those kinds of books :)

      Delete
  2. I agree with you. I mean look at all the teen-oriented movies, especially those that feature high school cliche, the POCs pair up with the POCs who are ultimately the supporting characters.
    And there are lots of instances (I am actually hesitant in admitting this), but many a time I assumed a character white unless otherwise explicitly mentioned.

    A very late submission - http://spraypaintedtunnels.blogspot.com/2014/10/sunday-swoons-or-one-with-all-colourful.html I am missing deadlines, even non-academically.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for linking up, Aneta! (You're awesome. Have chocolate.) Yeah, I agree with you in that it's so common and I really don't like it but at the same time I subconsciously participate in the same behavior I hate. It really bothers me.

      Hey, don't worry about it ;) I'm being extremely late to replying to your comment. We're busy people :D

      Delete

Post a Comment

I love hearing from you guys! Tell me all the things. Talk to me. Except not in real life. I don't do that ish. #introvertlife

Popular posts from this blog

Airplanes and Sky

Book Haul + My First Guest Post (!)

Love From A to Z COUNTDOWN BLOG TOUR: Love From A to Z Playlist