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6:36am June 1, 2015

On POC representation

andreashettle:

idontgiveaneffie:

Today, my friend asked me why it was so important to me that we have brown representation. I didn’t reply because I didn’t know how to. Shouldn’t the answer be obvious? But apparently really isn’t. Why is it so important to me? Before I can answer this, I need to explain how it feels to have no representation.

Have you ever yearned to see a character that looks like you on screen acting like you would? Or read about a character whose last name sounds like yours and whose family reminds you of your own? Have you ever been so desperate for a character like you that you literally fantasized about them and what they would wear or say?

Do you know what it feels to search “indian girl” on tumblr and see white people wearing bhindis, hands adorned with henna or even wearing native american headdresses? Do you understand how it feels when someone reduces your culture to a fashion statement but you never see anyone actually like you wearing the things you do on any mainstream media? Do you know what it feels like to see white chefs cooking your food on reality tv shows but never seeing anyone like you actually doing it? Do you know what it’s like to know your culture is real, but never seeing any proof?

Of course you don’t. If you did, you wouldn’t ask this question.

Thank you for sharing your perspectives – I have now linked to your post from my ever-growing collection of blog posts on why diverse representation in media matters in hope that others will be touched by it as well: 

https://ramblingjustice.wordpress.com/why-representation-matters/

Although I cannot approach this issue from the perspective of a brown person (being white), I do understand from the perspective of a deaf person, which I’ve written about here: 

https://ramblingjustice.wordpress.com/2013/03/03/1st-met-me/