I almost couldn't wait to finish reading this because there were so many things I wanted to pull out and vehemently agree with. Like: - By saying "Hermione is never explicitly stated to be white" she is implying a purposeful thoughtfulness to that omission that I believe speaks less to legitimate representation on her part, and more to the idea of "white unless stated otherwise" that seems evident in the series. - I think I'd be happier if she tweeted that, and then tweeted something like "That being said I I think myself and all authors could work harder to include more meaningful representation in our work." Or you know, something that both shows her support of alternate Hermione's, while also admitting her own culpability in not actually writing a racially diverse main cast. - Admitting you didn't do as well as you could have isn't a weakness
Yes, yes, yes, to all of this (to everything, but feel like I should't actually copy-paste the whole comment). That first point is huge and you've put it way more concisely than I did. Implying a purposeful thoughtfulness to that omission - yes. That's exactly it. And that's why it does feel to me like she's trying for brownie points instead of just saying "I support this interpretation of the text." It feels sneaky, like she's using/relying on people's implicit racism and the cultural norms that treat whiteness as the default in order to seem progressive.
And I totally agree with you about the importance of admitting that you could do better. I don't think I'd be feeling this way at all if JKR had said "I fully support interpretations of the text the better reflect my readers and am thrilled to have a black Hermione" or "In the 1990s, when I started writing these books, there wasn't room in children's books for Dumbledore to be explicitly gay or for the Golden Trio to be anything other than white, but I'm thrilled that that's changing. If I had it to do over, I'd love to have written more diversity into the series, and I'm very happy to have this opportunity to affirm that people with Hermione's intelligence and bravery come from all races and ethnicities." Or just something that said "I didn't do as well as I could, but I'm all about doing better and am glad for the positive response." Which was doable, it really was. Though then she'd have to stand by it, and I haven't read her later works so I have no idea how she's doing on that.
Much like WIPs, I'm going to bookmark the Raven Cycle and read it when it's about to be done. (Just added it to my Amazon list so I come back across it.) Will be sure to check it out and it sounds like I'll definitely want to chat about it!!
no subject
- By saying "Hermione is never explicitly stated to be white" she is implying a purposeful thoughtfulness to that omission that I believe speaks less to legitimate representation on her part, and more to the idea of "white unless stated otherwise" that seems evident in the series.
- I think I'd be happier if she tweeted that, and then tweeted something like "That being said I I think myself and all authors could work harder to include more meaningful representation in our work." Or you know, something that both shows her support of alternate Hermione's, while also admitting her own culpability in not actually writing a racially diverse main cast.
- Admitting you didn't do as well as you could have isn't a weakness
Yes, yes, yes, to all of this (to everything, but feel like I should't actually copy-paste the whole comment). That first point is huge and you've put it way more concisely than I did. Implying a purposeful thoughtfulness to that omission - yes. That's exactly it. And that's why it does feel to me like she's trying for brownie points instead of just saying "I support this interpretation of the text." It feels sneaky, like she's using/relying on people's implicit racism and the cultural norms that treat whiteness as the default in order to seem progressive.
And I totally agree with you about the importance of admitting that you could do better. I don't think I'd be feeling this way at all if JKR had said "I fully support interpretations of the text the better reflect my readers and am thrilled to have a black Hermione" or "In the 1990s, when I started writing these books, there wasn't room in children's books for Dumbledore to be explicitly gay or for the Golden Trio to be anything other than white, but I'm thrilled that that's changing. If I had it to do over, I'd love to have written more diversity into the series, and I'm very happy to have this opportunity to affirm that people with Hermione's intelligence and bravery come from all races and ethnicities." Or just something that said "I didn't do as well as I could, but I'm all about doing better and am glad for the positive response." Which was doable, it really was. Though then she'd have to stand by it, and I haven't read her later works so I have no idea how she's doing on that.
Much like WIPs, I'm going to bookmark the Raven Cycle and read it when it's about to be done. (Just added it to my Amazon list so I come back across it.) Will be sure to check it out and it sounds like I'll definitely want to chat about it!!