Would you care for a slightly more organized and precise way to discuss representation in media? Do you promise not to reduce discussions of representation in media to just this method of organization? Yes and yes? Cool. Here’s a tier list. Casual media enjoyers may find it fun to mess around with. Critics might get a little more use out of it, though many experienced critics already have favorite rubrics of their own. But if you’re in the business of creating fiction, or especially of helping others deepen diverse and marginalized themes and content in their work—cultural consulting, for instance—this tier list especially goes out to you.
Read moreAsian Representation and the Martial Arts
This article discusses how Asian martial arts stereotypes fit into orientalist dynamics, in which the Western gaze rewrites and reduces Asian experience to a cool violent thing for white consumption. I also point out how imperialist, exploitative attitudes complicate real-world martial arts practice. Finally, we’ll go over practical guidelines for representing Asian martial culture in your creative work. You’ll leave this article prepared not only to avoid racism, but also to craft stronger martial arts stories in general.
Read moreBest Practices for Religious Representation, Part I: Check for Traps
Religion suffuses role-playing’s most basic structure: the adventuring party with a fighter, thief, wizard, and cleric. Fantasy mainstays like demons, dragons, heavens and hells, pantheons, diverse monsters, and magic originate in religious lore. The decisions people make without thinking about their cosmology carry ideological weight that validates some demographics and denies others—and not even just in terms of religious identity. This article is a toolkit to help creators and players of games and fiction build religious characters and organizations, portray them with fairness and respect, and draw on real-world lessons to craft fictional religions which sing.
Read moreLess of a Question, More of a Comment
If you attend panels or presentations, ever, I need you to read this article because, best case scenario, I need you to help protect me from “less of a question, more of a comment” guy. Worst case scenario, you are “less of a question, more of a comment” guy. Let’s talk about panels in general, panels about diversity and identity topics in particular, and how you as an audience member can make choices and ask questions which improve that experience for both panelists and audience. I’ll also answer some questions we both did and didn’t get to at PAX East’s “Designing Asian Settings and Themes in Analog Games” panel.
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