October Monthly Post

[ysabetwordsmith]

This is the October community post for allbingo. What were your bingo activities during September? What are your plans for October?

For September we had:
I Want Fries With That! Bingo by ysabetwordsmith
Fills for this fest should pass the Fries test for disability in fiction.
Posting will be September 1-30.

For October we will have:
Fall Fest by vexed_wench  and spiralicious 
This fest covers all the autumn holidays.
Posting will be October 1-31.

Nobody has claimed November or December yet.  Does anyone want to run a fest then?

Comments

Re: Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Actually, the piece I'm writing is meta - explaining in depth why I interpret this particular character as autistic! <<

Meta counts! People have been doing that for ages with sexual orientation and other traits.

>> But, I had considered writing a couple short ficlets as well to at least complete a three-work bingo, and I did come across kind of a conundrum there, that I've been dealing with for a while.<<

That sounds good.

>> IDK if this is the right place to muse about this stuff but this comment got me thinking about it all morning so I guess I might as well put it here (even if it's possibly pretty silly and offbase?? IDK).<<

Go for it! I love making people think, and I love thinky conversations, and this is exactly the kind of stuff I hoped to spark with this fest. \o/

>> Put simply: what makes a fanwork inclusive/representative of disability? <<

Well, the Fries test itself is a good start:

Does a work have more than one disabled character? Do the disabled characters have their own narrative purpose other than the education and profit of a nondisabled character? Is the character’s disability not eradicated either by curing or killing?

I also like Nicola's additions:

Novels in which crips talk to each other? Novels in which we talk to each other about something other than wanting to be cured, or how to get cured, or why we want to die because we can’t be cured?

However, for my part I take a more diverse approach. If a disabled character dies, or obtains a cure (partial or whole), that doesn't undo their experiences. I have some formerly disabled characters, and you can see the effects of their disabled experience on their current behavior. Sometimes disabled people do get depressed, even suicidal -- in fact, that's very common. It has to be okay to write about that. But it should not be the ONLY thing people write about, and mainstream disability fic is both scarce and limited.

Me, I just follow disabled characters around and watch what they do, same as any other protagonists, and they do a lot of interesting and sometimes heroic things. I like reading other authors who do the same. Things I look for in positive representation:

* Does the character have a specific condition, or if not, at least a recognizable pattern of disability? Not all my wheelchairs users got there the same way. I have several with the same condition in The Moon Door, but each has a different set of symptoms/triggers.

* Does the disabled character have a reasonable complement of relationships such as parents, siblings, friends, a sex/romance partner if relevant, etc.?

* Does the disabled character have and pursue goals, preferably including some not related to disability, like saving the world?

* Are people alert to the advantages and skills that can come from disability? E.g. the blind person does not care if they lights have gone off, the deaf person can communicate fine in a raucous factory, and the dyspraxic dude can solve damn near any problem because that's what he does all day just to get by.

* What is the overall perspective on disability? It is much better if surrounding characters are competent and respectful. My patrons are very keen on buying competence and respect in literature!

* Does anyone openly talk about disability theory? Why disabilities exist, what makes a disability, how to deal with them? It's not relevant in every story but can make a very interesting examination of ideas. Torn World had a fascinating division between the Northerners, who integrated everyone they could but couldn't afford to support any nonproductive individuals in a very marginal survival situation; and the Southerners, who supported everyone with disabilities but rarely allowed them to work. Neither perfect, but each fitting its own context and both making a great contrast.

* What is the state of adaptive equipment or other accommodations? Do people take a creative and inclusive approach or shy away from it?

And so on.

>>Now when it comes to some things, such as being an amputee or using a wheelchair, that's pretty straightforward - just depict the character that way. But what about, as is relevant in my case, autistic characters? ASD is a collection of traits that are recognised to be a particular neurotype all together, but most in the general public aren't able to recognise that neurotype when they see it, and often write characters who would likely be diagnosed autistic accidentally.<<

I like the range set up for this ace/aro database:

Type of rep
How involved the representation is. This description only encompasses the title stated. If, for example, a character is aromantic but it is only mentioned in the second book of a series, then the first book remains “Word of God”. The second will show “On Page” or “Word used”, depending on context.

Word of God - The character’s sexuality is not explicited on page, but the author has confirmed it. This means it may never come up as a narrative element, so be warned!

On page - The character’s sexuality is explicitly demonstrated within the text. It should be stated, discussed, or showed to an extent that makes it clear to the readers.

Word used - The identity is stated using the actual word (this usually means it is also On Page)

If you look at my character sheets, you'll see that I often annotate things like sexual orientation, disability, family past, religion, dominant sense/intelligence, etc. which are not explicitly named in the story or poem but are supported by that narrative. A gay character will not be ogling boobies. An ace character may be seeking a platonic partnership. A neurovariant character will have a particular way of thinking that is not common.

I will add that, as a reader/reviewer/editor/patron, I expect a character's portrayal to be consistent. The actions have to match any descriptive words. I get very annoyed when authors use a label but then don't support it or actively contradict it. (Exception: sometimes characters discover things about themselves which they didn't know, and that can be okay if handled fluently. Often it is not.)

>> Obviously, just saying the word 'autistic' in the story would clarify everything. But in my current fandom, that's not the most practical option. The canon is set in Japan, where understanding of autism is very uncommon, and both of the characters I see as autistic (and like to write about - there are many more that can be seen that way, lol) had very strange upbringings - it's just hard to think of natural ways the subject could come up. <<

Don't force it, that always looks bad.

However, cultures tend to evolve their own ways of talking about things, and they don't always draw lines in the same places. Frex, in Japan, shy people are desirable as friends, and a window office or seat is bad because it's seen as a sign of isolation from the group. What America sees as undesirable autistic traits might be highly desired in some other culture -- and in fact, "geeky" traits have become much more valued with the rise of computers. This stuff is all a lot more malleable than most people realize.

That said, there are often local terms that people use for recognizable clusters of traits. These can serve a similar role as clinical nomenclature.