Thread: Polical Correctness in Writing?

are you aware of it in your writing?
in other words is it better to just skip anything to do with characters descritpions based on sex/gneder/race/colour/age and just concentrate on personalities?

Well, I think that most novels lend themselves to the personality of the character being given much more attention and nuance than their physical appearance. So I would say that usually most books do concentrate on personalities.

But sex, gender, race, color, and age are all part of what makes a person. It seems to me that only the most zealous and crazy of P.C. advocates would have a problem with the fact that you even acknowledged that one of your characters had any of these physical traits.

In my own writing I like to at least convey the basics of someone's physical appearance -- if they are black, I like the reader to know that they're black. If they're Asian, I want the reader to know. That's not to say that their physical description has to have anything to do with the story. I guess I don't understand why someone would have a problem with me relaying this information in my novels.

I generally try to go against the grain when writing personalities. If the character comes across as masculine, or a traditional male role, I will consciously (but not always) identify them as female through the use of pronouns. Same for roles that may come across as femine. I too am practicing on avoiding mentioning of race and letting the reader identify that.

Sometimes the character is just who they are and there is no getting around it.

Luckily, I don't think it's reached the stage where it's unacceptable to say, "black" (or "white") to describe someone. Although I think it's been a close run thing. Indeed, how can it be politically incorrect to state such a fact as a person's (character's) colour?

Every reader, when confronted with a nationality, religous or race label, starts with a personal stereotypical impression.

Whatever, that may be it is up to you as the writer to lead the reader from that stereotype to the character you have created, don't funk it - it's part of your job.

i'm actually starting on what will surely be at least a novella length piece. it will be only my 2nd attempt at a
tale longer than a short story. (my 1st attempt never got finished because i lost the flash-drive it was on after
30,000+ words. yeah.that sucked) but anyway..this new longer work is so politically incorrect, that i have
fear it will never even be considered by an agent or publisher just because of that alone.
i don't care, though. it's an original idea and will be a great story. i'll publish it myself, if nothing else.

I don't worry about it. I rarely describe my characters' physical features or sexuality or religion or anything along those lines - only if it has a direct bearing on the story itself. Otherwise, let the readers decide for themselves.

I guess I am more descriptive with settings and appearances than some writers. It is astonishing to me to read some books and really pay attention to how much physical description the author is actually giving you. Oftentimes it is not a lot, and your mind automatically fills in the details even if you weren't explicitly told their hair color, their nationality, etc. And there is nothing wrong with that. It all just depends on the writing style of the author.

I personally just have a very vivid visual concept of my characters. If I visualize them as gay, black or Muslim I want to convey that to the reader as well. I don't think there's anything wrong with that style of writing either.

Originally Posted by Walkio

Luckily, I don't think it's reached the stage where it's unacceptable to say, "black" (or "white") to describe someone. Although I think it's been a close run thing. Indeed, how can it be politically incorrect to state such a fact as a person's (character's) colour?

Actually it's very close to being the case. For instance the Hardy Boys series was declared racist because one of their books had Chinese bad guys, and the fact it had Chinese good guys didn't matter. Also a regular non-white character wasn't deemed a primary role. Then you had the Famous Five series (which is possibly the worst written series ever to make the best sellers list) deemed racist because a character had a golliwog doll. Star Wars was deemed racist because the clumsy Jar Jar character was supposedly ethnic, despite clumsiness not being standard of his kind. Of Mice and Men has been called racist despite the arguably worst flawed characters being white. Bah Bah Black Sheep has been called racist because the sheep was black
The list is endless. Heck, Dr Who was deemed sexist because the lead male figure was 'intelligent'.

It's totally ridiculous; but unfortunately it's the stupid world we live in. The PC fact that all non-white characters must be good guys, must be perfect specimens, and shouldn't be a 'minor character' highlights how crazed this whole thing is. Personally, I'd sooner just not list any non-white character than to risk that garbage (sad as it sounds).

Originally Posted by shadowwalker

I don't worry about it. I rarely describe my characters' physical features or sexuality or religion or anything along those lines - only if it has a direct bearing on the story itself. Otherwise, let the readers decide for themselves.

I'm the same way. At the very beginning of the planning phase, I gave my characters heights and weights and hair colors and styles just so they wouldn't be paper cutouts, but in the story itself, it's their personalities that drive them. I don't explicitly tell the reader anything about how anyone looks unless it's particularly striking (especially short, bright red hair, etc.) My thought is, if I would notice it in a person I walk by, it's not worth putting in my story. As you said, let the readers fill in the details. It keeps the prose tighter.

Originally Posted by Rustgold

It's totally ridiculous; but unfortunately it's the stupid world we live in. The PC fact that all non-white characters must be good guys, must be perfect specimens, and shouldn't be a 'minor character' highlights how crazed this whole thing is. Personally, I'd sooner just not list any non-white character than to risk that garbage (sad as it sounds).

My biggest issue is with feminists who think every bad quality in a female character is a strike against their gender, even if (as you were talking about) the male characters are worse. It's maddening.

Good points. You're not even allowed to call a blackboard a blackboard anymore - it has to be a chalk board. I'm not making that up.

Originally Posted by Rustgold

The PC fact that all non-white characters must be good guys,

Oh dear, dear, dear, naughty, naughty, naughty. The one time I use that term like ever, and I use it in this thread.

i use all kinds of non-politically-correct language in my writing. why? because life, beyond its facades, is not politically correct. in my experience, the vast majority of people in any given society (or at least the people within societies i tend to feature) are racist, are sexist and are homophobic. it's sad, but true. in that sense i think it's rather impossible to be politically correct and still write about 'personalities', at with a few exceptional circumstances. that's not the same as saying everyone need be 'anti-black' or 'anti-female' or 'anti-gay'. i find it's far more complicated like that. for one thing, people tend to 'change their mind' a great deal depending on their environment and who's around them. that's when it get's real interesting, from a writer's perspective, because not only do you have the conflict between a person's opinions and those around them, but also the conflict within a person. i don't tend to go much for transgressive fiction, simply because i find it rather depressing to dwell on these matters for the length of time it would require me to write a novel about them, but one can't deny they're interesting. i always thought, for instance, there could be a really good book written from the point of view of a concentration camp guard in nazi germany... if there isn't already one of course.

but anyway, i digress. a lot of it comes down to setting, obviously, and the voice of the narrative. if i'm writing a book say, set in the 1950's and told from the point of view of some redneck in alabama it would be rather absurd not to use the N word, etc. whereas if i was writing a different book chronicling the lives of a bunch of yuppies in san francisco or sacramento, i would be less likely to do that (unless one of the characters happened to really require it). so on that basis, the question isn't so much 'would you write in a non-politically-correct way?' as 'to what extent do the things you write about force you to be non-politically-correct?' in my case i'd say, quite a lot.

Originally Posted by Nacian

in other words is it better to just skip anything to do with characters descritpions based on sex/gneder/race/colour/age and just concentrate on personalities?

Considering that one is linked and greatly influences the other, I don't see how it is possible to "just concentrate on personalities".

Strong writing requires details and honesty. Hedge and tiptoe around if you want a vanilla, say-nothing appease-everyone kind of story.

Political correctness is the biggest load of self-perpetuating Bologners that ever ruined a good idea.