In this final episode of the first season of Doing Diversity in Writing, we—Bethany and Mariëlle—discuss holy days and answer some listener questions. To listen to the episode, find us on Podbean or your favourite podcast app. What we talked about the fact that there are many more holy days than Christmas and it serves... Continue Reading →
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Episode 11 – Not all descriptions are created equal
In this episode of Doing Diversity in Writing, we—Bethany and Mariëlle—conclude our conversation about marking the unmarked by discussing description. To listen to the episode, find us on Podbean or your favourite podcast app. What we talked about marking and unmarking in terms of descriptionthe Twilight series and the problematic use of dark and lightwhy... Continue Reading →
Episode 10 – Racial and gendered language
In this episode of Doing Diversity in Writing, we—Bethany and Mariëlle—continue our conversation on marking the unmarked. To listen to the episode, find us on Podbean or your favourite podcast app. What we talked about the importance of being conscious about the language you use AND how you use itthat language is forever changing and... Continue Reading →
Episode 9 – Deborah Tannen, linguistics, and Peter Parker
In this episode of Doing Diversity in Writing, we—Bethany and Mariëlle—talk about marking the unmarked. It’s the first episode of three on the topic. To listen to the episode, find us on Podbean or your favourite podcast app. What we talked about what we mean by “marked” and “unmarked”how conscious marking and unmarking in our... Continue Reading →
Episode 8 – Diversity within diversity
In this episode of Doing Diversity in Writing, we—Bethany and Mariëlle—talk about diversity within diversity and what writers can learn from the concept of intersectionality. To listen to the episode, find us on Podbean or your favourite podcast app. What we talked about how Kimberlé Crenshaw came to coin the term ‘intersectionality’Black Lives Matter as... Continue Reading →
Episode 7 – Tokenism in literature
In this episode of Doing Diversity in Writing, we—Bethany and Mariëlle—talk about the third common pitfall when representing diverse characters: tokenism. To listen to the episode, find us on Podbean or your favourite podcast app. What we talked about what tokenism is and why it is problematicwhy characters such as JK Rowling’s Cho Chang are... Continue Reading →
Episode 6 – Essentialism and affirmative myopia in literature
In this episode, we talk about two very common pitfalls when representing diverse characters: essentialism and affirmative myopia. To listen to the episode, find us on Podbean or your favourite podcast app. What we talked about what essentialism is and what makes it problematicthe fact that a lot of stereotypes that persist today are based... Continue Reading →
Episode 5 – How does representation work for writers?
In this episode, we talk about how representation actually works. What we talked about that representation is about who we make visible and who are rendered invisible because of those decisionswhy minority voices are automatically amplified when they are representedthat representation is not just about who is present within works of fiction but also about... Continue Reading →
Episode 4 – The fear of cultural appropriation
In this episode of Doing Diversity in Writing, we talk about the fear of cultural appropriation. What we talked about How we define cultural appropriationThe difference between cultural appropriation and cultural exchangeAssassin’s Creed III vs. Disney’s Pocahontas, and why Assassin’s Creed III does it better than Pocahontas didThe “So sorry about colonialism” narrativeMarvel’s Black Panther,... Continue Reading →
Episode 3 – Common fears and frustrations
In this episode of Doing Diversity in Writing, we—Bethany and Mariëlle—discuss some of the fears and frustrations that might come up when writing diverse characters. What we talked about Representing someone in the wrong way……and why that shouldn’t keep us from tryingTaking someone else’s voice away by trying to speak for them……and where we stand... Continue Reading →