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Hey, I warned you: I’m a kind-hearted asshole–just not necessarily at the same time.

Honestly, though, I am all for ethnic and gender (social) diversity, but not by mandate. And definitely not in response to a bunch of whiney social justice warriors. Diversity should just … happen. Races and genders mingle as a part of natural human experience, not by some well-meaning but misguided public outcry.

Now, that’s as close to politics as you’re ever going to see me get. And, now that’s out of the way, I can get on with creative reasons I think mandatory social diversity in fantasy is …well, fucking stupid.

DISCLAIMER:  THESE ARE MY OPINIONS. If you choose to take offense and open your pie hole, please see the image at the top of this post. You can yell and scream, but no fucks will be given by me.

I constantly see people demanding diversity in fiction, and I can’t help but think how idiotic this is. And, frankly, it could actually be construed as … offensive. *GASP*

First of all, fantasy fiction is generally set in a made-up world, or an alternate variation of our own Earth in some cases. It’s fake. Of course, if you want to fight for the civil rights of orcs everywhere, that’s your choice.

Second, as a writer and a builder of fictional worlds, I’m trying to blend the fantastical with the familiar. And while diversity is indeed a wonderous and familiar element in our own world, it only exists when you look at the bigger picture. The more narrowly you focus (looking at a nation instead of the world) the diversity thins. Japan, for example, is primarily populated by those of Japanese ethnicity. But if you zoom in even closer, there are several communities in Tokyo where foreign expats tend to live in larger numbers. Same goes for Irish in Boston and the Portuguese in Fall River Massachusettes (US). This doesn’t mean there’s racism at work (although, yes, there is that too). These things happen in every country and come about as a result of many socio-economic reasons. And while racism may contribute in many cases, it is far from the only reason.

What I’m getting at is, when I build worlds, I’m attempting to recreate the familiar and realistic integration of societies that I described above. I don’t have an agenda of hate or exclusion in mind. I have a demographic picture that I am attempting to impart to my readers, and that means setting specific racial and gender expectations within my world. In order to do this, it is absolutely necessary that I stick to my plan, not give in to people who want diversity for the sake of diversity.

Lastly, not every writer is going to be comfortable writing POV characters of certain genders/races. And I’m sure I’m not the only one who has read someone trying to write POVs of the opposite gender from their own and cringed at how bad it turned out. Like anyone, I tend to play to my strengths. Yeah, I work at being better in the areas I feel are my weakest, but I won’t highlight those aspects until I’m feeling more confident with them.

In the end, the moral of this blog post is this: meaning and intent matter; as long as a writer isn’t writing their material from a place of hate and bigotry, I’m sure they’d appreciate you not sending your own hate and anger their way.

And if you really really really want to see diversity in fantasy fiction, get writing. Do it, don’t demand it.