I think we can all agree how important #OwnVoices - novels about marginalised character/s by authors who share their marginalisation/s - novels are. But #OwnVoices has been getting a bit of a bad rap lately, and I thought I would discuss the problems some people have.
There are a few issues people have with it. Or, really, not #OwnVoices itself, but the ideas people have about #OwnVoices. One idea is that we should prioritise #OwnVoices novels. The second is that if you are a marginalised author, you should write about your marginalisation/s.
It can make some authors feel pressured to talk about their marginalisations. Let's take the example of a gay author. If a gay author wrote about a gay character, but aren't not open to the public at large about their sexuality, there's the pressure for them to come out about their sexuality to claim that their book is #OwnVoices. That on it's own is pretty crap. What they wish to keep private is their choice, they shouldn't be pressured into being out to people they don't even know about their sexuality. But because most feel it's important to prioritise #OwnVoices stories, and they choose not to reveal their sexuality, then others' #OwnVoices stories with gay characters will be picked up over theirs, because people want the best representation possible. I used a gay author as an example here, but this can be used for any invisible marginalisations, anything an author may wish to keep private.
If we only prioritise books that are known to be #OwnVoices, we may be missing on other books that actually do have good rep. Just because a book isn't known to be #OwnVoices, doesn't necessarily mean it isn't.
Then there's the idea that authors should write about their marginalisations. Let's use the example anxiety. If an author suffers from anxiety, they should write books about characters with anxiety. But what if they don't want to? What if their anxiety rules their life enough, and they don't want it to be a part of their fiction, too. Or, what if they do write a book featuring a character who has anxiety, and then for their next book they want to write about a character who doesn't have my marginalisations?
Let's take that further, because there's also the idea that, not only should authors write about their own marginalisation/s, authors shouldn't write about marginalised groups they don't belong to. What if the gay author and/or the author with anxiety is/are white, cisgendered, non-disabled, an atheist. So, if they choose not to write about their own marginalisations, or do write about gay or anxious characters, and now want to write something different, but shouldn't write about other marginalised groups, the only thing they can write is a book whose main character is from no marginalised group at all. And books without diversity are also criticised. So they'd be stuck between a rock and a hard place.
I'm not sure there's an answer, really. I'm not saying we should no longer use "#OwnVoices", but maybe we should think about it a little differently. Maybe read some diverse non-#OwnVoices as well as those that are. Maybe not demand that authors - of any marginalisation, whether visible or not - write #OwnVoices stories, as if we are entitled to them.
Also, consider what S. Jae-Jones says in answer to the question, why did you choose to write a European story instead of something Asian? We don't know everything about an author. We don't know their past, their background. We shouldn't demand anything of an author, one way or the other.
What do you think? Or are there any problems with #OwnVoices that people have that I've missed? Let me know!
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