Hello you gorgeous individuals, it's Kav
here and today I'm going to be
talking about normalizing representation
in media. If you haven't seen, I guess, my
first video on diversity - I'll link that
below, so that you can check that out
before you come here because I guess it
kind of is a series in a way so you
might just want to check that out before you
watch this one, but if you have seen it
then I would love for you to join me in my
discussion about normalizing
representation in media. A few months ago - I
don't remember exactly when it was - I
think it was IKEA that had this ad where
two women were sitting down and eating
dinner and such and you knew that they were
a woman by woman couple and I got
really excited and I told my mom and she
said, that's really good
but why don't we just look at it as them
having dinner the same we would look at
it as a man and woman having dinner - like
why is it such a big deal. Since then I've
been thinking about what it meant to
normalize representation in media and I
want to start this off by saying that I
don't think there's anything wrong in
getting excited because I definitely get
excited when I see someone like me or
just diversity in general in media,
that's not what I'm talking about here
my point is something different. If
you saw my review last week, which I
will also link in the description below -
it was on History is All You Left Me
and More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera -
I pointed out how Adam had included
people of color characters by just
saying their skin color and stuff, he
didn't make it seem like a big deal and
I think that's more what I'm trying to
get out when I say normalizing
representation. I'm not necessarily
talking about how the consumers see it, I'm
talking more about what the people who
actually work in media should be doing
when they're writing novels or making TV
shows or anything. For example, something
that's very common is this
coming out narrative for gay characters
or people of the lgbtq+ community. Now,
that narrative can be useful to a
certain extent, but people who don't identify
as straight are more than just their
coming out experiences. We're real people
too and I think that by just creating
this one narrative, we're centering it
around their sexuality when I think their
sexuality should be more a part of
their character.
I'm not saying we should get rid of the
coming out narrative entirely because
that would also be ridiculous - I'm sure
those books have definitely helped
someone or those TV shows and such have
definitely helped some people, I know
I've been helped by them when I was in
the closet, but that also shouldn't be the
only thing that exists, we should have
narratives of people with different
sexual and romantic orientations that
isn't just coming out.
Similarly, when it comes to characters of
color, we tend to just have this one
token person of color - we might have a
token Chinese friend or a token black
friend or something of that sort which
again is creating this token character, I
don't really know how else to put it, when
really, there should just be diversity
incorporated - there should just be
characters of color incorporated into
the group. This lack of normalization in
representation makes it
seem as though people who aren't white,
straight, cis are different and that's
they're seen as in society - that's what we're
seen as in society - we're seen as the
different, when in reality we're all
people.
I'm not a cat, some people think I am, but
I'm not a cat, I'm a person. If we move
towards normalizing representation,
I think we can help improve that view of
people who aren't the majority. As I said,
I'm not talking about the
consumers side of this because consumers
definitely have the right to feel
excited when they get to see someone like
themselves represented in a novel or a TV
show or a movie. Recently, and by recently I mean
two days ago, Jesse from jessethereader
sent me an ARC of When Dimple Met Rishi
by Sandhya Menon. If you follow me on
social media, you'd know that this is the first
time I've received a book that has a
character with my skin color in it
and of course I was thrilled when I got
that book. I was ecstatic - you should have
seen me when I found out I was going to
get the copy and then when I actually got it
and what I wrote about it and
everything - it was something I had never
gotten to see before, so of course I was
ecstatic. So my point isn't how the
consumers should behave,
it's more how the people behind the
scenes should behave. All that being said, it's a
well-known fact that it is generally
white, cis, straight people who are in
charge - the publishing industry is very
white and straight - that's a fact and that's
something most people in the book community
are aware of, if not all. So, I think to
achieve this normalization of
representation, we need to start putting
in diverse people in these positions of
power and they should be in positions of
power regardless of whether it's for
this cause or not - that needs to be said,
they should have an equal opportunity to get
their books published. But of course,
that's not the society we live in,
unfortunately and that's something that
we're all, I hope, fighting to change - but
I think by normalizing this type of
representation, we are helping fix so
many issues. The media plays a very
important role in people's lives. We're all
consumers, if you're sitting here
watching this video you are consuming
this video - you're consuming some form of
media. I'm assuming that if you watch my
videos - you are probably also a book reader
since this a booktube channel, so
you're also consuming media in the form
of books. The media has an impact and
they know that very well
and I think that they need to start
using their power for good instead of
for evil which, again, is something that's
not going to happen overnight, it's
something we're going to have to push
towards, but that's why we need to bring
up topics like this and talk about them
because it is up to consumers to make
the change - we can make the change. And
it's going to be hard, it's gonna be
harder for some people than others
because, as I said in the beginning, if you're
white,
cis, straight, able-bodied, able minded if
you're male,
you're going to have it easier than
someone who isn't again the majority or
what society views as the norm - but that
doesn't mean we stop fighting, that means we
fight harder. I think if we fight hard
enough, we can fight to finally see our-
selves in books and in TV shows and not
have to shriek in pleasure when we see
something like that we should just be
able to see it and if, it should just exist. As
I mentioned the ARC I got, I ended
it with this sentence - representation
may seem like a right, but it's actually a
privilege. I think that we need to reach
the point where representation is a
right. It's a privilege for people who
are part of the *majority to see
themselves represented in the media, but
we need to reach a point where everyone
gets to see themselves in the media and
it is a right and it is normalized, they're not
seen as the "other" - they're seen as who they are,
normal people - we're seen as who we are,
normal people. This is honestly a video I've
wanted to make for a while, I've been
trying to find time to film it, but I've
been reading so much, I'm trying to keep
up with my reviews and everything, so I'm
glad I scheduled today as a day to
talk about it because I think that these
are issues that need to be talked about.
And as I said, my diversity section and
everything is a series - it wasn't just
one video and it's not just stopping
after that, I'm going to keep bringing up
these issues especially as they become
more prevalent in the book community and
I'm going to keep talking about them
because it is up to us as consumers to
make the change when we want to see a change
happens. I'd love to hear your guys' thoughts on
this, it's just something I've
been thinking about, like I said, for a while
now and I really wanted to bring it up and
share it with you all, so please leave your
comments below - whether you agree
with me and whether you disagree with
me and if so, why, or just anything else
you'd like to see in terms of diversity
videos on my channel. If you enjoyed this
video please give it a like and subscribe so that
you never miss a new video on my channel
because I post new videos every Sunday and
sometimes other days of the week if I'm
have enough time and if I'm feeling
film-y/booktube-y. As usual, all my social
media will be in the description below
if you want to check out the post I
mentioned or if you just want to follow
me and be my friend and, again, my
goodreads will also be in the description
below and I add people on it, so you
can definitely add me - I love learning
what people are reading and such and then
I add like 15 books to my want to read
section. That's about it for this
video, thank you guys so much for
watching, I hope you have a lovely day
and night wherever you are, please
remember that you're beautiful and you
deserve the world and I will see you next
week or earlier with a brand new video. Bye!
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