The Library of Spanking Fiction: Wellred Weekly
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Articles
Items of interest regarding all things spanking
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Diversity in Spanking Fiction  When discussing Desire in Any Language recently, a reader said that it was difficult for her to picture Mira, the main character, and the tutor who disciplines her. Another reader said that this comment confused her. She re-read parts of the book and found, to her surprise, that there is very little physical description of either character. "I thought that there was a lot of rich description," she said, "but I was the one who created it." These two readers highlighted my writing technique of leaving physical description to the reader's imagination. In the case of Mira, I draw the reader into her emotional and psychological journey of self-discovery. I do this for two reasons. The first is simple. Readers appreciate writers who treat them with respect. When authors spell out every single detail and plot point, it essentially says that readers are not smart enough to figure out things for themselves. The second reason is more complex. Before I explain, will you please indulge me for a moment. Pretend that you have met a wonderful spanking partner online, and have arranged your first in-person meeting after taking the necessary safety precautions. Your new partner has never seen a photo of you, so you send a brief description of yourself to make sure that he or she will recognize you. How would you describe yourself? Take a minute to jot down your answer. Back again so soon? You didn't cheat, did you? Let me guess. You mentioned height, hair (style, length, color), accessories (glasses, a cane, or jewelry), body type, and perhaps the clothing you would wear. Did you mention your race? In the US, Canada, UK, Australia, and many other countries, guess which racial and ethnic identity most often allows the speaker not to self-identify? Let me put this another way. When you read spanking stories, which characters are identified by their race? Which characters are not? Which characters from certain races are most consistently assigned to peripheral roles? As an example: How often have you read an African-American character in a spanking story who is not a servant, receptionist, household help, subordinate employee, or in some way a bit part to a large cast of characters who are not identified by race? "African-American" has become a shorthand to create a character who fits into the stereotype of a bossy but loving mammy who serves white characters, a subservient and polite subordinate employee, or — especially for men — an object of lust. It is easy to say that adding diversity to spanking fiction is a good thing, but it has to be more than "paint-by-number" quotas. A "diverse" story written by a white author who has read a few internet articles about India and fetishizes and exoticizes a daughter of immigrants from India gives the illusion of being diverse when instead it only propagates whiteness as the norm. We also get into questions of the "gaze", such as when the white main character observes the "foreign" culture with all kinds of judgments. Homesick, My Own Story by Jean Fritz is a great example. Jean's story is slightly different because she did indeed grow up as a white girl in China. The problem lies not in the narration of her own story but in the way that her view of China and Chinese culture is accepted as authoritative without acknowledging that she is a white outsider. In cultural theory terms, this is called appropriation. How many spanking stories are told by a main character who is not white? Of course spanking stories are influenced by mainstream storytelling, and the whiteness of US storytelling is widespread. In more recent years, we have seen a Harry Potter version of diversity – throwing in "ethnic" names while writing the characters as white. Yes, we have characters named Padma and Cho who allow for "ethnic" actors to play the parts in the films. But are they any different from all of the white characters? And is any one of the main characters not white and straight? "Diversity" has become a popular selling gimmick, and throwing in a token name/character or two is superficial to the point of being insulting. The gay best friend who serves as comic relief is another. We don’t just need more diversity, we need quality diversity. The buffoon, the Mickey Rooney in yellowface pretending to be Audrey Hepburn’s crazy hilarious neighbor in Roman Holiday, is a thing of a past or should be. (Ever wonder why "Gangnam Style" hit it so big? As clever, perfectly executed, and wonderful as it may be, it fits precisely in the buffoonery category deemed acceptable for Asian characters. Never mind that the original song lyrics are a satiric critique of class inequalities, it's a yellow guy being funny!) To get back to my original question, why do I avoid physical description of my characters? In answer, I ask this question. Why is the heroine in spanking stories always white? Why, if the hero is not white, is he presented as an object of viewing pleasure? I have no problem with the concept of "man candy" (or woman candy) and enjoying physical pleasures in viewing. But when a white author refers to a black man solely based on the physical attraction she feels about his body, it goes beyond normal swooning and touches on centuries of the white woman's imperial ability to view and use black men's bodies for her own pleasure with impunity. I have had many conversations about why I do not want the characters shown from the front. Why? I do not want a race or ethnicity assigned to the characters, at least not by an artist. For a reader to enjoy the story and imagine the characters as a certain ethnicity (often the same as the reader) is lovely and what I hope will happen. To present the characters as of a certain race cheats the reader from that experience. It's also why I generally give very little physical description of my characters unless it is crucial to the story. In The Way Home, my newest release that has been compared to Beaches and Fried Green Tomatoes, only with spanking, Natalie has long dark hair as a college student (when Kat first meets her) because hair has been a symbol of sexuality and Natalie is comfortable with hers. Plus, it is a striking physical feature that sticks in Kat's memory. There is a false idea that all writers are white and all readers are straight and white, or that if there are writers or readers of other variations that they don't really matter. The answer is always that publishing is a business, and so the best bet is to cater to the white majority. People also say that fiction is an escape, so they should not have to think about race. If this is true, then why must the heroines and heroes be identified as blonde, red-haired, blue-eyed, or with any other characteristics that mark them as white? If you never thought about this while reading my stories, that's perfectly fine. I hope that you focus on the story itself, anyway. But if you ever wondered why you don't get much physical description, now you know. I want you to fill in the blanks for yourself, but I want everyone to have that very same opportunity. In response to the assumption by many in the US, who argue that the white is majority, I suggest this article questioning how long the US will remain a white-dominated country. As an example of how readers assume that characters look like them (the readers), here's an article about the casting controversy for The Hunger Games film.  14 comments
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