My take as a panromantic asexual disabled woman

I decided to write this post because, in both my personal and academic discussions, the topic of problematic themes in genre fiction has been coming up a lot recently. It’s been at the forefront of my thoughts and, as a primarily “genre” writer, it’s something I wanted to speak out on. For the sake of this post I’m going to be focusing primarily on fantasy as a genre—it’s my personal focus as a writer and, I believe, the worst offender of all the genres. Put simply:

Traditional fantasy writing is often hypocritical.

Fantasy, especially high fantasy, is a genre where the author can do anything. They can make the world into anything they want it to be, they can showcase characters that don’t fit into any “real world” story, and they can set up societies with wholly different values and beliefs than any others on earth. It’s a genre that should make the unseen seen.

It’s also a genre that is traditionally steeped in racist, sexist, homophobic, ableist themes.

Some of these are overt. Why is the knight always saving the princess? Why are elves always fair and beautiful while orcs are dark and monstrous? Why must the hero always traverse rough and dangerous terrain, growing to be a strong fighter in the process? Why must women in leadership and women who fight be revered as anomalies?

One might argue that these elements are born from the fact that many traditional high fantasy stories are set in medieval time periods. But it’s fantasy. Why not have a medieval time period ruled by women? Are you saying that differently-abled people didn’t exist then? That LGBTQ+ people only existed for your displaced erotic fantasies? Why not set your story in a non-Eurocentric world? Medieval times in other parts of the world were often a source of great cultural and scientific growth.

It’s fantasy. You can do anything.

So why do we keep heroes who are set apart, shunned, because of their physical or mental differences? Why do we have white heroes traveling to “exotic” or “savage” lands—often the only place there are more than one characters of color in the same scene? Why is every character allocishet until proven otherwise? Why are the shelves stocked with male protagonists?

Why are fantasy writers—people who create entire worlds—repeatedly imposing some of the most dangerous, hateful, mindsets from our reality onto what many consider to be the most escapist genre available?

Because it sells? Because it’s what people expect when they pick up a book with a dragon on the cover? Is that really a good enough reason? Don’t you want to do something new and unique and powerful? Don’t you want to open the world to new markets—if nothing else—by no longer writing unrealistic worlds of neurotypical, able-bodied, straight, cis-gendered, white people?

Yes, it’s fantasy, but don’t we as writers have a responsibility to represent ALL of our readers? Don’t we have a responsibility to see and portray our fellow humans AS humans (or whatever the smartest, most respectable being in your world is) worthy of being the lovable main character?

Fantasy, historically, is a genre about balance. So many stories are about defeating the evil in the world, protecting the people who cannot protect themselves, and building a better community through virtue and morals.

So why do those same stories give us such exclusionary prejudiced views of what it means to be “good” and who deserves to be the protected and protector?

It’s fantasy. As authors we have the power to do absolutely anything with the worlds we create.

So do better.

May all be well,
Sarah E.

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P.S. If you like my friend’s artwork be sure to check out her Twitter and Instagram accounts! She does a lot of amazing work in organic and biodegradable sculptures, among other things. Her living death masks are some of my personal favorites!