#token representation

guys I know that some people are just ignorant and not malicious and it will do us more good to educate them than to simply condemn them etc

But this is just a reminder to all y'all that IT'S NOT YOUR JOB TO BE A SPOKESPERSON FOR YOUR COMMUNITY ALL THE TIME.

You're a human being and you're allowed to exist. Just exist. You don't have to keep answering ignorant and/or offensive questions even if you know it would help the community.

That's not your responsibility.

If you want to and if you feel up to it, great! Go for it. But I know some of us are bloody tired, I sure as hell am. It's okay. Maybe do it when you want to, and chill when you don't.

Educating people about your community is not your responsibility I'll say it as many times as I have to. Don't spread misconceptions obviously but I mean don't feel obliged to answer invasive questions.

There’s a fine line between diversity and token representation, and Riverdale has officially crossed it.

In most stories, the best kind of representation (of any kind, but especially queer folks) is casual. Unless your story is centered around societal acceptance of queer people, or has time to unpack how entering a queer relationship affects the characters, don’t make a big deal out of it. Not only is it insulting to queer folks, it diverts attention from your plot, takes your readers/watchers out of the world, and damages your story in the process. I like to call this token representation, its basically a form of PR so writers/showrunners can say “look we’re gay” in hopes of pulling the queer community to watch their stuff. 

This is a problem, beyond the queerbaiting and poor rep. It’s fuel for homophobes (transphobes, you name it) to trash queer rep in general by complaining that it takes away from the story. Unfortunately, in cases like these, it does. Representation is impactful and necessary, but writing wise, it should never take away from your story. That’s why its important to write representation WELL, as an extension of the world you are creating. Be it a driving force for the plot, or a fluffy way to expand your characters, it should always feel like it fits in your world. Queer rep is too important to be shoehorned in as a B tier marketing ad.

In most stories, the best kind of representation (of any kind, but especially queer folks) is the casual kind. Unless your story is centered around societal acceptance of queer people, or has the time to unpack how entering a queer relationship affects the characters, don't make a big deal out of it. Not only is it insulting to queer folks to do so, it diverts attention from your plot, takes your reader/watcher out of the world, and damages your story in the process. I like to call this token representation, basically a form of PR so writers/showrunners can say "look, we're gay" in hopes of drawing more people to their work.

This is a problem, beyond the queerbaiting and poor rep. It's fuel for homophobes (of any variety) to trash queer rep in general by citing how it takes away from the story. And in cases like these, it does. Representation is universally important, but writing wise, it should never take away from your story. That's why it's important to write representation WELL, as an extension of the world you're creating. Be it a driving force for the plot or a fluffy way to expand your characters; it should always feel like a part of your story, not something shoehorned in as a B tier marketing ad.