Some Notes on How Not To Write Trans People

garrettauthor:

cameronmcbaird:

garrettauthor:

cameronmcbaird:

Yikes yikes yikes have y’all read Garret Robinson’s Academy Journals series? I finished The Alchemist’s Touch because I was waiting for some apparently fantastic representation. Plus side, there was a cool wlw, and the world acknowledged that there are people other than straight people. I knew the second one had a trans woman and a bi guy in it so I was hyped to read it, but the trans woman was…………………. astoundingly offensively written.

So folks. If you want to avoid some Writing Trans People Taboos, take note of this mess of an introduction to the series’ only trans woman in The Mindmage’s Wrath:

Keep reading

Well, shit.

Thank you for this post. It’s incredibly, incredibly obvious now that you point it out, and something I absolutely did not think of while creating Perrin.

Keep reading

Holy shit. Holy shit! The author saw this post. Hhhhh ok wow.

Hi Garrett! I just want to start off by thanking you and saying that your response here is incredibly heartening. I didn’t do my research and see that you had a Tumblr, so I had no idea you’d be one of the ones to see a very small, new writing blog’s trans rep post. So!

I’m really glad that your response to this is to see what you could do better in the future. You improving and working hard to represent your readers is what I hoped would happen in the long run. I really liked the first book, and, like I said, trans representation is diverse, so it’s not bad to have a trans woman who is less traditionally feminine.

So, yes, I’d be absolutely thrilled to give you feedback on your ideas here as a trans reader. As I’ve mentioned, I’m not a trans woman, so of course my caveat here is to listen to transfeminine readers first. I’ll do my best, though!

1. Yes, the next Academy Journals book having another trans character is a great idea! I didn’t read the other series, so Perrin really was the only trans woman I knew about. There’s not only “two types,” of transfeminine people, of course, but yeah, so often media with trans women in it only shows one side of the experience, making it seem like that is the only side of the experience. That’s how stereotypes are perpetuated.

2. I’m really happy that you get the whole forced reveal thing. I’ve been outed against my will before, and it is rough. In my experience, as I’ve become more and more accepted by my closest friends, I’ve found it much easier to come out to people and to open up to the ones I trust. I would love to see Perrin not worrying too much and feeling like she has people who trust and understand her.

3. I’m very behind the sentiment of Perrin being proud about her presentation and appearance, and I’d be interested to see how you address those concerns. I feel as if a lot of the things I pointed out about Perrin’s initial introduction are concerns that most cisgender readers and writers might be totally unaware are important to trans readers.

4. I love the idea of genderqueer and nonbinary people in a fantasy setting so much, you have no idea.

5. This is the big one, honestly. I see now that your intent was to do justice to your trans readers, and more sensitivity readers could have helped you achieve that goal. I even ran my critique of the scene past a reader before I published it, since I didn’t want to talk over transfeminine voices. Not every trans woman has the same feelings and opinions, so a variety of voices can really help to cover more concerns.

I jumped into the Academy Journals because I heard it was a wizard school with queer representation, before knowing about any of your other work; I might have felt differently if I had read the other series first, but my points about Perrin would have still stood. But it’s not like I’ve never said anything or written anything that offended someone. I’m just… really glad that you were willing to listen to a critique of your work and take steps to improve in the future. My only regret here is that I wrote this without thinking about if you’d see it, and I would probably have been much more polite if I knew I’d be addressing you directly. But, as they say, don’t say something behind someone’s back that you wouldn’t say to their face. I’m glad you ultimately read it, and I’m going to keep reading your books, in preparation for reading your series with characters all across the gender experience. If you have any other questions, I’d of course be happy to respond to those as well. All I want in this world is more diverse and better trans rep. (Ok, not all I want but, um, a good chunk of it!)

Oh please don’t worry at all about tone! I stress to anyone who gives me feedback that I want honesty, and brutal is my preferred setting. It really lets me know, “Hey, you’ve GOT to change this because this is HARMFUL.” It’s an indicator to me of how seriously I need to take a critique. 

I learned that in Darkfire, which was the first Underrealm book to have beta readers. A couple of readers indicated that something was up with one of the characters but they were very gentle in their feedback. I could tell there was more they wanted to say so I asked them to lay it on me. And the feedback was literally along the lines of, “Holy shit you’ve ruined this character, she’s awful and she used to be one of my favorites, please fix this.” It was only at that point that I realized that that character, unfixed, would ruin the entire book.

So thank you again! This was a huge learning moment for me, and I know that’s not the point, but I’m still incredibly grateful.