Quotes About Representation

the day when male writers can speak for women is speeding by. Fast.

Tout ce qu'on introduit dans un roman devient signe.

Remember that it is your goal to not create a photographic likeness, but an emotional accuracy.

Explicar, explicar —gruñía Etienne—. Ustedes si no nombran las cosas ni siquiera las ven. Y esto se llama perro y esto se llama casa, como decía el de Duino. Perico, hay que mostrar, no explicar. Pinto, ergo soy.

if you want to make a human being into a monster, deny them, at the cultural level, any reflection of themselves.

I doubt that I can speak for all Dominican men but I doubt they can either.

I believe it's incredibly important to write against [racial] stereotypes. If we give in and make sure that all black women characters are asexual, gentle, and kind we wind up with another set of stereotypes.

I mean, I am fully aware of my influence and my responsibility to society in general representing the gay community. But in the same time, I don't represent the entire gay community because it's a vast, vast community, as one can imagine.

Ohnehin waren die wenigsten Romanfiguren so detailliert beschrieben, dass Leser und Autor dasselbe Bild vor Augen hatten.

The new normal is to have strong women and girls as typical a character for television, films, and books. There wouldn't be a need to have a category for "Strong Women". Strong by Kailin Gow

If you write about the Asian culture, be accurate between what is the difference between Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, Thai, Taiwanese, Indonesian, and many individual Asian countries' cultures. While there are many similarities, the differences in cultures will set your novel apart from what is an authentic portrayal to what is a westernized version. - Kailin Gow on Asian Portrayals through Literature and Media

Authenticity in casting is when you cast someone into a role that is authentic to that role's race and ethnicity. When you are casting a role for an American Indian, cast an American Indian actor. When casting a role for a Chinese, cast a Chinese heritage or Chinese actor, not another Asian ethnicity. That is true authenticity in casting, and does not perpetuate the stereotype that 'All Asians look alike' which is very offensive and not true.

Benazir was Prime Minister; she had taken the oath of office in a bright green shalwar with white dupatta, the colours of the Pakistan flag, and made the men around her look like pygmies.

I hate the way they portray us in the media. If you see a black family it says they're looting, if you see a white family it says they're looking for food.

In a typical history book, black Americans are mentioned in the context of slavery or civil rights. There's so much more to the story.

Sports and entertainment are the only places where inner-city kids see themselves being able to succeed. Their intellectual development is something they don't relate to.

Many of the people I write about were deliberately left out of the history books that we were forced to read in school. For me, that history was "written wrong" and needed to be corrected. My intention was to make them visible so they could be role models for others. To show how each, in his or her own way, dribbled gracefully around that obstacle in the narrow corridor.

We see women on the field; we see them interviewing players, we see them coming out of the dugout. But if you put them in the booth - like, hold up, wait a second - you haven't been there before. This is different.

I used to say in interviews that I don't necessarily want to be the first black woman or first model to do certain things; I just want to see it done.

A lot of the time, black people, we don't introduce ourselves as black.

I am always asked, 'You grew up in Africa?' Every time I introduce a film, or I'm interviewed, 'You grew up in Africa?'

I did something that no brown-skinned man in the movie industry ever did. I made a brown-skinned man look very romantic - a matinee idol. If you think about it, what I introduced is historical because it had never happened before, and it hasn't happened since - not on that level.

I think sometimes wrestling fans will feel different, but the thing is, 'Total Divas' introduced women's wrestling to the world.

I have introduced Filipino culture to the world.