We’ve talked about cultural appropriation before. In this article, there are two views about it- you could go wrong while representing the other, so don’t or in other words censorship. You could also try to represent the other and become more sensitive in the process.
The author of this essay, Rebecca Makkai, has several pointers which could be useful to writers who often find themselves in the other’s shoes. It’s important to interview and talk to as many people as you can if you are dealing with sensitive subjects. So the author who is not a gay and was writing about a specifically homosexual theme ‘read every back issue of Chicago’s LGBTQ weekly Windy City Times from 1985 to 1992′. She visited gay bars and looked up maps of the period she was writing about. It’s no use having good intentions. You need to do proper research before you write and you need to get filter readers or readers who look out for sensitivity biases so that you can rework the story taking all aspects into consideration.
Read How to Write Across Difference, a timely essay for this day and age.
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