‘Why is she Asian?’: Writer highlights problems with diversity in art by sharing criticism to a short story

Kerry Justich
·Health and Wellness Staff Writer
Simone Kern shares criticism to a recent short story. (Photo: Twitter)
Simone Kern shares criticism to a recent short story. (Photo: Twitter)

The entertainment industry is seemingly becoming more inclusive and diversified, such as with films like “Black Panther” and “Crazy Rich Asians,” which scored big at the box offices in 2018 and 2019. But one writer is bringing attention to the fact that there’s still a long way to go before art begins to accurately reflect life — and is sharing one of the reasons storytelling hasn’t gotten there yet.

In a tweet posted on Thursday night, a writer named Simone Kern shared a piece of feedback that they received in response to a short story they wrote, where the main character is Chinese-American. In blue writing, the note reads, “Why is she Asian?” A question, which Kern points out, is irrelevant.

“Has any writer ever been asked, ‘Why is this character white?’” Kern questions, placing the criticism into a seemingly more relatable context. “My family is mixed-race, my friends are diverse, do I need a *reason* to write non-white characters beyond reflecting the world?”

Kern continued the thread to explain more about their character and why their workshopping partner wanted more context about the character’s background.

Still, Kern writes, that further explanation isn’t necessary because non-white characters don’t need a reason to exist — they just do.

“Not only do white writers expect a character’s marginalization to be the whole point,” Kern’s final tweet reads, “some can’t conceive of or accept a story that doesn’t totally center it.”

Hundreds of people have since responded to the writer’s tweet to point out why the question that Kern’s workshop partner posed isn’t constructive, but is instead ridiculous, and to share their own similar experiences.

Some responses even came from writers who have found success in their most diverse narratives — including Greg Pak, the writer behind popular Marvel Comics such The Hulk and Hercules.

Kern didn’t immediately respond to Yahoo Lifestyle’s request for comment. However, one Twitter user seemed to put a nice close to the discussion by pointing out that people need to accept a “spectrum” of characters. “We don’t live in a vacuum,” she wrote.

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