Originally Posted by
Tiamatty
I think both your posts fall into the trap of simply assuming that attempts at diversity are at a greater risk of being bad than anything else. I think that's flawed thinking.
Say a writer is putting a team together. Say the writer decides they want to make the team diverse, and so grabs a half-dozen minority characters. You seem to believe that there's a larger risk of that book being bad then if the writer had simply grabbed a half-dozen straight white male characters, or if they had just picked a half-dozen characters randomly out of a hat, or if they hadn't put any thought whatsoever ever into trying to make a diverse team. What you seem to imply is that, while the book could still be good, it's effectively operating at an innate disadvantage simply because diversity was something that factored into the creation of the book.
This is a fairly common attitude. I think it's wrong. I think good writers will write good books, and bad writers will write bad books. Occasionally, a good writer will write a bad book, and a bad writer will write a good book. I would argue that a writer who's socially conscious enough to put real thought into demographics and whether their book reflects the experiences of the non-privileged may actually be more likely to be good than one who doesn't give a shit about diversity. Because the writer who's socially conscious is a writer who thinks a lot about complex issues, and the writer who's not socially conscious is probably just throwing good guys at bad guys (which may still be entertaining, but isn't really great writing).
In terms of diversity among creators, that's a matter of getting unique voices. A black man has different experiences and a different worldview from a white man. A woman is different from a man. A gay person is different from a straight person. Straight White Male is essentially the "default" in society, including in comics. So getting people who don't fit into that is vital simply for getting different ways of seeing the world. Claremont did great work with female characters, but he still wrote them from a male perspective. That's not to say that a woman could do better, only that a woman would do it differently. It might be better, it might be worse, depending on the woman writing, but the important thing is that it would be different, and that difference is necessary.
It's also not about turning away talented straight white male creators. It's about actively seeking out creators who aren't straight white men.
And there's another element, too. As I said, straight white men are the default. It's because we control everything. We're the ones in charge. Women make up half the population, but how many women have positions of real authority at Marvel? Not just as creators, but as editors, and in even higher positions? That's not right, and it's not going to change until women actually start being given positions. Giving women and minorities important positions - as long as they're qualified, obviously - promotes equality and justice. And, what's more, it can bring in different views that may help to improve things. Marvel wants to reach female readers - having women in executive positions, giving them a real voice, might allow them to suggest policies that would do that. Having black executives might help with reaching more black readers.
Diversity is not only the right and moral thing to do - it's also the smart thing to do. It's not a matter of quotas. It's a matter of making a real, sincere effort to get qualified people who aren't the default.