BW in Fantasy

127 15 37

by _Ommy_

by _Ommy_

Now, listen. I know I probably don't read fantasy novels as much as I ought to, but even still I feel what I have to say has weight.

It is so hard to find black characters in fantasy stories. I don't know how to explain it properly but just know that this issue upsets me so much that I genuinely am on the brink of crying. Searching up Pinterest aesthetics for fantasy photoshoots to put in a mood board, all I ever run across are white women. Pale white women with blonde hair and pale blue eyes and it gets so exhausting. The only times I have ever stumbled across a black woman in fantasy is where she's this queen with unimaginable amounts of power, or she's a ferocious warrior or she's a maid or something stupid like that and it's just so tiring.

As a black woman myself - a black girl - all I want is a story of a black girl like me, with her dark skin and her regular afro-centric features living a peaceful life in a peaceful cottage surrounded by animals that she loves and adores. A black girl that is soft spoken and everyone feels the need to protect. A black girl that isn't forced to be strong because black women don't have to be strong. The world can't continue to mistreat us, but still expect us to smile and be strong.

I want an innocent black girl, because I've never seen one in the media. A black girl who rarely raises her voice and stutters at the slight mention of a curse word. I want a black girl who's entire livelihood is threatened. Who goes on a journey to save the world, who succeeds and still stays true to the girl she was before.

Why don't we ever have movies, films, adaptations like this? I appreciate it. I really do when we finally get represented in movies and we're portrayed as powerful, fearless Queens but not every black girl to ever walk the earth is that and it's not fair that this is the only representation we get if we even get one at all.

I want a story centered on the black girl, about the black girl as she embarks on a magical journey. Like is that so much to ask for? Jesus.

And this is just a side note, but I can think of when the hunger games was being made into a movie and everyone was surprised and maybe even upset that rue was going to be played by a black character because they didn't understand or grasp the concept that black girls (especially of her age) could be "innocent". Lol what? IT SPECIFICALLY SAID IN THE BOOK THAT SHE WAS BLACK AND YOU JUST IMAGINED HER AS A WHITE GIRL INSTEAD BECAUSE SHE WAS TOO INNOCENT TO BE BLACK?

This is what black girls go through. This is why so many are trying to dismantle the "strong black woman" stereotype because its toxic and has only done wrong to our community. It gives people a reason to purposely mistreat us black women and its not fair.

Black women deserve to be loved. We deserve to be protected. Why is that so hard for some people to get?

And this isn't me trying to say that to write this innocent black girl, that she has to be meek and a doormat so people can walk over her. Like, no. I want a black girl who is soft-spoken and rarely raises her voice but can also hold her own and defend herself when she needs to. And I'm also not trying to say that there aren't powerful, amazing strong black women out there either.

All I'm trying to say is that it's harmful to force this ideal and expectation on every black girl, especially young ones, because not every black girl is strong and not every black should have to be strong. Its supposed to be a personality trait. Not a common feature to the black race like afro textured hair.