The post further down today about the reader who realized that the vast majority of what they were reading came from white male American/British/Australian writers and decided they wanted to diversify their reading, I'm curious now what other readers prioritize when it comes to diversifying the books they pick out.
I know what people will consider "diverse" will come down to where they're from. Being American, we tend to view diversity primarily through the lens of race and ethnicity, followed by gender and sexuality, then things like religion and class. But I also know that our concept of race doesn't translate to other countries (unless they share similar histories, like Canada). Mostly in the sense that someone could be white here but not considered white in certain countries in Europe, and terms like "BIPOC" basically don't have any meaning in countries where whites are not the majority.
Not saying that doesn't mean our way of viewing diversity isn't "valid", it is within American contexts. But I do think it's limiting because I don't think someone can be said to be a diverse reader if all they're reading is American novels, even if those novels are diverse by our standards. Nationality is one of the widest gulfs for us because while America has a smorgasbord of literature to choose from thanks to our country's diversity, we tend to be pretty culturally isolationist.
This post isn't meant to try and rank what's the most "valid" form of diversity. There's no way to rank whether a book written by an English-speaking Black American straight woman is "more diverse" than a translated book by a Spanish-speaking white Argentine lesbian for an English-speaking white American bisexual male reader.
I'm just curious about people's individual choices. If you're someone who values reading diversely, what do you primarily look for, and how is it shaped by where you're from? What do you prioritize? Nationality? Race? Sexuality?
To those of you who don't see color or aren't the least bit curious about the authors you read, this post isn't for you. I know some of y'all have poor reading comprehension, so let me repeat: if reading this post made your sphincter clench, this post isn't for you.
by thehawkuncaged