Race as part of a story

[Imstillfun]

I never mention race as part of a story. In truth my true and embellished stories involve men of multiple races. I just don’t think race is important in my stories, I had an experience once with 3 very large black men. I did not follow through, but was thinking of writing it as if I did.

is race important to that story.

if you’re curious, I didn’t follow through because my husband pulled me away. He didn’t feel he could protect me if things got out of hand.

 

[Djmac1031]

There's no such thing as "race."

We're all the same species. We just have a variety of looks.

 

[Seadog777]

Race is only necessary for description purposes.
JMO, of course.

 

[ronde]

Several of my stories take place during or after the American Civil War, so it's natural that race enters the story in one way or another. Several also take place in the West and Native Americans play some very important parts. I've written stories with Asian characters as well. Race has driven a lot of history both in the US and the rest of the world. Avoiding race is avoiding the truth about history and tends to make a story feel like the writer is dancing around the truth.

In my opinion, it's fine to add race to a story if race is a part of the plot that seems to be believable. I do avoid stereotypes of any race because over the years, I've found there isn't really a stereotype that applies to race. There are saints and assholes amongst us all, no matter what their race. I just write them as I see them, no matter what their race is.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

If the ethnic features of a character are somehow relevant to their development or other characters' interactions with them within the story, it is mentioned. Otherwise, no.

 

[KeithD]

Once again a call to limit what is written in fiction--the complete opposite of what would be development toward being a good writer.

 

[jehoram]

In my story "Ohana" race was a factor so it became part of the story. It wasn't the main theme, but it added to the complexity of the characters and came to be proud of their ethnicity.

 

[Emilymcplugger]

I never mention race as part of a story. In truth my true and embellished stories involve men of multiple races. I just don’t think race is important in my stories, I had an experience once with 3 very large black men. I did not follow through, but was thinking of writing it as if I did.

is race important to that story.

if you’re curious, I didn’t follow through because my husband pulled me away. He didn’t feel he could protect me if things got out of hand.

I think as this would be part of the visual aesthetic then it would be relevant.

But opinions are like noses. Everyone has one and likes to blow their own…I think.

 

[PastMaster]

There's no such thing as "race."

We're all the same species. We just have a variety of looks.

As much as I wish that were the case, There is definately such a thing as 'race'
In the same way as there are multiple subspecies in many species of animals, so we have the same in phenomenon in Humans. There are slight differences between the subspecies and I'm not just talking about skin colour or cock or ass size.
Certain subspecies are more succeptable to certain medical or genetic conditions such as sickle cell anaemia.
The problem is that some people concentrate on our differences rather than our similarities, and that causes issues.

 

[Emilymcplugger]

As much as I wish that were the case, There is definately such a thing as 'race'
In the same way as there are multiple subspecies in many species of animals, so we have the same in phenomenon in Humans. There are slight differences between the subspecies and I'm not just talking about skin colour or cock or ass size.
Certain subspecies are more succeptable to certain medical or genetic conditions such as sickle cell anaemia.
The problem is that some people concentrate on our differences rather than our similarities, and that causes issues.

I’m sorry.

Is that a minkey?

 

[PastMaster]

I’m sorry.

Is that a minkey?

It is and i have a leecense for eet.

 

[Emilymcplugger]

It is and i have a leecense for eet.

That’s gonna be in my head for the rest of the night.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Depends on the story and on the individual character. I don't aim to fetishize race, but people from different backgrounds will have different experiences and sometimes that's relevant. I've written stories where the only clue somebody might not be white was in their name, and others where I had a fair bit of detail (Red Scarf mentions Anjali's caste).

 

[Seadog777]

As much as I wish that were the case, There is definately such a thing as 'race'
In the same way as there are multiple subspecies in many species of animals, so we have the same in phenomenon in Humans. There are slight differences between the subspecies and I'm not just talking about skin colour or cock or ass size.
Certain subspecies are more succeptable to certain medical or genetic conditions such as sickle cell anaemia.
The problem is that some people concentrate on our differences rather than our similarities, and that causes issues.

You should know that common sense things you are speaking of, isn't exactly the most welcome on most forum boards.

 

[PastMaster]

You should know that common sense things you are speaking of, isn't exactly the most welcome on most forum boards.

Im about as welcome as a in a swimming pool

 

[tenyari]

Race is a fiction in genetics, but ethnicity is not a fiction in culture and identity.

If it's relevant to a character's experience that a person is interacting with someone of another culture then it's relevant and something to note in the story.

But don't make a fetish out of it.

 

[SimonDoom]

I’m sorry.

Is that a minkey?

For that reference.

 

[Bramblethorn]

As much as I wish that were the case, There is definately such a thing as 'race'
In the same way as there are multiple subspecies in many species of animals, so we have the same in phenomenon in Humans. There are slight differences between the subspecies and I'm not just talking about skin colour or cock or ass size.
Certain subspecies are more succeptable to certain medical or genetic conditions such as sickle cell anaemia.
The problem is that some people concentrate on our differences rather than our similarities, and that causes issues.

The idea that present-day humans could be classified into subspecies (usually aligned with "race") was popular for a while, but AFAIK the general consensus in modern biology is that there's only one living subspecies of homo sapiens. Yes, we can find genes that are more common in some groups of humans than others, but those genetic differences are small compared to those between animals that we'd consider different "subspecies".

As a species, we're relatively new on the scene and we interbreed too much to form separate subspecies the way some animals have done.

https://askabiologist.asu.edu/questions/human-races

Yes, some people have dark skin and some have white skin, and that's tied in with genetics, but calling those divisions "subspecies" is unscientific.

 

[Voboy]

I based a story partly on racist themes once. It wasn't all that popular, but I think that was because the racist was my narrator. So she was a shitty person, anyway. She got her comeuppance in the end, but the story never really did take off.

Oh well.

 

[CyranoJ]

I never mention race as part of a story. In truth my true and embellished stories involve men of multiple races. I just don’t think race is important in my stories, I had an experience once with 3 very large black men. I did not follow through, but was thinking of writing it as if I did.

is race important to that story.

if you’re curious, I didn’t follow through because my husband pulled me away. He didn’t feel he could protect me if things got out of hand.

If you remember them specifically as "3 very large black men," then quite obviously racial kink is important to that story for you. If it didn't matter, that phrasing would simply not occur to you. Own that and run with it.

 

[PastMaster]

The idea that present-day humans could be classified into subspecies (usually aligned with "race") was popular for a while, but AFAIK the general consensus in modern biology is that there's only one living subspecies of homo sapiens. Yes, we can find genes that are more common in some groups of humans than others, but those genetic differences are small compared to those between animals that we'd consider different "subspecies".

As a species, we're relatively new on the scene and we interbreed too much to form separate subspecies the way some animals have done.

https://askabiologist.asu.edu/questions/human-races

Yes, some people have dark skin and some have white skin, and that's tied in with genetics, but calling those divisions "subspecies" is unscientific.

I wants defining people by their skin color - but by their medical predispositions according to their 'race'

For instance those with African descent often have a predisposition to a certain kind of cardiac bradyrrhytmia and as I mentioned before sickle cell anaema.

We need a way of classifying those differences, so that people can be treated appropriately.

 

[tenyari]

I based a story partly on racist themes once. It wasn't all that popular, but I think that was because the racist was my narrator. So she was a shitty person, anyway. She got her comeuppance in the end, but the story never really did take off.

It's very hard to write a story when the protagonist is the villain. It can be done but it's extremely tricky and readers often struggle with it.

I'm not sure I could dare to try it myself, I'd be worried about screwing it up.

The Anti-Hero motif is as close as some readers can handle, and many cannot handle even that unless it's done for mostly comedic effect like Star War's Han Solo.

 

[Voboy]

It's very hard to write a story when the protagonist is the villain. It can be done but it's extremely tricky and readers often struggle with it.

I'm not sure I could dare to try it myself, I'd be worried about screwing it up.

The Anti-Hero motif is as close as some readers can handle, and many cannot handle even that unless it's done for mostly comedic effect like Star War's Han Solo.

I enjoy doing it, but there is a definite effect on the votes. Without any question.

All my protagonists are flawed and, in many cases, at least slightly unlikeable. But most of them are not actual villains. It's so much fun when they are.

 

[PennameWombat]

I have a pair of male/female fraternal twin characters whose mother was white and father was black. The twins were born in the mid-sixties and the story from their parents meeting and their early days had some coverage of issues their (late) parents encountered and a bit about the civil rights movement of the 1960s. The parents worked as talent agents in Hollywood and were reasonably successful, so the twins inherited a fair amount and the female twin works as an investment adviser. She tries to invest in projects led by or associated with minority groups, in part because she saw how even her successful parents met a fair amount of disapproval.

So… whatever the genetics and such, race has cultural and societal affects. I don’t make it an obsession to bring these in and they mostly don’t show up. But such things do have their place in the right contexts. But neither of the twins go out of their way to talk about their heritage, but when it comes up, they don’t shy away.

 

[TheRedChamber]

Race matters.

But it doesn't always matter that it matters.

The races of characters can be the very heart of the stort, it can be in important detail or it can be completely irrelevant for the particular story you want to tell.

But I don't think you need to dance around it or you risk ending up in a silly 'oh by the way, Dumbledore was gay' kind of situation.

Like it or not, a person's ethnicity affects how they look and the visualization of a character is important in erotica. There's a whole school of thought that says you shouldn't start a story with 'She was six foot tall, blonde and had 46DD breasts' but work these details (maybe without the cup size) more subtly into the the story. (and obviously in the above example we're all trained to read 'default white').

There's also a school of thought that says you should mention as little concrete as possible about a character. However unless your dedicated to this principle so much that your not going to mention basic things like his/her hair colour, height etc why wouldn't you mention basic ethnicity signifiers at appropriate points during the story?

Personally I often like writing about people from different countries (a French accent is always more erotic than one from Birmingham) generally so the differences end up pretty clear. Sometimes I just say She's from China, he's from Nigeria' and work on the characters from there.

On the other hand, sometimes I've worked out a story outline and halfway through wondered if it would work better if the character was half - Vietnamese American or fourth-generation British Indian and if so how it would affect the outline if at all and if I can write that properly. Mostly I've tended to give it a go because it always seems more interesting that way.