It’s an experiment.
I’ve written two books with such a protagonist. Pantomime, which just made a top ten title for the 2014 ALA Rainbow list, and the just-released sequel, Shadowplay. The first one is set in a circus and the second on a magician’s stage.
You don’t have to reblog to say you’d read MY books (though that’d be nice and part of the hope of this post is that it’ll spread awareness that my books are out there), just that you WOULD read one.
If the book is good what does it matter how the character identifies as/shag with?!
Because of the massive history of bi-erasure from all sides of the sexuality spectrum; the belief that bisexuality doesn’t exist, that it’s just people experimenting, that it’s a phase. That’s why.
Representation is important.
I’m not saying it’s not. I’m simply asking why wouldn’t I read a good book simply because a character is represented as such. It seems moronic.
Ah, yes. I see what you’re saying, there. But the “why does it matter what they identify as?” phrase really smacks of the old “But I don’t see color!” argument about racism. It seems moronic to *you* that someone would ignore a book about a bisexual intersex person, sure. But that attitude of “why should it matter?” erases the fact that it absolutely *does* matter to many, many people who ache to see themselves reflected in today’s media/literature/popular culture.
Aside from representation, it matters to me because reading nothing but heterosexual, white, mostly male heroes got mind-numbingly monotonous years ago.
Because I’ve never even heard of a book with a bisexual intersex main character who wasn’t an alien species or some kind of fantasy creature, and it’s just about guaranteed to contain some things I’ve never read in a story before.
Because that will make the story refreshingly different and unpredictable. It will stretch my horizons and invite me to grow in imagination and empathy rather than stagnating by sticking to the same thing I’ve read a thousand times before.
Because the world-building is likely to be boss. A world that acknowledges the kind of mind-blowing diversity we have in the real world! A world that dares to imagine the effects and nuances of such remarkable difference! That bothers to poke its nose into corners and questions that most stories just don’t want to bother with!
Because the character development is likely to kick 1000 kinds of ass. I’m betting such a character is likely to face some challenges and growth that are new to my experience as a reader, and that any author willing to tackle such a character has one hell of an imagination and set of their own experiences and insights to bring to the table.
In short, I figure that any author willing to tackle a story about such a character probably has balls of steel and a lot of confidence in their ability to tell that story, and that it is likely to be not only a unique read but also better than 99.9% of novels that are out there. Because they know that if it wasn’t, they’d be dead in the water.
And also it matters because representation isn’t only about giving people who are different a voice. It’s also about the rest of us sitting down, listening, and learning to understand them better. Because it behooves us as a species to put some work into trying to put ourselves in the shoes of people who are different, who suffer because of that difference, so that we can understand their lives and needs and how we can empathize, connect with and value them as individuals who bring something unique and important into our lives.