Why Does Inclusivity Matter to Sci-fi and Fantasy?

Because even as niche genres – inclusivity literally includes everyone.

fantasy inclusivity matters — Fantasy images from Pinterest. Thank you to the artists for creating these!

Lots of the “fanboys” love to whine and/or moan about all the ways how newer takes on older sci-fi and fantasy properties are ruining them.

How many people are unhappy over gay, transgendered, and non-binary characters in Star Trek: Discovery? What about all the people who’ve thrown tantrums over Rey, Finn, and Rose in the last 3 Skywalker trilogy Star Wars movies? How about a black elf in the upcoming Lord of the Rings TV series?

Frankly – this is preposterous. Getting upset over “woke culture” and inclusivity in sci-fi or fantasy is inane.

Why? Because in fantasy and sci-fi, you tend to get non-humans with varying degrees of skin color, fur, scales, feathers, and what-have-you. And many stories match the cultural situation of their day and age regarding political situations, rights struggles, and so on.

The real world is not monochromatic. No matter how much some people want there to be One True Way – there isn’t, and there never will be.

There will always be men, women, and non-binary people. Likewise, there will always be black, white, brown, and other variations of skin tone among people. And that’s just dealing with the physical elements of people.

Why does inclusivity matter to sci-fi and fantasy? Because they matter to all aspects of life.

Recognizing privilege and limitations as a creator

For me, right off the bat, it’s important that I recognize both my own privilege and limitations as a creator.

What am I talking about? I am a cis-gender male, middle-aged, middle-class, white, and straight. That means I have an automatic level of privilege in my existence. There are uphill battles and struggles that I cannot ever fully comprehend because I’ll never have them.

And those are some of my limitations as a creator. I am not a person of color, female or enby, gay, or most any other form of a minority. Sure, I was raised Jewish and am proud of my culture and heritage as such – but that doesn’t lessen my privilege or limitations as a creator.

When I say limitations – I am NOT saying I can’t create strong female characters, enby characters, LGBTQA+ characters, or what-have-you. Not at all. The limitation comes from recognizing that my understanding of existing as any of these people is wholly external.

I recently met a black fantasy author. One thing he talked about was a major lack of representation of black protagonists in sci-fi and fantasy. Even the one he could cite from his childhood didn’t survive in the end – sacrificing himself to save the white protagonist.

My limitation is that I can empathize with how that must have felt to experience – but I am limited in how I can truly understand what that is like. Similarly, even as a feminist, I have never experienced the casual misogyny and other issues women face regularly in our faux-patriarchal society.

The reason it’s important to recognize my privilege and limitations is so that when I create, I am sensitive to them. And as such, I strive to be inclusive in my work as an author.

What does inclusivity look like?

In my opinion, inclusivity means having characters that are not straight white people. And not just for the sake of having such characters – I want them as integral parts of my storytelling.

For example – I do not write female characters to be rescued by men. Nor to be sex objects or secondary to men. I strive to make them equals, if not greater. More than once, I have made a female character my main protagonist.

In my more recent work, Forgotten Fodder, I’ve included multiple non-binary characters. They just are – and in the future – where this story takes place – they’re accepted like everyone else.

As I started to write my sci-fi series, I included more gay, bisexual, and generally sex-positive characters. Keep in mind – I do not write sex scenes and keep romance very much limited and in the background. In both my Void Incursion and Forgotten Fodder sci-fi series, the protagonists aren’t flirting or otherwise representing some sexual tension. No, thanks.

Just like people in the real world – variations exist among people in my sci-fi and fantasy worlds.

To further distinguish this – I’ve chosen in both sci-fi series to not describe my humans all that well. I might tell you their height and build – but not their look. Why? Because I want you, the reader, to see them how you envision them. What do you think they look like? Do they, as such, look like you?

That is how I see inclusivity. Again – this recognizes that as a straight, white, middle-class male I have a degree of privilege and limitations in my understanding. But I believe it very much matters to be more inclusive with my work.

Normalizing inclusivity

I desire to do my part to include people who are not like me. And not just pay them lip service or have them there in any exploitational way. They should just be there.

Because in the real world – they are.

When you get right down to it – white, straight, middle-class, cis-gendered males are the minority. If you account for all who identify as non-white, non-male, non-heterosexual, and the like – the white straight cis-gendered male is not truly the majority.

No, that does not make me in any way, shape, or form a minority. That’s not my point. My point is that normalizing inclusivity is about recognizing, acknowledging, and accepting this truth. The white hero saving the day is increasingly less realistic.

That’s why I strive for greater inclusivity in my work. It’s why I enjoy more strong female characters, more black and non-white heroes, and successful normal gay relationships portrayed in sci-fi, fantasy, and all other forms of fiction.

Because that’s true to life. Normalizing inclusivity in our work should just be.

I acknowledge that because of my privilege and my limitations – based on my life experience and cultural background – I don’t always get it right. My work to be inclusive is very likely imperfect. But it is still important to me that it be part of my work. Because I believe that doing so is a matter of respect and art imitating life.

Inclusivity matters because the things I create are intended to include everyone. My art is not just for a chosen few – it’s meant for all. That’s why I work on inclusivity and share my process in this way.