Default white - Revision history

Lquilter: cats

2010-11-11T17:20:06Z

cats

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:20, 11 November 2010
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	There is considerable debate in the fiction community about how to effectively combat this assumption in text.		There is considerable debate in the fiction community about how to effectively combat this assumption in text.

	[[Category: ~~Racism~~]]		[[Category:Race, ethnicity, and racism]]

Lquilter: copyedit

2007-09-01T22:08:13Z

copyedit

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:08, 1 September 2007
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	The tendency to assume that a person or fictional character's race is white, in the absence of other identifying characteristics.		The tendency to assume that a person or fictional character's race is white, in the absence of other identifying characteristics.

	The default white assumption is a manifestation of [[racism]]. In white-dominated societies, whites are most often prime movers or agents of change. In fiction, white characters are most often the ones given [[agency]] by the work ~~of fiction's creator~~. This is in part a manifestation of the fact that most writers, directors, producers, etc. in [[science fiction]], [[fantasy]], and [[horror]] are themselves white. While some of these creators accurately represent [[people of color]] within their works, most creators do not, instead crafting settings which are white-dominated if not entirely white.		The default white assumption is a manifestation of [[racism]]. In white-dominated societies, whites are most often prime movers or agents of change. In fiction, white characters are most often the ones given [[agency]] by the creator of the work. This is in part a manifestation of the fact that most writers, directors, producers, etc. in [[science fiction]], [[fantasy]], and [[horror]] are themselves white. While some of these creators accurately represent [[people of color]] within their works, most creators do not, instead crafting settings which are white-dominated if not entirely white.

	Some creators attempt to avoid this tendency by adopting a raceless or [[colorblind]] strategy, deliberately avoiding mention of race or race-related characteristics. In principle this should lead audience members to ascribe whichever race they choose to a given character. But just as [[implicit assumptions]] about gender in [[patriarchial]] socities lead to [[default male]] thinking and [[universal "he"]] language, similar implicit assumptions about race lead most audience members to assume that all unmarked characters are white.		Some creators attempt to avoid this tendency by adopting a raceless or [[colorblind]] strategy, deliberately avoiding mention of race or race-related characteristics. In principle this should lead audience members to ascribe whichever race they choose to a given character. But just as [[implicit assumptions]] about gender in [[patriarchial]] socities lead to [[default male]] thinking and [[universal "he"]] language, similar implicit assumptions about race lead most audience members to assume that all unmarked characters are white.

167.206.128.33: Describes the "default white" assumption

2007-08-28T16:33:03Z

Describes the "default white" assumption

New page

The tendency to assume that a person or fictional character's race is white, in the absence of other identifying characteristics.

The default white assumption is a manifestation of [[racism]]. In white-dominated societies, whites are most often prime movers or agents of change. In fiction, white characters are most often the ones given [[agency]] by the work of fiction's creator. This is in part a manifestation of the fact that most writers, directors, producers, etc. in [[science fiction]], [[fantasy]], and [[horror]] are themselves white. While some of these creators accurately represent [[people of color]] within their works, most creators do not, instead crafting settings which are white-dominated if not entirely white.

Some creators attempt to avoid this tendency by adopting a raceless or [[colorblind]] strategy, deliberately avoiding mention of race or race-related characteristics. In principle this should lead audience members to ascribe whichever race they choose to a given character. But just as [[implicit assumptions]] about gender in [[patriarchial]] socities lead to [[default male]] thinking and [[universal "he"]] language, similar implicit assumptions about race lead most audience members to assume that all unmarked characters are white.

There is considerable debate in the fiction community about how to effectively combat this assumption in text.

[[Category: Racism]]