Advice/Help Is it okay to roleplay as characters that aren't a part of your race/ethnic group?

[Hallow]

While it is certainly okay, sometimes I have felt like I had to play a character of a different ethnicity than my own. By no means do I want to force others to change their preferences, but the main reason I do so is to match my partner, personally I don't have a desire to be or play anyone of a different appearance save for the element because of which the character is adored in that particular way that doesn't unfold in real life. In the end there is a limit to the piercing gaze of my imagination into the path of another, so while all people are people, there is absolutely no one like me, better yet all these features are a dream.

 

[Cosmo]

I feel like the only problem with just portraying people as people comes in different ethnicities/cultures.

Cuz not all cultures are the same and people interact with their culture in different ways.

A good example of this is actually white people and racism. I had a partner who would swear up down and sideways they weren’t racist but then quote all kinds of radical racist bullshit that they were indoctrinated into from people in their lives and online. It was disturbing actually to have someone so removed from objective reality but insisting they were woke and everyone around them was wrong.

Now that’s an extreme example obviously but it does show that people are often joy aware of how much their OWN culture and lives experience color how they see the world.

Which is why it can be hard to portray people outside those lived experiences. If you don’t realize how much of your view of the world is down to your own culture and experiences than it can be hard to correctly interpret what would change if you make your character different.

Its why checking in with someone else is good, especially someone who has the experience you want to portray.

It’s a bit easier with skin color specifically because you can keep your own culture and lived experience and just change the color of the skin.

So for culture I recommend talking to people first before making a character. For skin color just go for it as long as you aren’t looking to turn the character into a statement on inequality or something.

Read the rest of the post, mate. I did not say ignore it. I said culture influences them just as much as their personal experiences and location [what you would be around and interact with on a daily basis that would form the core of your opinions]. I did not say they carried no weight, I did not say they carried all the weight. They carry weight but are not the primary decider of what makes a person a person and there is nothing about it that means you must be born in that culture group to properly represent that culture. A guy from Iran may place personal values in some locations you do not, but that guy from Iran is still just a person. Just like you, regardless, of where you are from and so long as you keep that in mind when writing the character, then you are going to do well if you keep in mind the outside influences that would shape their personality [as I said in the post you mentioned me, culture, location and personal history].

 

[Vumpalouska]

Lol, sounds like Twitter has become an even more insane place over the years

Anyway, to answer your question: Yes it is okay :-)

 

[nerdy tangents]

Read the rest of the post, mate. I did not say ignore it. I said culture influences them just as much as their personal experiences and location [what you would be around and interact with on a daily basis that would form the core of your opinions]. I did not say they carried no weight, I did not say they carried all the weight. They carry weight but are not the primary decider of what makes a person a person and there is nothing about it that means you must be born in that culture group to properly represent that culture. A guy from Iran may place personal values in some locations you do not, but that guy from Iran is still just a person. Just like you, regardless, of where you are from and so long as you keep that in mind when writing the character, then you are going to do well if you keep in mind the outside influences that would shape their personality [as I said in the post you mentioned me, culture, location and personal history].

See my point is that there are people defined primarily by their cultural identity in real life. This is especially the case when their cultural identity is marginalized (as it is for most people of color).

To just use two examples from my own direct family. My stepmother is a first generation immigrant who heavily identifies with her cultural identity. It’s her way to keep close to her family and the people she left behind when she came to America. It’s also important because she’s of a skin color/culture that faces heavy racism in the country. At the same time she also lives in a community where people might share the same outward designation (ie they’re all “Mexicans”) but have different cultures, nationalities, hell even skin tones.

So the degree to which her culture defines her and the way she views the world is extremely central to her character.

By contrast my grandmother moved to America as a young girl and raised her children to be fully assimilated. She went out of her way to trade one culture for another. But it was a conscious choice on her part, so in that way culture is still a defining part of her character. It’s just assimilating into the default culture of her new home.

So I guess my point is when playing with ethnicities keep in mind how the ethnicity fits into the wider world. As this will often times indicate how much of a factor it plays in your characters internal life. Even if they themselves might not be affected by it chances are their family will be.

 

[Cosmo]

See my point is that there are people defined primarily by their cultural identity in real life. This is especially the case when their cultural identity is marginalized (as it is for most people of color).

To just use two examples from my own direct family. My stepmother is a first generation immigrant who heavily identifies with her cultural identity. It’s her way to keep close to her family and the people she left behind when she came to America. It’s also important because she’s of a skin color/culture that faces heavy racism in the country. At the same time she also lives in a community where people might share the same outward designation (ie they’re all “Mexicans”) but have different cultures, nationalities, hell even skin tones.

So the degree to which her culture defines her and the way she views the world is extremely central to her character.

By contrast my grandmother moved to America as a young girl and raised her children to be fully assimilated. She went out of her way to trade one culture for another. But it was a conscious choice on her part, so in that way culture is still a defining part of her character. It’s just assimilating into the default culture of her new home.

So I guess my point is when playing with ethnicities keep in mind how the ethnicity fits into the wider world. As this will often times indicate how much of a factor it plays in your characters internal life. Even if they themselves might not be affected by it chances are their family will be.

That has nothing to do with my post though. I said culture should have the same weight as history [personal experiences] and location [what you were raised around that can influence you, especially, if its outside of your culture].

When I say people are people, and you should understand that first, is because people are people. My girlfriend is Vietnamese, every family gathering they have, regardless of what is happening, there is karaoke. In my family, there is always a horseshoe game going on, regardless of what is happening. People living in small towns in Pakistan often need a cup of chai tea to get them going, to help them get through the day and recover at night, almost like people in the USA need a cup of coffee to get them going, to help them get through the day and recover at night. Because even if the traditions are different, what they do is different, their values my not always line up perfectly, everyone is still just a person with a lot of shared desires, needs and actions even if the dressings are different.

So, yes, you should spend some time thinking about their culture, looking into it, how it would interact with your own or the dominate culture in the rp, just as you would for any character you do that is outside your comfort zone or personal experience, but again, a person is more then just their culture and their culture does not restrict who can do what and nor should it, and one of the best things you can do is understand that people.. are really just people. Some guy on the other side of the planet may eat different food, but odds are he will chuckle at a cat video. You have that angry old person who thinks everything is better a certain way? That person is in every family, in every culture, in every corner of the world. Because, again, just people.

 

[Cosmos]

Cosmos I feel like the only problem with just portraying people as people comes in different ethnicities/cultures.

Cuz not all cultures are the same and people interact with their culture in different ways.

A good example of this is actually white people and racism. I had a partner who would swear up down and sideways they weren’t racist but then quote all kinds of radical racist bullshit that they were indoctrinated into from people in their lives and online. It was disturbing actually to have someone so removed from objective reality but insisting they were woke and everyone around them was wrong.

Now that’s an extreme example obviously but it does show that people are often joy aware of how much their OWN culture and lives experience color how they see the world.

Which is why it can be hard to portray people outside those lived experiences. If you don’t realize how much of your view of the world is down to your own culture and experiences than it can be hard to correctly interpret what would change if you make your character different.

Its why checking in with someone else is good, especially someone who has the experience you want to portray.

It’s a bit easier with skin color specifically because you can keep your own culture and lived experience and just change the color of the skin.

So for culture I recommend talking to people first before making a character. For skin color just go for it as long as you aren’t looking to turn the character into a statement on inequality or something.

Oh uh- wrong tag? I’m cosmos, not cosmo

 

[Ganryu]

Damn, guess I can't RP as an elf, dwarf, magical ninja, goblin, space robot. Just don't understand them at all.

 

[Sara Sidereal]

Everyone just self insert as a generic anime protagonist. It's the only way.

 

[natsukashii]

As someone who is white that writes for characters from all sorts of ethnic backgrounds, I don't think there is any problems with writing outside your own. If you have worries about portraying a certain poc improperly, inaccurately, or, god forbid, offensively, then do some old fashioned research. Learn about their culture. Learn where they come from and how they adapt to whatever country they live in. Is this country accepting or not? Has their life been effected by bigotry and racism? These are all things I ask myself when writing character backstories.

As writers, though I know there are some who believe we should stick within our own race, but if you ask the right questions and enough, even someone who is whiter than sour cream can come to understand a culture enough to write them without it being ridden with stereotypes. And that goes double for POC writers who might want to write white characters.

Everyone has the right to write whatever it is they want. Just put some time into learning whatever you can.

 

[ChasmOfOrganicMatter]

Of course there's nothing wrong with it but if you do, ask yourself this:

Are you writing a character as a fully three dimensional person who just happens to be in *insert ethnic group here* or are you really just writing someone as *insert ethnic group here* encapsulated in a single character?

Many have a tendency to aim for the former but end up moreso in the vein of the latter not necessarily out of malice but ignorance (I suppose if you could say sufficiently advanced ignorance is the same as malice). There's no easy formula for writing an authentic version of another culture but I feel you should try to make a competent, believable character first who just happens to practice certain customs and hold certain positions from another nation but isn't necessarily dogmatic or entirely defined by them.

 

[The Waluigist Priestess]

So for some context, I was on Twitter the other day and I saw a post basically saying: "White people shouldn't roleplay as bipoc characters because they'll misrepresent and misportray them"

I've always roleplayed with many different ocs, a lot of them being bipoc. Although usually set in different universes and such. At least not in our own world setting. And the times I have its always been dystopian, like a post-apocalyptic plot, or using our world's geography as a blueprint but making it fantasy. Though since it's usually set in a made-up fantasy world, does it still kind of apply the same? Of course I wouldn't roleplay as a bipoc character trying to depict the bipoc experience.

I don't want to misrepresent or misportray anyone, especially minority groups because I know how harmful that can be. I do lots of research on the characters I create to make sure there wouldn't be anything I would be doing wrong or misrepresenting. I'm not sure if the post was about non-poc writing about poc's experience or not. And I wasn't able to ask if that was what they were talking about.

Tl;dr Is it okay for me (I'm white) to have bipoc characters? Is this like an unspoken thing that I just didn't know until now? Does this mean I should delete all of my non-white oc's?

Also I did ask this on another site but they recommended a roleplay forum to ask it on instead.

Edit: A big thanks to everyone who's responded with their thoughts and feedback!

I believe it's perfectly fine as long as any misinterpretation is either mentioned politely or not at all.

 

[Emotional Enigma]

I'm mixed, 50/50 black & white but I'm so insecure about claiming my black side because I've never felt apart of that community so I don't play characters that are black BUT that is me personally. At the end of the day these are just characters in stories and you should play what you want, I think. Playing a different ethnicity character isn't you trying to say you are them and at our cores, we are all people and have a wide arrange of emotions so I don't see anything wrong with it.

My only stipulation is don't make a character with a different ethnicity simply to overexaggerate a social stereotype. Actually put effort into them beyond what you think they should act like or give them reasons for why they act or say things. I feel like it would rub people the wrong way if you made a character that's black but made them always only yell with the only explanation for it being, "because they're black". Like I know that's stupid and we're pretty intelligent on this site but I just wanted to say that that might not be wise to do.

 

[Deredere]

I'm so glad I found this thread. I know someone else asked this question (Tbh, it's a brave move to actually ask someone and try your best for good representation.) but I had this mind my mind too, I just don't know how to ask for questions properly. Okay, here it goes.

I have a lightskin black girl named Jade Evans. She is a Sagittarius and inspired by me and my sibling. I still love her and I could never imagine her not being my Oc, but should I let go of her? The issue is that she is inspired by me and my sibling. My sibling displays more stereotypes of African Americans than I do (Speaking in Black vernacular is fine to me, but they have no care for their education or others.) I My sibling and I are mixed, half-black/white. I identity as more white while they do not. If I made her more like me I'm afraid I might whitewash her, but if I made her more like my sibling I might sound really offensive and rude when it's just my sibling that's rude. (I love my sibling, but they can be a bit mean. I still love them.)

 

[nerdy tangents]

Deredere So whether you identify as white or not you are biracial. As a fellow light-skinned person of color I think it is actually a good perspective to explore in roleplays.

How the exact shade of our skin can alter our perspectives and how we interact with our culture.

I have siblings that are much more dark skinned and traditionally “Hispanic” looking than I am. I know they have been treated differently than I have in the past because of it as well.

If anyone dared to tell me a character based on them was a stereotype I would block them immediately. That kind of bullshit “you have to be a minority in one specific way to be acceptible” thinking isn’t worth wasting your time with.

Trust me I have dealt with that flavor of troll in the past and it’s almost always just an excuse to rile you up or prove that people of color are the REAL racists.

(edited for clarity)

 

[Deredere]

If anyone dared to tell me a character based on them was a stereotype I would block them immediately. That kind of bullshit “you have to be a minority in one specific way to be acceptible” thinking isn’t worth wasting your time with.

I know that being just one way is wrong and boring, but it still worries me. My character Jade Evans is loud, impulsive, a little sassy and a lotta spunky with a dash of blunt to her like my sibling, but tries to have good attitude, cares very much for her friends and family like me. Well, we both can be impulsive and not so serious. She just wants to have a good time and not worry so much about what others think (Which I admire in my sibling.) and ain't no snitch neither.

Being sassy, outspoken, and blunt is what makes her the way she is and I love her, but I do know some of her traits (From both me and my sibling.) may be seen as offensive. Sometimes I wonder if my existence is offensive to people.

 

[nerdy tangents]

I know that being just one way is wrong and boring, but it still worries me. My character Jade Evans is loud, impulsive, a little sassy and a lotta spunky with a dash of blunt to her like my sibling, but tries to have good attitude, cares very much for her friends and family like me. Well, we both can be impulsive and not so serious. She just wants to have a good time and not worry so much about what others think (Which I admire in my sibling.) and ain't no snitch neither.

Being sassy, outspoken, and blunt is what makes her the way she is and I love her, but I do know some of her traits (From both me and my sibling.) may be seen as offensive. Sometimes I wonder if my existence is offensive to people.

So there is a lot to unpack here and a bit of it isn’t thread relevant so I will send you a PM about that.

But as it relates to this thread specifically the issue is not “is my character antagonistic“ it’s “does my character portray people of color in a harmful light”.

So there is the stereotype of the “sassy black friend” but I wouldn’t say your describing that.

You are just describing a personality that is a little antagonistic. People of all colors can be blunt, sassy, etc.

So as long as you don’t have all your characters of color act identically than you are fine.

 

[SnapePotions34]

Making a character that is bipoc is perfectly fine, and to be honest, it feels stupid that people would think otherwise because (unless your character is perpetuating a harmful stereotype) as long as you're having fun, nobody but you can give two craps about what you do. I have no idea how to say this, but I think that characters can have any kind of personality no matter their skin color, gender, sexuality, or otherwise, so hearing someone say that a white or male or female or whatever is rping someone wrong or has to stop just because they're not of the same gender/sexuality/skin color as their character seems ridiculous and, in some ways, racist/sexist/homophobic/whatever to me.

 

[FathersDislikeMe]

I ran into this problem a few times. I played a lizardfolk druid for a game, and my friend's pet iguana was like, "dude, that's messed up - you don't know what it's like being a reptile."

Seriously, though, that's just ridiculous. It's role playing. So long as your representation of a character with different ethnicity/religious beliefs/gender than you isn't obviously meant to be offensive/objectifying (like playing a super campy gay guy if you're straight, playing a woman who constantly craves sex if you're male, or playing a male character who always does the dishes and leaves the toilet seat down if you're a female), I think you're good.

I played an African tribal character in a Spirit of the Century game in a multi-ethnic group and never ran into a single problem. I played a homosexual male character in a game where my homosexual buddy played a straight character. I played a civilian character in games where my civilian friends played military characters. I wouldn't worry about it, if I were you.

 

[Wandering Fae]

Please don't listen to that wannabe woke BS these people have no idea his insulting and racist they actually are and let's be honestly bored as fuck so they need something to bitch about, stripping someone down to their skin color as if that is the only thing that defines them is extremely stupid.

How can you misrepresent a character that you made? You know their history and experiences it has fuck a to do with race and who are these people to speak on the experiences of all bipoc people? Do they assume we all just live the same lives? Or that absolutely no one can relate to us!

 

[Crayons]

How can you misrepresent a character that you made? You know their history and experiences it has fuck a to do with race and who are these people to speak on the experiences of all bipoc people? Do they assume we all just live the same lives? Or that absolutely no one can relate to us!

On that note, a white friend of mine wrote a book where the main characters were black and sent it to three different black friends to get their opinions on whether everything was accurately portrayed. He got back three completely different reports. I mean, unsurprisingly really. It was still worth doing as it threw up a few things he hadn't thought of, and it's probably a wise thing to do if you're writing for publication, but in RP terms, unless you consider X race of people to be one homogenous whole, as long as you're playing respectfully, just do what you want, it's your character.

 

[Deredere]

On that note, a white friend of mine wrote a book where the main characters were black and sent it to three different black friends to get their opinions on whether everything was accurately portrayed. He got back three completely different reports. I mean, unsurprisingly really. It was still worth doing as it threw up a few things he hadn't thought of, and it's probably a wise thing to do if you're writing for publication, but in RP terms, unless you consider X race of people to be one homogenous whole, as long as you're playing respectfully, just do what you want, it's your character.

But how do I still show a part of their culture and beliefs and still have them be different? How do I make two or more characters from the same culture and different ideologies? In American, it's mostly materialistic and individuality, but there are other culture that have a great sense of unity and society. How do I show two different characters to act differently?

 

[Jannah]

But how do I still show a part of their culture and beliefs and still have them be different? How do I make two or more characters from the same culture and different ideologies. In American, it's mostly materialistic and individuality, but there are other culture that have a great sense of unity and society. How do I show two different characters to act differently?

Yep. I write characters from all over and I do incorporate aspects of their own cultures into their characters. It does require some research, but it's fun since I like learning about other cultures.

 

[FathersDislikeMe]

stripping someone down to their skin color as if that is the only thing that defines them

That.

 

[Deredere]

That.

Yeah, I know. I know people can act differently, but how do I incorporate a part of culture and still act independently? Let's say, I have two Christian characters that are devoted to God, how would I make them different from one another?

 

[Deredere]

Defining someone just by their race is wrong and I shouldn't group all (insert race) in a thin narrow box; let's get that out of the way. Not everyone thinks the same, but I shouldn't throw away their culture and their beliefs. Let me give a better example. Let's say you two Spanish (I'm using Spanish as a race.) characters that value family. Is there a way both these characters can still express that value of familial love while still having an overall different personality? Is there a way to show that they appreciate their culture, but in a different way?