This important question came to mind as I read a review copy of a recently released, self-published children’s book.
This particular picture book did have the noble intention of tackling diversity, and it did utilize a clever metaphor. However, despite the books best attempt to illustrate the variety that exists in the world, it fails miserably due to its lack of action. One could catalogue the fruits and vegetables of the produce section and illustrate that the world is diverse, but if the oranges are not interacting with the apples then the issue of diversity is a mute point.
All good stories revolve around conflict and the ultimate resolution of conflict. In order to successfully resolve social conflict characters need to stretch and grow, bridging the gap between two opposing realities. At least, “opposing” is the way we have been trained to view those with different values and cultures.
Audre Lorde addresses this issue in her essay “Age. Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference.” As she points out, “We speak not of human difference, but of human deviance.” Lorde speaks of a mythical norm, which we each have in our head. I am sure that these mythical norms are as diverse as the societies that they come from, but the result is always the same; the outsider is always measured against this norm. The outsider must struggle to prove that despite the differences, their beliefs and traditions have value, too.
Of course, this outsider is only an outsider when they attempt to cross over into another culture, when they challenge their own awareness and the awareness of others. This “challenging of awareness” is the conflict that begs a resolution. But as Lorde points out, diversity is not two dimensional.
How does this relate to the female narrative? The female narrative is not merely unique in terms of how differs from masculine narratives, it is also a medium through which women can explore the many forms of feminine diversity: age, race, educational background, economic class, etc. A feminine narrative can be populated with stereo typical women that illustrate the diversity of what it means to be women, but without growth and reconciliation the diversity is merely a cataloguing of types and the narrative falls short of its true potential.
