Thread by @Vanessa_Kisuule

I'm getting very (very VERY) bored of this petulant and uniquely millennial argument that posh white women (or any other 'majority' for that matter) making things is not 'representative'. Its boring, faux woke bollocks and here's why.
amp.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2…

PWB has never claimed to make a universal piece of work that speaks to all female experience. A lot of her writing subtly satirises this type of asinine feminism-lite thinking in the first place. Stop looking at all art by women and holding it to impossible moral standards.

I am a black woman whose experience diverges in many ways to the Fleabag, or Hannah from Girls and other such shows that Woke Twitter attack with such disproportionate venom. But I still find many things in them funny, interesting & relatable.

Yes, those used to being represented (men, straight folk, white ppl etc) are much less adept at having to empathise with characters that don't look like/live like them than I am, but at the end of the day good writing and good character development transcend identity politics IMO

YOU WOULD BE MORE ANNOYED/IRRITATED IF SHE CHUCKED IN SOME WORKING CLASS/BLACK/BROWN CHARACTERS IN THERE, WROTE THEM POORLY AND TOKENISED THEM. Stop moving the bloody goalposts and let posh people depict their posh lives authentically and in peace. This is not the problem at hand

The problem is 'minority' voices (really falling out of love with this word too, tbh. Collectively we are a majority!) are still not getting the commissions, resources or praise they need. Our work is considered tangential and niche, never representative of the human experience.

OF COURSE that needs to change. OF COURSE we shouldn't only be hearing from posh white people on our tele, our films, our books. So support the work that is representative - watch it, pay for it, praise it, push it into the canons of Good, Respected Art.

Hot takes on what was an objectively well written, brilliant show cos the protagonist doesn't look like your mirror reflection is...I'm sorry. It's dumb. I'm not a posh girl. Yet I love Fleabag. Riddle me that?? How condescending to say who art is/is not for.

It's the same logic a white man uses when he sees a billboard for a film with black protagonists and assumes he cannot relate and doesn't engage with it. It's a complete failure of nuance, empathy and common sense.

We need representation in the commissioning boards, in th publishing houses and in the production depts and on judging panels. Inclusion will naturally occur when there are a variety of people making the DECISIONS on what art gets funded and celebrated. This issue is systemic.

Stop lambasting individual white female artists as totemic of the evils of non-inclusion when all they're doing is making work and minding their business. It's not their job to represent us. You're pointing your finger in the wrong place. They just happen to be visible.

It's not sexy, easy or fast work to unpack the intricate framework of a broken SYSTEM. We'd rather create false figureheads to lump all of our grievances on. There are certainly people who are accountable, you just won't know their names or faces, necessarily.

Anyway, I'm done. Fleabag is a fucking excellent show. I can stand by that whilst STILL fighting for and championing diverse stories in the arts. Put your energies and ire in the right place, folks. Direct it with precision and intent & we may just get somewhere. Happy Sunday!

Challenge to all: All that energy you spend typing away about a piece of art that you feel doesn't represent you, put into hyping something that DOES. In theory, you are just shining more light on that work with your negativity. Meanwhile, so many great artists need your support!

BIG FAT CAVEAT: this ain't leverage for people who feel maligned by the push for inclusion to use me as an example of a young black person who also thinks it's 'all gone too far'. I'M NOT THAT GIRL so don't even go there with me, klthnxbye.

Ok, NOW, I'm done.