Thread by @kharmakelley

I was sitting on this bomb-ass beach and saw some disturbing news with #RWAVivian2021 . I have an idea. I think it's time for Romancelandia to create an inclusive "test" for our genre. Kinda like the "DuVernay test" or "Bechdel test" It won't be fool-proof but it's a start.

The "test" will help us review standards we’re aiming for when it comes to measuring inclusion within a romance novel. It won't solve for all. Let's call it the HEART Test. I'll kick it off below, but open to changes. This works better when it's collaborative.

IMPORTANT: Just because a book passes the Heart test doesn’t mean it’s a quality book, however, it is a starting point to see how much effort the author made to create an inclusive romance story.

This test should be included in addition to a rubric scoring system. If a novel fails the HEART test, it should be flagged for further review.

First, do no harm by eliminating redemption stories for historically oppressive identities. This is not just about morality. The first rule in being inclusive is to minimize harm to the historically ignored & oppressed identities. This is about ALLYSHIP. So with that said--

Main characters in Romance do not hold identities aligned with the following:
🚫Global or Domestic Terrorism & Hate groups
🚫Genocide
🚫War Crimes
🚫Chattel Slavery
🚫Sex Trafficking and other crimes against humanity

BIPOC, LGBTQ+, (and intersections of such) characters (main or secondary) in Romance must have fully realized lives and dimensions, not just present as one-dimensional stereotypical characters to prop up cis-het, white-led stories.

BIPOC femme characters in Romance are not sexualized not fetishized as a key character trait.

Characters with a disability are not solely defined around their disability and should be fully realized to live a happy and fulfilling life in the story. With characters of questionable morals, even if met with comeuppance, the consequence is not tied to their disability.

Femme main characters with questionable morals and imperfections in Romance are given a development arc without expectation they must be perfect or free from all personality flaws. Internalized misogyny looks like female perfectionism obsession.

Black main characters in Romance should not solely operate under respectability politics, which demeans and can oppress Blackness when the character isn’t exemplifying traits seen as “upstanding Black individuals” within the white gaze.

That's what I have to contribute. I advise we don't make the test so exhaustive that we get lost here. The goal is to set some basic standards and look through that lens when reviewing/judging a book if we want to focus on inclusion in romance. These types of tests are concise.

Now I'm going back to the beach. 🍹
Meanwhile...Please
Collaborate.
Discuss.
Contribute.
Solution.

If you want to buy me a ko-fi for this work I spun up during my vacation, I can use some funds for my inclusive romance community and maybe a margarita. ko-fi.com/kharmakelley