Vaginal Fantasy Book Club discussion
Tangents/Off-Topic Discussions
>
Whitewashed Covers?
date
newest »
newest »
This is an awesome list. Thank you so much. I'll be using it as a reference. Thank you for your work!
I don't know that White Cat actually belongs on the list even though it did get some attention for white-washing before the book came out. They did change the skin color to be more olive and eventually change the book cover. Although, I'd add that it is only implied but never stated that the main character isn't white and I don't even know that the cover was meant to be him because there was other characters in possession of the white cat. But on the flip side, it would have been awesome for them to use the darker skinned model from the back of the cover, on the front. Sorry, I just have seen this argument about this book before and it always seems to come from people that haven't read the series which kind of annoys me a little. I did read the character as being a POC but honestly, the book does not say it. It just says his skin is darker than the girl with pale white skin and that someone in his family might have traded in India (if I'm remembering correctly). I did a reread last year and tried to pay close attention to this issue. Honestly, in the first book I just assumed he was American-Italian which looks like what they went for on the cover.
I agree it's a shitty thing to do, but I don't think the Farseer trilogy does that - as I recall, Fitz only mentions the family having dark hair and eyes, nothing about skin colour.Midnight Riot (Rivers of London) by Ben Arronovitch should perhaps be added - the figure on the cover was silhouetted, apparently to hide the fact that the main character is a black guy.
Shaitarn wrote: "I agree it's a shitty thing to do, but I don't think the Farseer trilogy does that - as I recall, Fitz only mentions the family having dark hair and eyes, nothing about skin colour.The Assassin's Apprentice is actually the book that first inspired me to make this list. Not only are people described as having dark hair and eyes, but also skin. Buck people have "dark skin and dark curly hair" and "others were as dark haired and warm skinned as my parents." (I'd pull up other quotes but I don't have a copy on hand)
That's part of what makes the Fool such a strange looking man in the series- he's practically albino and has different facial features so looks very out of place.
Heather wrote: "I don't know that White Cat actually belongs on the list even though it did get some attention for white-washing before the book came out. They did change the skin color to be more olive and eventu..."
I pulled some of these books off of lists online, so this is a good note. When I have a little more time I'm going to go through and make a note of why these books in particular have been criticized for this issue and which ones have had their covers fixed or altered. I'll definitely add that it's contested. thanks :D
Dark Storm by Christine Feehan. Dax is described as having skin like "burnished mohagany" but is clearly white on the covers.
House of Cards and Hands of Flame by C.E. Murphy. The protagonist is supposed to be mixed, but she just looks white on the covers. I was hoping to see someone who looks like me.
The "Soulless" reread we just did was a total whitewash. Several times in the book it talked about her darker skin and generous curves. While the person on the cover is whiter than white and skinny as a rail.
Here's the list. I would love if people could like the list if you agree that it's a shitty thing for publishers to do, and add some books from the romance genre that fit the bill if you know of any!