Andrew Peev: "Dear Elsa Sjunneson-Henry: Broaden My Horizons"

Dear Elsa Sjunneson-Henry: Broaden My Horizons

By Andrew Peev

            To cut straight to the point, I think its somewhat of a no-brainer that Mary Sue’s should be welcomed into the SF community.

...but I suppose a one sentence blog isn’t satisfying, so I’ll continue. To be fair, I’ve only just been exposed to what a Mary Sue is, because before I never knew the term existed, nor the fact that it is an insult. But after lightly researching it using the powers of Google at my disposal, it is quickly feeling like an insult that a first grader would use. This is only highlighted when taking into consideration its lack of a proper definition, ranging from an idealized character to a self-insert. While that alone should be enough to dismiss this rather useless label, I will focus more on the latter part of its definition, as it pertains more to the question at hand.

            Considering the small (although growing) amount of diversity in SF, it seems like Mary Sues can be an effective medium of conveying one’s experience. But why would this matter to me? I am a privileged straight white male that can identify with most characters that I have encountered throughout my reading experience simply based on fitting the standard demographics. Why should I care about diversity? True, while representation is typically promoted to help provide minorities with somebody that they can identify with, I can find it just as pertinent to me, as it gives me a broader perspective of the world. For reference, before enrolling at IMSA, I grew up in a predominantly white, middle class suburb of Chicago, and had never been exposed to much else. I still remember my 7^th grade class freaking out when the new transfer kid happened to be black, because he was the only African-American student at the time. Still, it wasn’t until I came to IMSA that I realized how little I knew

            I thought I was well adjusted enough at first, but I still remember two specific experiences my sophomore year that challenged what I thought I knew. The first involves me and my friend at the time walking back to our respective halls one night. We were talking about this one girl I liked, and after a while I asked him if there was any girl he was interested in, which he swiftly responded by saying “I’m gay.” We were still getting to know each other since it was early in the year, but I was blown away by how I had assumed and implied his sexuality in the first place. It didn’t help that I never knew any LGBT students back home. It was honestly no big deal, I was just surprised by how little I know.

            The next experience involves my first semester math class. I had a classmate at my table who is trans, although I was late to the first class when they introduced themselves and their pronouns. So me, having never met a trans person in my life, proceeded to call them by the wrong pronouns for a few days before being corrected. Even then, I continued to slip up for a few weeks before finally getting it right, simply because I was not used to it. They said it themselves that it wasn’t a big deal, but I was blindsided by my lack of perspective prior to IMSA.

            Flashforward to senior year, and I’d like to think I have more experience and understanding than before. I can thank that in part to the friends I’ve made along the way, as well as my exposure in courses. Gender Studies was an eye opening and insightful look at gender based and LGBT issues. And while it wasn’t focused on in this semester in Speculative Fiction Studies, short stories like “Binti” do a great job at representing characters of different cultures.

            To that end, Mary Sues should be accepted into SF as a means to an end. By promoting diversity and unique perspectives, they let readers understand people of different backgrounds and marginalization. And if executed well, the fact that they are a self-insert becomes an afterthought as the character and the story stand on their own.