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Hi everyone!

I also posted this in the “Themes” category, but I felt like it could kind of go in either category. I hope it was okay to put it in both.

I just wanted to get your thoughts on what populations you would like to see better represented in fiction (maybe they are either 1. represented poorly/inaccurately or 2. They are never/rarely represented at all). I wanted to do a poll/vote on what types of characters writers should incorporate more, for example, here are my ideas:

Neurodiversity & psychological challenges

Individuals who are intellectually challenged; Down Syndrome and other chromosomal variances
OCD, intrusive thoughts, eating disorders, Dissociative Identity Disorder/schizophrenia are not often represented, especially in Christian fiction.
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)  – particularly high-functioning females of minority races. Also, hidden/unknown learning disabilities, ADHD, Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) and similar conditions.
Outward characteristics

Obese or underweight characters (I’ve heard that overweight characters, especially, are not often represented in fiction)
Minority races/ethnicities: Indian, Native American, Asian, black, and Hispanic
Poverty. Fiction may tend to revolve around wealthy or middle-class characters.
Specifically, I also thought it would be important to represent certain populations from a Christian perspective. For example, I don’t think Christian writers should shy away from including LGBTQ+ characters and characters of other religions (e.g., Buddhism) because we can shed light on a Christian perspective of these issues.

Feel free to add your ideas. What other types of people would you like to see represented in fiction (especially Christian fiction)?