What's up, everybody? It's time to meet another Angry Reader of the Week, spotlighting you, the very special readers of this website. Over the years, I've been able to connect with a lot of cool folks, and this is a way of showing some appreciation and attention to the people who help make this blog what it is. This week's Angry Reader is Wendy Xu.
Who are you?
Your average Chinese-American millennial girl who really likes drawing, writing, reading young adult lit, and blogging/tweeting about all of the above.
What are you?
A cat lady and a witch.
Where are you?
Trying to share a desk chair with my cat, in Brooklyn.
Where are you from?
The stagnant Connecticut suburbs where the only exciting thing to do was go to either the library or the coffee shop next to the library. It was a blessing in its own way, though, because there I read and drew a lot, and now I work with books all the time!
What do you do?
I'm a comics artist and writer who moonlights as an editorial assistant by day. In both my jobs, I work exclusively with media for teens and young adults, which, in my opinion, is the most fun group to both create and work for. So many amazingly subversive ideas and refreshing concepts going on in the world of YA media, 10/10 would recommend getting into!
What are you all about?
Creating comics that I would have loved to see growing up (a lot of stories about Asian American witches!). Taking in and promoting media that encompasses lives and experiences of as many different kinds of people as possible, media which isn't afraid to examine difficult questions about race and gender and inequality and challenges the status quo. Speaking up when something is hecked up. Loving the people around me, my family and friends who make life worth living. Self-love. Trying my best to maintain a sense of optimism that however slowly things might go, they can change for the better.
What makes you angry?
Media that tries so damn hard to be "diverse" by including one token POC character and then writing that character without any regard to their background or cultural history. It's so lazy. I'm not saying the entire character's storyline has to revolve around their xyz identity, but do the readers of that identity a service and give them something, please! People who don't question what they're taught, or themselves. People who don't believe in any kind of capacity for growth or change. Catcallers, especially if they say something like "heyyyy Chinese girl". Long lines and people who walk slowly. Horses.