My aunt is an author. She repeatedly tells me this same story:
Throughout her publishing journey, she was continuously told by agents, editors, and colleagues that her "niche" was Women's Fiction. She wondered, what constitutes "Women's Fiction"? Why does a story centered around a woman constitute "women's fiction" but a story centered around a man is not defined as "Men's fiction"? I would always say that any fiction a woman reads is women's fiction, that is if we're choosing to define something as ambiguous as writing as a single-gendered noun.
This whole conversation has stayed in my mind for these past few days. My personal worry regarding this discussion is my fear of being pigeon-holed in my career. In performance, we have this thing called a "type". Your type is dictated by your look and capabilities, more so (frustratingly) your look. It dictates what kind of roles you get, where you get them, and how you are encouraged to market yourself. The whole industry perpetuates this minefield of limitations and impossible standards from the time we're in high school up until you step out. It's inevitable.
There's this other phrase, "triple-threat". A Triple threat is the classification of a performer that can act, sing, and dance; aka what the vast majority of us are striving to be. We all want to be versatile. We all want to stand out. We all want to be that thing no one has ever seen before. But, we must also do so while fitting into a "type". Do you see where I'm going?
I must recognize my own privilege in this discussion. I am a white-passing, cis female that is ABLE to fit into a very common type. This concept of "Type" was created to limit the performance community. It was created to set a bar that gives those who fit society's standard of beautiful an unfair advantage. It was created to perpetuate ideals- the idea that straight, white, cis people are somehow the definition of "normal". These standards have no place in our art.
Art is ambiguous. Art is not defined by gender or sex. Art is not defined by race, by sexuality, by anything other than our own will and creativity. I recognize that our art, our theatre, is taking steps in the right direction. POC representation on Broadway is increasing, but our stages are still dominated by white performers. Among many more, recognizing the danger of the Type is a step we can all take.
My fear of being pigeon-holed is, thus, a fear I am going to work to dissipate. It's also a fear that led me to do some strange things. When I was initially picking college audition material, I was choosing songs and monologues that I believed would play up my type. I am now choosing contrasting material that I know I will do well without regard for what the industry believes I should do.
We must work collectively to dismantle the culture in our art form that perpetuates outdated norms and preferences.
This week's #songforthesoul is Leslie Odem Jr.'s "Freedom". I seriously cannot get enough of this album. Also, a big thank you to my friend Katie Solodar for editing this post.
Happy reading, everyone.
Thanks,
Arden