Space at the Con : Conversations About Representation in Popular Culture at Comic Conventions
ulation of Salt Lake City is overwhelmingly white�72.8 % white according to the 2010 US Census�and with fewer than 3 % of its people identifying as Black , there were likely few people to dress as Tiana at the con ( US Census ). But it also could be a result of the lack of Black female characters to represent : Tiana is the only Black Disney Princess and there are no major Black female superheroes other than Storm , though Black Panther and Deadpool 2 have given us several secondary Black characters . Whatever the reason , during the interview , people waved or shouted things such as “ You look gorgeous !” to Tiana as they walked by . You could sense that attendees needed to see her .
Another interesting aspect of feeling a need to be a representative for audiences came from white participants . Becky and Luke , both white , spoke of their commitment to speaking to white audiences about the importance of diversity and representation . Luke discussed seeing himself in media and the way that inspired him :
I thought I could be a writer because every representation of a writer from , you know , Shakespeare to Hemingway to every white [ guy ], you know like , every movie about a writer is about a white guy that looks approximately like me . So it was very natural for me to say , ‘ Yes , of course I want to be a writer . You know people who like me become writers ; that ’ s something we become .’ And so standing back and realizing that not everyone has that experience is something that I like pointing out to people when I can , because my voice does come from place of that sort of privilege ( Personal interview . 18 March 2016 ).
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