Guest Post: Ms. Marvel, Comics, Diversity and Me
The arrival of the new Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan resonated with many readers who were happy to have a character in comics that resembled themselves. One of those of a long time reader MayaK. I asked Maya who has been reading comics for four decades the impact that having a character like Kamala means to her and how much it would have meant when she was a young reader. Her thoughts follow.
When Sue approached me about this piece I envisioned a review of Ms. Marvel and how it resonated with me as a woman of South Asian descent. My parents emigrated from India to the United States in the late 1950s and I was born a day before the Civil Rights Act was enacted. However, the more I tried to write the review the more the larger issue of diversity in general in the genre nagged at me. Why does diversity matter? What does diversity mean? Why are some in the community so resistant to the idea? Why is diversity in comics, really media, such a divisive issue?
Important, sweet and a feel-good read for the day. Reading this gives me hope for comics as a medium.
