What is a shadow character, and why is it harmful for non-binary representation

What is a shadow character?

A shadow character is a character that is not described in depth on the page. You don’t have a sense of their physical presence. Instead, they are just a shadow on the page of your story, and readers have to fill in the blanks with their own preconceived notions about the details. While every character should be described, when writing non-binary characters, it is especially important not to have them fall into the stereotype of a shadow character with no physical form. 

For characters that have predefined concepts in our society, this isn’t a tremendous ordeal. If there is a clown, then there is a vague sense that they have a wig that is most likely curly, white face paint, an exaggerated red smile, and maybe a foam red nose. The same could be said of a pirate. While the concept of a person, most likely male, with a peg leg and an eye patch wouldn’t be historically accurate, it has been drilled into us since we were young that this is what a pirate is. 

Non-binary gender identities have been around long before the colonization of the Americas. However, it is a gender identity that affects the gender framework that white European descent people want to impose for power. In the societal hierarchy, men are on top, women are on the bottom, and non-binary people do not exist. 

We may see the fallacy in this hierarchy, but given the political climate of the United States at the moment, many people do not. When you deny education and representation, it is easier for those in power to retain their power, keeping the rest of the population repressed. Yes, even other white males. 

What does all this have to do with shadow characters?

Non-binary identities are not well understood in the United States. I am forty-five years old, and in the 80s and 90s, there was very little trans representation in my conservative state of Utah. There was no non-binary representation. As a very genderqueer kid, I wandered around in the darkness trying to build an identity that I could understand. I did. It was imperfect and without the history and community that I so desperately needed, but who I inherently was didn’t change just because I didn’t have the language I so desperately needed. 

Now we are seeing non-binary identities showing up in literature, but they are often missing physical attributes. Something as basic as hair color, eye color, and body build is missing from the page. I assume that cis authors are afraid of “getting it wrong,” so they do not describe these characters at all. They are literally shadowy characters, where readers can fill in any preconceived ideas. 

Please do not misconstrue my intentions. Non-binary characters should be on the page. We must be represented, just as other genders are intermixed on the page. It is how we are represented that is the concern. 

How to represent non-binary characters

Non-binary is a bucket category that includes a variety of gender identities. Any identity that falls along the spectrum of gender, as well as those that are outside the spectrum altogether. You can’t just label a character as non-binary, give them they/them pronouns, and call it a day. Well, you can, but it would be an incomplete and potentially harmful representation. 

Let’s break down my gender identity as an example. I am non-binary, and my pronouns are they/them. Note how I say these are my pronouns. I do not say that I “use” them. If you wouldn’t use that terminology for a cis person, please do not use it for a person outside the binary of gender identity. More specifically, I am agender. I do not have a gender identity. I never have. This is more common in individuals who are autistic, but it isn’t mutually exclusive to us. Also, many people who are autistic do have a firm gender identity. 

If you were to write me as a character, then you might be tempted to make me as androgynous as possible and call it a day. There would be no more thought needed. Except it isn’t that simple. I am also trans masculine. How? If I don’t have a gender identity, how can I also be trans masc? I just am. Cis people do not have to do long justifications for their gender identity, so why do non-binary people?

Now my character is evolving. I would be walking a fine line between androgyny and masculinity. A bit more complex a character to write, with a lot more depth to my gender identity. Maybe you are tempted to write a buff, masculine-looking person who is just feminine enough to cause people to pause. This could be a valid non-binary character. It would not be my character, though. I am fat. I have a large chest that I try desperately to hide, even though I know the impossibility of it. I long for top surgery even though I am not medically able to do it. I yearn to go through the world where people respect my pronouns, and I can just exist without ever having to think about gender at all. 

My character has a home version and a public version. In my home version, I wear a tank top or a hoodie, depending on my sensory needs and the temperature, and a pair of sweats or pajama pants. I don’t worry about how I am construed because there is no one to perceive me. When I leave the house, I take care to transform myself. There are various levels of performance. Some days, I fully bind with a compression top on and spend copious amounts of time analyzing how my gender will be perceived. This is most likely when I am going to an event or meeting with other people. Other times, I throw on a compression top and a large hoodie and hope it is good enough. Good enough for whom? Me mostly. 

This is my character. The next non-binary person you meet will be different. You may meet a non-binary person who is perceived as cis, presents as cis, but is still very much non-binary. You may meet someone who combines what society views as feminine and masculine all at one time. In as many ways as you can conceive of gender, that is how we are. There is no binary. There are just people trying to be themselves in a society that is trying hard to make our existence illegal. 

Why non-binary people should not be shadow characters

When a non-binary character is just a shadow without a physical description, then it usually means you have not done the work to understand what it means to be non-binary. Your character has not been fleshed out enough to have the intricacies of their gender analyzed. 

Maybe you don’t feel that as a cis person, you have the ability to think about gender in those terms. I invite you to pause and analyze your own gender. Why? If you are cis, there is nothing to analyze. Except there is. There always is. No two people are the same, and no two people approach their gender in the same way, even among cis people. If you are female, what does femininity mean to you? How do you express your femininity? What traits that society views as masculine do you possess? If you are male, ask the same for your masculinity. Once you have sat with your own gender, understanding it better, then you will be better able to understand the complexities of gender in your non-binary character.

Ask non-binary people

If you have a non-binary character, then you also need a sensitivity reader. You are representing a minority that is very much at risk right now. We have been denied federal protection on day one of the current political administration. We cannot obtain passports with our true gender marker, making it so we cannot flee. Our very existence is state-dependent, and the states are not being particularly kind to us right now. All trans people are in the early stages of a genocide, but non-binary people are outside the binary and easier targets. 

All of these affect us to the core, and if you are not directly impacted by the situation, it can be hard to understand how something you may see as a non-issue can be detrimental to our community. 

If you are looking for a non-binary sensitivity reader, I am available. You can find out more about my sensitivity reading services here.