Ali Hazelwood and the Significance of Diverse Character Representation
How this author is incorporating diversity within a conventional romance framework
Ali Hazelwood has quickly become one of my favorite authors, and I imagine that many of you reading this would say the same. For those less familiar with her work, her romantic comedy novels are known for featuring delightfully quirky women who are carving out their paths in STEM — each while trying not to think about the annoyingly good looks possessed by the guy who works down the hall.
Reviewers tend to focus their praise on Hazelwood’s ability to set fun romance plots against what’s traditionally been regarded as an un-sexy backdrop — the world of STEM — and naturally voice their appreciation for how she calls out gender bias (plus to some extent racial bias) in this domain.
Woman-in-STEM representation noted, I want to turn your attention to some other types of representation we find in Ali Hazelwood’s books amid the exhilarating enemies-to-lovers and fake relationship storylines.
Diabetes Representation
Incredibly, Elsie of Love, Theoretically is the only character I’ve seen with type 1 diabetes across all forms of media. In this book, we see how the condition affects Elsie’s day-to-day routine, as she must regularly assess her caloric intake and adjust the settings of her insulin pump accordingly. We also see that her precarious financial situation contributes to healthcare stress, thus affecting her work ambitions. This woman is a force to be reckoned with as she takes on a challenging interview process that will hopefully land her a tenure track professorship.
Vegan Representation
Can you think of a time you’ve read or watched something featuring a vegan protagonist? Or a vegan character, protagonist or not, who isn’t the butt of a joke or the epitome of the annoying vegan stereotype? Ali Hazelwood’s Love on the Brain is the only title that comes to my mind.
Funnily enough, I had just described my own romcom idea to a friend and said, “Well I can’t make both of them vegan because who would want to read that,” when I found myself pleasantly surprised to learn that this popular author had written vegan love interests. Much of our culture / social life being tied to food, I’ve found that following a vegan lifestyle can be somewhat isolating; thus I was glad to relate to Love on the Brain’s Bee and Levi.
Ace-Spec Representation
Throughout her stories, Hazelwood includes protagonists on the asexual spectrum, from Under One’s Roof’s Liam, who confesses he doesn’t like sex, to The Love Hypothesis’ Olive, who is only able to experience sexual attraction once she’s grown to trust a person deeply (the latter being a portrayal of demisexuality).
Moreover, in Love, Theoretically, the author explicitly mentions the aromantic/asexual spectrum in reference to a side character, and we’re made to believe that the protagonist falls somewhere on it too. This is a huge deal, in part because we almost never see asexual or aromantic characters represented in media, and also because romance books in particular tend to perpetuate the idea that sex and romance are inherently intertwined and equally desirable.
I should add that it is totally valid if you are an ace person who doesn’t like the representation in these books. One could argue that the books still play into the notion that romance entails sex, with the protagonists’ ace-spec identities only briefly touched upon and pushed to the side to make room for some steamy action. That said, a number of us on the spectrum do engage in and enjoy sex at times. And, like some of the protagonists, we may similarly feel confused about or lack the words to define our identities.
Other Forms of Representation
Characters in same-gender partnerships and characters of color are included in side roles throughout Hazelwood’s books. These characters are generally close to the protagonist(s) and are often the subjects of romantic subplots.
We also encounter some slight ethnic diversity among Hazelwood’s protagonists: Love on the Brain’s Bee is German-born and has relatives in several European countries; Adam of The Love Hypothesis is a secular Jewish man; Hannah of Below Zero has a Spanish surname (Arroyo). However, the author does not describe the ethnic backgrounds of her characters in much detail, choosing instead to focus on other aspects of their identities.
Why These Things Matter
We meet many people in our lives, yet our connections will never encompass every facet of life experience. Character representation in the literature we read helps expose us to other experiences and subsequently allows us to empathize with people of all walks of life.
Though some readers may prefer romances centering people of color or lovers of the same gender — understandably so, as we’ve been fed the same character archetypes for so long — protagonists of Ali Hazelwood’s stories represent other communities with which we may not interact in our daily lives or see represented in the media we consume. Simultaneously, their peers bring different backgrounds and perspectives to the table. I am captivated by this author’s synthesis of diversity and conventionality, and I look forward to reading more by her — including her YA debut, Check & Mate, which is set to be released early next month.
Thank you for reading my post! If you’re on Medium, be sure to clap and follow. Please also use the comment section below to share any thoughts you have on Ali Hazelwood and/or representation in literature. I’d love to hear from you!
