Reading Outside Our Own Stories: An Act of Empathy and Resistance

Key Takeaways

• Familiar reading bubbles limit growth: Sticking exclusively to stories and perspectives that mirror your own reinforces your current beliefs. You can become highly well-read without actually becoming more open-minded.

• Diversity is simply reality: As highlighted by writer Tananarive Due, diversity shouldn't be treated as a special category—it is reality. A well-rounded collection of books, media, and curricula should naturally reflect the true, diverse makeup of the world.

• Diverse reading is an act of resistance: Choosing to read books that feature queer, trans, racialized, or disabled identities is a direct way to fight back against book banning. It ensures these essential stories are not erased from collective narrative history.

• Discomfort leads to expansion: True learning requires a willingness to let a book surprise you, challenge your biases, or even make you feel uncomfortable. Reading should introduce you to lives and experiences you know nothing about.

• Reading opens the door to empathy: While turning pages won't automatically make someone more empathetic, it sparks the necessary curiosity to listen to someone else's story and look beyond what is familiar.

You cannot understand every experience. But you can make an effort to listen.

One of the things I love most about reading is its ability to take us outside of ourselves. Books allow us to step into worlds, experiences, and perspectives that we might never otherwise encounter. They give us little windows into how other people think, feel, love, struggle, find joy, and move through the world.

And I think that matters more than we sometimes realize.

For me, actively reading outside my usual genres and seeking out authors from different cultural backgrounds and lived experiences genuinely changed the way I see the world. It challenged some of my assumptions, introduced me to perspectives I hadn't considered, and made me curious about experiences beyond my own. It reminded me that there is so much more to learn when we're willing to look beyond what is already familiar.

Because if we only read what we already know, how much room are we really leaving ourselves to grow?

“Read the books they don’t want you to. That’s where the good stuff is,” LeVar Burton.

Reading within a familiar bubble can be comforting, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with having favourite genres or returning to the stories we love. But when we exclusively seek out perspectives that mirror our own, we risk continually reinforcing the assumptions, misconceptions, and beliefs we already hold. We can become very well-read without necessarily becoming any more open-minded.

Reading diversely asks something a little different of us. It invites us to sit with unfamiliar experiences, reconsider what we thought we knew, and make space for perspectives that challenge our own. In reality, the world is full of diversity, so why wouldn’t you also want that in what you read?

“‘Diversity should just be called ‘reality.’ Your books, your TV shows, your movies, your articles, your curricula, need to reflect reality,” Tananarive Due.

Particularly now, reading diversely is also an act of resistance.

When books are challenged and banned because they centre queer/trans identities, racialized communities, disability, or experiences that make some people uncomfortable, choosing to read those books is a way of refusing to let those stories disappear. It is an affirmation that these voices matter, these experiences belong in our collective narratives, and everyone should have the opportunity to see themselves reflected in the stories we tell.

So, read outside your usual genres. Pick up an author whose background differs from your own. Read about lives you know little about. Let a book challenge you, surprise you, make you uncomfortable, or change your mind.

Reading won't automatically make us more empathetic, but it can open a door. And sometimes, all it takes is a little curiosity and a willingness to turn the page.

Sometimes, empathy begins with reading someone else's story.

• How can someone be "well-read" but not "open-minded"?

  Being well-read simply means a person has read a large volume of books. However, if all of those books remain within a strict, familiar bubble that never challenges the reader's worldview, they can consume massive amounts of literature without ever expanding their perspective or learning to sit with unfamiliar experiences.

• Why is reading diversely described as an "act of resistance"?

  It is an act of resistance because of the current climate of book banning. When books centering queer/trans identities, racialized communities, or disability are targeted for censorship, actively choosing to buy and read them is a way of refusing to let those stories disappear. It affirms that these voices matter.

• What does the quote "Diversity should just be called 'reality'" mean?

  Description text gThis quote by Tananarive Due means that diversity is not a trend, a buzzword, or an artificial addition to media. The real world is naturally full of diverse people and experiences. Therefore, books, movies, and school curricula should reflect that natural reality rather than a sanitized, one-dimensional viewpoint.oes here

• Will reading diverse books automatically make me a more empathetic person?

  No, not automatically. The text notes that reading won't instantly grant empathy, but it "opens a door." True empathy begins with a reader's own curiosity, a willingness to turn the page, and a genuine effort to listen to someone else's story.