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I'm tired of seeing these discussions regarding "forced diversity" in fiction. Especially ones which try and claim it doesn't exist. Of course it does. It exists when (and because) the author forcefully inserts it into their work just as they do every single other story element.
If the author does not forcefully insert diversity into their work then they are forcefully inserting the opposite. (singularity? that's a robotics thing, isn't it? idk) That's the nature of authorial intent. Diversity isn't forced in the real world because of the laws of chance.
In fiction, chance does not exist. Fiction is not governed by the laws of our universe. Fiction is text on a page. Or whatever medium you're discussing. Fiction is a series of decisions forcefully and purposefully constructed to tell a story. Diversity of characters included.
This can be a decision on behalf of the author or on behalf of the reader. Typically the reader is tasked with making that decision when faced with ambiguity. For example when a character's race or sexuality or what-have-you is not mentioned the reader decides to fill in the gap.
Take Sherlock Holmes, for example. It's commonly agreed that he is asexual even though that's never explicitly mentioned anywhere in Doyle's text. The reader has forcibly inserted diversity through their reading, where the author could only have inserted it unconsciously.
When creating a character, an author will start with a concept and flesh it out by making a series of decisions. These decisions will include things such as race, gender, sexuality, etc. which would fall under "Diversity" with that capital D. Not specifying is also a decision.
Again, the conscious effort of this decision is irrelevant. Society conditions us to think certain ways and thus everybody has in their heads a "default person". I'm willing to bet most people will either default to a version of themselves or a heterosexual cisgendered white man.
If the author doesn't alter these characteristics then society has forcefully made their decisions for them. If the author does alter these characteristics (implied: away from straight cis white man) then they are forcefully diversifying their character. That's just how it works.
To summarise: "forced diversity" is a redundant term because "passive diversity" cannot exist in a scenario where the author/the reader/society has a forceful influence on the characteristics of fictional characters.
Bonus: saying "forced diversity is bad" makes you a dickhead.
Bonus: saying "forced diversity is bad" makes you a dickhead.
