Last week, 28-year-old freelance writer Ariel Boyd was commissioned to write a 1,000-word review of a buzzy new Los Angeles restaurant. She was told, of course, that payment for her work was $0. All sounds normal, right? Well, Boyd didn’t think so. That’s right. This millennial is demanding compensation for her labor. Has she gone too far?
In classic, entitled millennial fashion, the Columbia School Of Journalism summa cum laude made the claim she deserved make more than nothing for her work. Boyd rattled off a list of “fundamental needs to survival” that allegedly require money to obtain—things like “rent” and “groceries” and “health insurance.” Sorry but can’t you just buy those things with the exposure you’ll get from writing?? Boyd should at least try!
Listen, we’re all about getting that paper. Besides, what would a #BOSSBITCH be without a fat paycheck, right ladies? That’s Feminism 101. But it’s possible that millennial progressivism has gotten a bit out of hand with this one. We’re all for equal pay and marriage equality. But insisting to be paid a reasonable amount for one’s labor? That just might be taking things a step too far.
Besides, it’s common knowledge that writing is essentially talking, but instead of your mouth talking to a person, your fingers talk to a keyboard. Simple. Surely Ariel Boyd speaks more than 1,000 words a day, so why should Boyd be paid for something every human over the age of two does on a daily basis?
Sitting in an office maintaining various spreadsheets? That’s labor. Managing to write 1,000 words about a mushroom-forward, Nicaraguan-Somalian small plates eatery? A literal baby could do that. Millennials – maybe it’s time to reel it in a bit?
If millennial writers keep obsessing over money like Boyd does, the craft of writing will be in the garbage by the time the next generation graduates. It’s like Boyd doesn’t even get an artistically satisfying rush from spending 10 hours a day hunched over her laptop, looking for a synonym for “salty.”
The world is changing at a rapid pace. Maybe, someday, progressive millennials will actually manage to spin fake jobs like “writing for huge websites” into real jobs like “writing for newspapers that are mostly online” for which people deserve “payment.” But if folks like Ariel Boyd start demanding they receive their checks from publications within six months? Yikes!!
