suffering is not noble. take the tylenol

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See, that’s what the app is perfect for.

Sounds perfect Wahhhh, I don’t wanna
anarchistmemecollective
charliejaneanders

Every single craft has been paying “The Passion Tax” for generations. This term (coined by author and organizational psychologist Adam Grant) — and backed by scientific research — simply states that the more someone is passionate about their work, the more acceptable it is to take advantage of them. In short, loving what we do makes us easy to exploit.

Guest Column: If Writers Lose the Standoff With Studios, It Hurts All Filmmakers

s-leary

If the phrase “vocational awe” isn’t part of your lexicon yet, stop scrolling and read Fobazi Ettarh:

Vocational awe describes the set of ideas, values, and assumptions librarians have about themselves and the profession that result in notions that libraries as institutions are inherently good, sacred notions, and therefore beyond critique. I argue that the concept of vocational awe directly correlates to problems within librarianship like burnout and low salary. This article aims to describe the phenomenon and its effects on library philosophies and practices so that they may be recognized and deconstructed.

—Vocational Awe and Librarianship: The Lies We Tell Ourselves

I see it in every field I’ve ever worked in: publishing, open source software development, higher education. It describes pretty much every industry that relies on creativity, altruism, or both.

historyinbitsandpieces

Hey. Peeps on the museum fields. These apply. It takes work not to be taken advantage of because we love what we do. And it also takes work to be better and do better and not rest on our laurels and stop learning

elfwreck

See also:

  • Teachers
  • Musicians
  • Editors
  • Nurses
  • Enlisted military

...There's plenty more. (I don't like the military at all, but I can still recognize that enlisted folks are being heavily exploited by the "you're DOING GREAT THINGS and SUPPORTING YOUR COUNTRY" and apparently that is supposed to be worth more than being paid enough to afford rent.)

It's not limited to the artistic/crafts fields. It's anywhere that (1) there is a great need for a lot of workers and (2) people look for those careers because of a strong emotional connection to the work OR it's traditionally considered "women's work."

The fix for this includes ignoring that entirely when asking for better working conditions. "Well, they love the work" does not pay the rent.

And... we should be promoting the idea of "they love the work" means it pays well. We WANT people to have jobs they love; people are more productive when they enjoy what they do; they develop more skills; they're better at the job. Better-at-the-job should mean "gets paid more."

But in the "passion jobs"... it often means the opposite, like your enjoyment for the work will cover for that last 10-15% of income, instead of just leading to early burnout and an industry that has no experts because they leave for something that pays better.