I grew up in Silicon Valley and happen to be here visiting my parents right now. My mom volunteers at a blood bank. She says all the young tech bros that come in all ask her help finding girlfriends, not for sex but for cooking when their office cafeterias are closed on the weekend. SMH....This is a long way of offering an anecdote to say how right you and your analysis is, Lyz.
Pretty much. They see the situation not as "I need to learn how to cook." but "I need a woman to cook for me because I am so busy doing such important work as coding." [The gendering of engineering is an interesting topic completely separate that I have many thoughts on.]
Yes, there is that history I was thinking of. But currently bioengineering has almost parity in terms of participation between the sexes, though many of my engineering students sniff at the emphasis on practicality vs. the Elon Musk's sci-fi strain Lyz writes about here.
It's a relatively new field - hopefully it will benefit from 21stC views on equality.
I remember sitting in a lecture theatre for a graduate diploma in programming in the early 90s - half the students were women. I wonder what happened to them, because that's not what it looks like over 30 years later.
I dropped out of the course because I was studying part time and the project I was working on insisted I work 6-7 days per week (I was a technical writer), but I'm still working in the industry as a business analyst. At least I'm still in the industry!
I hate to have this comment first because your paid substack is my favorite: meaningful, and funny. I can understand wanting to pay your staff more, but I’m disappointed in the monthly increase. From the perspective of a subscriber (and I see the delay), I am trying to pay the feminist/reproductive justice writers I follow, and a few good political columns, so these people can write and I get quality perspectives or news. There is a limit though that a non-rich person can subscribe to. I don’t even follow some in my own line of work, food. 5 or 7 a month seems doable, possibly why Sub-stack is working, 10 - if multiplied by others - does not. If others do the same, it might possibly deter other good feminist writers down the line from getting followers. I tell many others about your column, and maybe you tried expanding as a way to increase income rather than raising your price, I don’t know. My $10, I mean 2 cents, comment.
If you are already subscribed you won't see a price increase. But I do think we've become too acclimated to people (women especially) giving away writing for free. I'm a single mother working and living in a red state, raising two kids, and I don't have another income to fall back on. I'm also paying out of pocket to be on the healthcare open market and this newsletter is a full-time job that is expanding. I understand that not everyone can afford to subscribe. I certainly can't afford to subscribe to everyone I love either. But, I offer free subscriptions to people who reach out. Most of my content is not behind a paywall because I want it to reach as many people as possible. But essentially, my work here is valuable, time consuming, and growing. And the people who work on this with me and for me deserve to be fairly compensated (right now, I am not paying them nearly what they deserve). So many of the men who have substacks do way less and charge a lot more and I never see anyone criticize them for it. But the bottom line is I have nearly 50k subscribers and only 9% pay for the newsletter and this is the business. I also think it's a little nuts that I have to make the argument that good writing deserves compensation. But here we are. Also to your point about feminism, I fail to see how it's not feminist to say that good writing is worth being compensated for. If that's a deterrent to people to support women who are writing, I think that says more about other people's misogyny than my feminism.
Good writing IS worth paying for, and you are certainly worth supporting, and I am doing that each month - happily. My point was just I want to help support other woman writers TOO, not just you, and it all adds up for a person of moderate means.
As a person of moderate means, i understand it does add up. People will have to choose. I make these choices every day. That makes sense we all do. But you also tried to make it about feminism and I think that’s a way to shame women for not asking for what they are worth. The bottom line is I know my business and I’m good at it and your costs won’t change so your concerns will not bear out. Also $70/year is still less than $7/month. So your concerns here aren’t mathing with the math even.
I had seen the Bring Ya Ass story and thought immediately that it would be a winning campaign, especially for Minnesota. My own connection to the state is my stepdad, who grew up there when he wasn't in boarding schools because my stepgrandmother had a delicate constitution. She was really sweet, but what I remember most was when she would whisper that she had to use the bathroom. She never said it out loud. Anything she thought was unseemly was whispered. Bring Ya Ass is the perfect antidote.
First, Lyz, I couldn’t agree more about your take on “The Unbearable Lightness of Being.” I read it in 2004 after my breakup. I’ve read nothing like it since.
But on to the tech bros and their monetization of electronic caricatures of women like those adolescents dream about, like in the awful film “Weird Science.” Immature and insulting.
Finally, Sam Altman is another rich arrogant white guy like Elon Musk who is convinced he’s immortal, unstoppable and always right. He just won’t take no for an answer. I have a solution for guys like that from an old rock song (judge the rest of the lyrics by contemporary standards though, just saying):
If only Elon had been IN the car he shot into space. Can we try that timeline? Con man wasting our tax dollars and tanking NASA, yanking arms off employees because he doesn’t like yellow. Solar panels burning houses. I must imagine him in the car.
The bonus joke in the URL of the weekly dingus newsletter usually brings me so much joy but this week I am afraid it's going to result in Hims ads showing up on all my social media feeds. I may fit the age/sex demographic for their market, but I listened to The Dream so I'm gonna hard pass on any kind of supplements that are advertised to me on Instagram.
Also a late breaking good thing this week is that the High Fructose Corn Sweat team supplies wishlist is completely sold out. Thank you to everyone who generously supported our team with an order of supplies or a donation to the Iowa Abortion Access Fund or Iowa Trans Mutual Aid Fund.
I am an electrical engineer taking classes (albeit online) with a human professor and human classmates - the topic for Spring and then for Summer is antennas. Your smartphone contains several antennas that you can't see. My course involves pencil and paper. My professor expects to see us show our work (a lot of math). As I write this, I have a lot of pencils on my end of the dining room table. I am writing a book - I use the pencils and write in engineering block letters in an engineering notebook. Finally, I am starting to learn Spanish. My wife and kids told me about these apps, but I have something better: a colleague who was raised by Mexican immigrants - we are going to start by using Spanish phrases. I have the best language lab to learn Spanish - Southern California. I see a trip to our local bookstore in my future!
Gawd. This just reminds me of an episode of Last Week Tonight about facial recognition tech being developed by some guy who decided to call it "Skynet". I have seen one Terminator movie ever, which I watched when I was TOO YOUNG and shouldn't have seen it, and definitely understood that the Skynet was not something one should aspire to create.
Last night when I couldn't fall asleep, I entertained myself by trying to predict who the Dingus of the Week would be. It was too easy, though; I guessed Sam Altman within about a minute.
Part of the appeal of this dystopian marketing is the delusion that those potential consequences won't affect you, that you have "plot armor". Merchant's article makes a key point that the primary sales pitch of all of this is that you- the consumer- are like the protagonist in the dystopia that gets to have adventures above the rest of the rabble.
I saw that Black Mirror Christmas episode one time, and since then I haven't been afraid of AI itself, but the people that make AI and put it out into the world. Especially considering Altman's evident obsession with Scarlet Johannson.
As streaming services constantly raise their rates and start to make even "premium" subscriptions watch ads (the dreaded "commercials" I am trying to avoid), Lyz deserves as much or more. For those that can afford it, the "kick ass level" may help Lyz and her staff earn the just wages for their efforts.
I sent this to my new son in law, who is a computer programmer. He said this sort of thing was exactly why all computer programming science majors at Worcester Polytechnic were required to take an ethics course!
Congratulations! Well earned!👏🏻👏🏻
I grew up in Silicon Valley and happen to be here visiting my parents right now. My mom volunteers at a blood bank. She says all the young tech bros that come in all ask her help finding girlfriends, not for sex but for cooking when their office cafeterias are closed on the weekend. SMH....This is a long way of offering an anecdote to say how right you and your analysis is, Lyz.
So... they just want a mother? Or at least, a 1950s version 🙄
Pretty much. They see the situation not as "I need to learn how to cook." but "I need a woman to cook for me because I am so busy doing such important work as coding." [The gendering of engineering is an interesting topic completely separate that I have many thoughts on.]
Interestingly enough, in the 60s and early 70s, programmers were often women, trained by their company because they could type.
Of course, it wasn't until it became a well paid job that men took over.
Yes, there is that history I was thinking of. But currently bioengineering has almost parity in terms of participation between the sexes, though many of my engineering students sniff at the emphasis on practicality vs. the Elon Musk's sci-fi strain Lyz writes about here.
It's a relatively new field - hopefully it will benefit from 21stC views on equality.
I remember sitting in a lecture theatre for a graduate diploma in programming in the early 90s - half the students were women. I wonder what happened to them, because that's not what it looks like over 30 years later.
I dropped out of the course because I was studying part time and the project I was working on insisted I work 6-7 days per week (I was a technical writer), but I'm still working in the industry as a business analyst. At least I'm still in the industry!
Have these bros never heard of home chefs or restaurants? SMH
but girlfriends are cheaper!
I hate to have this comment first because your paid substack is my favorite: meaningful, and funny. I can understand wanting to pay your staff more, but I’m disappointed in the monthly increase. From the perspective of a subscriber (and I see the delay), I am trying to pay the feminist/reproductive justice writers I follow, and a few good political columns, so these people can write and I get quality perspectives or news. There is a limit though that a non-rich person can subscribe to. I don’t even follow some in my own line of work, food. 5 or 7 a month seems doable, possibly why Sub-stack is working, 10 - if multiplied by others - does not. If others do the same, it might possibly deter other good feminist writers down the line from getting followers. I tell many others about your column, and maybe you tried expanding as a way to increase income rather than raising your price, I don’t know. My $10, I mean 2 cents, comment.
If you are already subscribed you won't see a price increase. But I do think we've become too acclimated to people (women especially) giving away writing for free. I'm a single mother working and living in a red state, raising two kids, and I don't have another income to fall back on. I'm also paying out of pocket to be on the healthcare open market and this newsletter is a full-time job that is expanding. I understand that not everyone can afford to subscribe. I certainly can't afford to subscribe to everyone I love either. But, I offer free subscriptions to people who reach out. Most of my content is not behind a paywall because I want it to reach as many people as possible. But essentially, my work here is valuable, time consuming, and growing. And the people who work on this with me and for me deserve to be fairly compensated (right now, I am not paying them nearly what they deserve). So many of the men who have substacks do way less and charge a lot more and I never see anyone criticize them for it. But the bottom line is I have nearly 50k subscribers and only 9% pay for the newsletter and this is the business. I also think it's a little nuts that I have to make the argument that good writing deserves compensation. But here we are. Also to your point about feminism, I fail to see how it's not feminist to say that good writing is worth being compensated for. If that's a deterrent to people to support women who are writing, I think that says more about other people's misogyny than my feminism.
Good writing IS worth paying for, and you are certainly worth supporting, and I am doing that each month - happily. My point was just I want to help support other woman writers TOO, not just you, and it all adds up for a person of moderate means.
As a person of moderate means, i understand it does add up. People will have to choose. I make these choices every day. That makes sense we all do. But you also tried to make it about feminism and I think that’s a way to shame women for not asking for what they are worth. The bottom line is I know my business and I’m good at it and your costs won’t change so your concerns will not bear out. Also $70/year is still less than $7/month. So your concerns here aren’t mathing with the math even.
I had seen the Bring Ya Ass story and thought immediately that it would be a winning campaign, especially for Minnesota. My own connection to the state is my stepdad, who grew up there when he wasn't in boarding schools because my stepgrandmother had a delicate constitution. She was really sweet, but what I remember most was when she would whisper that she had to use the bathroom. She never said it out loud. Anything she thought was unseemly was whispered. Bring Ya Ass is the perfect antidote.
First, Lyz, I couldn’t agree more about your take on “The Unbearable Lightness of Being.” I read it in 2004 after my breakup. I’ve read nothing like it since.
But on to the tech bros and their monetization of electronic caricatures of women like those adolescents dream about, like in the awful film “Weird Science.” Immature and insulting.
Finally, Sam Altman is another rich arrogant white guy like Elon Musk who is convinced he’s immortal, unstoppable and always right. He just won’t take no for an answer. I have a solution for guys like that from an old rock song (judge the rest of the lyrics by contemporary standards though, just saying):
“Tax the rich, feed the poor
'Til there are no rich no more”
Ten Years After, I'd Love to Change the World
If only Elon had been IN the car he shot into space. Can we try that timeline? Con man wasting our tax dollars and tanking NASA, yanking arms off employees because he doesn’t like yellow. Solar panels burning houses. I must imagine him in the car.
Congratulations on the success! Honestly all this is worth more than 7 bucks a month but I’m here for it
Altman's denial of what he so clearly did reminds me of how toddlers will sometimes close their eyes and think you can't see them.
The bonus joke in the URL of the weekly dingus newsletter usually brings me so much joy but this week I am afraid it's going to result in Hims ads showing up on all my social media feeds. I may fit the age/sex demographic for their market, but I listened to The Dream so I'm gonna hard pass on any kind of supplements that are advertised to me on Instagram.
Also a late breaking good thing this week is that the High Fructose Corn Sweat team supplies wishlist is completely sold out. Thank you to everyone who generously supported our team with an order of supplies or a donation to the Iowa Abortion Access Fund or Iowa Trans Mutual Aid Fund.
I am an electrical engineer taking classes (albeit online) with a human professor and human classmates - the topic for Spring and then for Summer is antennas. Your smartphone contains several antennas that you can't see. My course involves pencil and paper. My professor expects to see us show our work (a lot of math). As I write this, I have a lot of pencils on my end of the dining room table. I am writing a book - I use the pencils and write in engineering block letters in an engineering notebook. Finally, I am starting to learn Spanish. My wife and kids told me about these apps, but I have something better: a colleague who was raised by Mexican immigrants - we are going to start by using Spanish phrases. I have the best language lab to learn Spanish - Southern California. I see a trip to our local bookstore in my future!
Research has shown that handwriting notes enables you to retain information better than typed notes. Keep writing! 💪
Gawd. This just reminds me of an episode of Last Week Tonight about facial recognition tech being developed by some guy who decided to call it "Skynet". I have seen one Terminator movie ever, which I watched when I was TOO YOUNG and shouldn't have seen it, and definitely understood that the Skynet was not something one should aspire to create.
Last night when I couldn't fall asleep, I entertained myself by trying to predict who the Dingus of the Week would be. It was too easy, though; I guessed Sam Altman within about a minute.
Yeah I’ve been picking some popular vote ones but a curveball will be coming your way soon. Stay on your toes 😉
If only the tech bros paid more attention to Star Trek technology and less to Terminator…
Part of the appeal of this dystopian marketing is the delusion that those potential consequences won't affect you, that you have "plot armor". Merchant's article makes a key point that the primary sales pitch of all of this is that you- the consumer- are like the protagonist in the dystopia that gets to have adventures above the rest of the rabble.
Spot on Dingus (I accidentally typed “Dongus,” which also seems fitting!) of the Week and an inspired musical choice!
I saw that Black Mirror Christmas episode one time, and since then I haven't been afraid of AI itself, but the people that make AI and put it out into the world. Especially considering Altman's evident obsession with Scarlet Johannson.
As streaming services constantly raise their rates and start to make even "premium" subscriptions watch ads (the dreaded "commercials" I am trying to avoid), Lyz deserves as much or more. For those that can afford it, the "kick ass level" may help Lyz and her staff earn the just wages for their efforts.
I sent this to my new son in law, who is a computer programmer. He said this sort of thing was exactly why all computer programming science majors at Worcester Polytechnic were required to take an ethics course!