Participation Trophies Don’t Pay the Rent for Diversity
Going to say it again: For some reason if you’re diverse: Say you’re LGBTQIA, poor, A person of color, adopted, disabled, etc... people expect that you will be glad to have furthered the cause for what?
FREE
And fuck that. Seriously fuck that idea.
You know when you elicit someone’s work for FREE is called without paying them and calling in the participation trophy and saying, but prestige while they do ALL of the emotional labor and work is called?
A SCAM
So I’m here to say, yes, be glad that you are including diversity in your magazines. But you know what would really, really further our rights? You know what would stick it to the super privileged among us?
PAY YOUR DIVERSE WRITERS A FAIR WAGE
No participation trophy has ever paid the rent or closed the sometimes quintuple the wage gap for PoC writers and diverse writers compared to cis het abled men.
“Look, I got published in a magazine, can you wave my rent?”
Do you really think the Landlord is going to say yes?
“Look, I got published in a magazine... can you let me have this food?”
That’s not going to work either.
Also, to the writers out there, know that you are good enough to get paid. Work towards that goal. You have a right to be paid for your work and further our value as people by getting paid. People will value you more if you get paid for your work.
