Jenn Price was thrilled when she was accepted as a freelance contributor to hot, new feminist pop culture blog ‘Ladies Who Punch,’ a dream job for any feminist writer active in social justice.
“I couldn’t believe they accepted me as a freelance contributor!” she gushed. “They have some amazing writers on that site – so smart and funny – it has been a major ego boost. The extra income is really helpful right now, and I’ve received literally dozens of new rape and death threats since I’ve started contributing to the site!”
“Honestly, it feels great to be respected as a writer and I’m finally getting to apply the difficult-to-digest topics I studied in grad school and make them accessible to readers on the internet.” Price continued. “Opening my email to messages like, ‘Kill yourself, you ugly dyke’ or ‘I didn’t read your stupid article, but I hope you get fucked by 100 dicks’ is just part of being a writer, ya know? It’s all very exhilarating!”
Ladies Who Punch, the whip-smart blog that often uses snarky humor to inform readers of current events and conversations in pop culture, receives millions of hits per month. Writing for the feminist blog earned Jenn dozens of new Twitter followers and shares on social media.
“Occasionally, something would be posted to the site, like my thinkpiece about the feminist lens in the new Beauty and the Beast movie, or body positivity as the summer months are approaching, and it’s weird, but it seemed almost instantly there would be guys with names like @DieKillaryDie69 and @SlutMagnet420 replying and commenting on my articles. Boy, they must be really fast readers!”
Writing for the site has not only been lucrative for Jenn, helping her pay off her grad school loans, but she has learned many new skills, like how to file complaints with Twitter and even the local police station!
“It’s hard to get people to take those kinds of threats seriously. Everyone pretty much just shrugs and says, ‘Well, it’s the internet, people feel a sense of freedom when they’re behind a screen’. God, I can’t imagine how freeing that must be to feel safe behind a keyboard, able to write and comment or just simply exist on the internet without being told to choke on a thousand choads.”
Price is hopeful that this freelance work will lead to bigger opportunities and even more harassment down the road, saying, “One day, maybe people will know my name – or my address!”
