Female student activists at Sarah Lawrence College are asking their peers to pay for their “emotional labor” in the form of real money.
Students at Sarah Lawrence College are asking their peers to bankroll their activism efforts. They argue that their activism entails a great deal of “emotional labor” and for such personal expenditures they should be justly compensated. In a long Facebook comment thread between members of the Sarah Lawrence College Class of 2020, several students demanded money for their “emotional labor,” 17 of which provided Venmo accounts for easy monetary transfer. Venmo is a payment transfer app that allows for easy transfer of money between users.
One student posted an image of a cardboard sign with the text: “Give Your $ to Women and Femmes of Color.”
The conversation followed a discussion about a student who let a pet snake loose in a nearby wood. The discussion quickly shifted away from the snake as students demanded that the Facebook page be used for more serious discussions, like the plight of marginalized students at Sarah Lawrence.
“The issue that people talked abt the snake+ tree extensively but completely ignored the hate crimes against black+ Muslim students earlier this year…there’s a v (sic) clear issue in priorities here and it needs to be addressed?? No one’s saying that everyone should never talk abt the snake its (sic) just ridiculous that people can do that but can’t be bothered to say a word abt the racism very present on campus.”
A brief discussion about politics quickly shifted to students demand that others pay them money for the “emotional labor” that is expended during participation in activism events. One commenter demanded that others send at least $30 to his or her Venmo account. : “Pay up. Pay Money. Pay ur money. Ur money isn’t urs. You’re both assholes. Pay K—- and J— at least $30.”
“PAY THEM BOTH! SERIOUSLY EVERYONE PAY BOTH … NOW!” another commenter wrote.
The Facebook comment thread can be read in its entirety below.
Tom Ciccotta is a libertarian who writes about economics and higher education for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @tciccotta or email him at tciccotta@breitbart.com
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.