Editor’s Note: Sara Stewart is a writer of video and society who resides in eastern Pennsylvania. The writer’s opinions expressed these are their own. See more CNN opinion articles here.
CNN —
Maria Bamford, an artist, wanted to include as much financial information about herself in her autobiography as she could. I’m embarrassed to admit that I love wealth as a Minnesotan. She stated in a commencement speech cited on NPR’s “World Money” that she “loves full disclosure” and that “we should all get more comfortable talking about one of the most unpleasant subjects always.” In the interview, she delved into specifics about her idea.
Sure enough, she was experimenting with new materials when I just caught her humor present in Pittsburgh, including asking the crowd if anyone had lately had trouble getting paid. To her obvious sadness and me, the people in the front rows appeared reserved.
Unfortunately, there aren’t as many numbers in Bamford’s book “Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult” as she would like. Maria said her editor would not let her put more money into the book because they thought it was boring, the host added during that NPR conversation, adding, “That’s simply a bad visit, in my opinion.” In comparison to any other narrative I’ve ever read, it still contains about 100 % more reporting about earnings and personal success. Bamford expresses her support for the Debtors Anonymous theory of open-book accounting, which is the process of disclosing business information to any party with an interest. She breaks over a month’s worth of business income and expenses because she is her own business in one place in the book.
Bamford is one of a growing number of individuals who support extreme financial accountability. It’s encouraging to see that discussing our income and lack thereof may be on the verge of becoming more normal. The more we converse, the less discrimination, illegality, and shame can cling to financial-related issues. As a woman consultant, I am also statistically paid less than my male peers (but how would I know), so I’m speaking to you from the intersection of two areas that urgently need more financial transparency. The prices that they pay any of us are rarely published by retailers. As a self-employed author, I frequently have to fight payments from publications for which I write. These publications view my repeated requests for payment as anger as if the published byline itself should be its own reward. (I’ve never tried to use my byline to pay for groceries, but I think I know how that will work.)
In Bamford and, more recently, the author Stephanie Land, who has written and spoken about money in a very different light than the latter (who has spoken of inheriting generational wealth and estimates her net worth at $3.5 million), I’ve found some common ground. Many people believed Land had properly written her way out of poverty after her first guide, “Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive,” became an acclaimed Netflix series. But it’s not that easy, as she explains in interviews and in her new book, “Class: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education.”
According to one of the author’s profiles, when Land received the first pay for “Maid,” she had almost $50,000 in student loans and about $16, 000 in credit card debt. She had to pay for it herself because earning the money from her book rendered her children ineligible for state-subsidized health coverage. She claimed that she had centuries of not being able to make ends meet in order to cover the cost.
She also discusses the classist trap of being a working writer in interviews, which is very refreshing to this poet. She discovered that many people seem to believe that creative people should somehow be above discussing cash. She stated on the podcast The Maris Review, “They really don’t teach the business of writing, period.” “Money, I got the sense, somehow devalued the writing.” However, I was baffled as to why you wouldn’t want to write for a living. I mean, isn’t that supposed to be the dream, right? You manage to make a career out of your activity, right?
The Montana Free Press quoted Land as saying, “College does not tell the company of reading.” I had no concept. Writing is primarily an operational job. You are your own company and product. You are your tax preparer, health coverage, and officer. It’s really frustrating to have folks give you. Money is almost never yet mentioned; it’s almost like a dirty term. Preach, my dear.
Stacy Snyder from the second year of Netflix’s “Love is Blind,” who is from a unique part of the entertainment industry, made articles and sparked controversy when she rejected her fiancé at the altar, in part due to his secrecy regarding his precarious financial situation. Only a few weeks prior to their reality TV bride, Izzy Zapata revealed to Snyder that he had poor credit, was unable to obtain credit cards, and that his explanation of his job made her doubt his actual source of income, she said in an interview. How much money can you make each month if you earn 1099 percent committee, I wondered? And he was unable to respond to the query. He also didn’t have any advantages. It was something along the lines of, “I’m responsible for all of that and your medical bills if you get hit by a bus tomorrow.” I felt entirely startled and totally freaked out. Because he didn’t have stability in his career or his finances, I felt like I was about to go into debt.
Snyder’s logical response was criticized online for being unromantic, which is understandable given that one of the main causes of marital conflict or divorce is money. Is it odd or even anxious to insist on an open financial discussion with a partner you’re thinking about getting married to or cohabitating with? Well, but it’s also crucial, regardless of how many films, books, and TV shows promote the idea that passion is all you need and that embellishing it with money devalues it. Before you say, “I do,” many people, I’m willing to bet, have the true story of knowing their partner’s financial education.
I wasn’t a big fan of Snyder on the show because she behaved hypocritically and told Izzy that even though she wanted to split domestic spending 50/50, he should always pay for dinner. She also came across as mean to other cast members. However, it takes good faith to insist on financial clarity before saying,” I do,” in order to guarantee that a relationship will last.
Together, these instances suggest a shift in culture toward the demand for greater financial accountability, including how much we have, earn, and control our frequently exaggerated emotions. Money “is like an emotional matter,” as Bamford said to Conan O’Brien. I find that when people are angry, embarrassed, or ashamed, their emotions don’t match their numbers.
Another recent financial discussion is the flurry of curiosity in new children. The most notable examples might be the offspring of famous people or insiders in the entertainment industry who seem to magically land top jobs (I just found out that two of the three “Please Don’t Destroy” guys on “SNL” are sons of producers). However, the repo baby effect is not unique to the famous. In the early years of their profession, a parent’s employer employs roughly one in three Americans. According to a Harvard study published earlier this year, those raised by higher workers receive the greatest benefits. The nasty but ingrained notion that everyone in the US is beginning on similar financial footing and that anyone can succeed if they work hard enough is punctured more and more the more this information is made public.
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High-profile coalition success stories have also been on the rise recently, from the United Auto Workers agreement to the quality of the SAG-AFTRA and WGA hits. How many people in the entertainment industry work paycheck to paycheck was a recurring theme. Even if someone writes for an award-winning show, it frequently doesn’t mean they’re making that much money because there are lengthy lag times between work periods.
The Guardian notes that despite decades of union decline, worsening wealth inequality, and broken labor laws, work in the US is still facing significant obstacles and challenges in turning the popular lifestyle change into gains. However, these victories aren’t always a sign that collective negotiations are really rising. There is still a struggle to create long-lasting social negotiation.
In the meantime, some states are enacting legislation mandating pay transparency in job listings as a means of assisting women in achieving spending equity. However, it’s even forcing some businesses that are upset about it to reduce the salary they’re giving potential employees. And in a much more unsettling growth, the GOP has been encouraging opposition to no-fault divorce, which is an oblique attempt to curtail children’s autonomy, especially in the financial sphere.
These are some of the growing issues in a society where discussing money is taboo, but it doesn’t seem likely that the discussion will end in silence. I sincerely hope it doesn’t, as a writer.