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Author Topic: Long essay on the business of starting (feminist) collaborative publications  (Read 11438 times)

mouser

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Nice long article with lessons learned from someone starting a collaborative publication, discussing issues from what software to use, to paying contributors, to hiring a lawyer.  Focuses on the business end of things.

I am very hopeful that other intersectional feminist tech publications - possibly many others - will start in the coming year. This blog post is my way of supporting these nascent publications: an offering of everything I've learned about starting and running publishing companies...


rxantos

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I get the use of the information in the link, but I never understood why people need to mix gender issues with technology. Ironically, doing so is SEXIST, as it serves no purpose but to further an agenda.

What exactly is "feminist tech"? What makes technology either feminist or MRA? Machines have no gender. Nor does the machine care about the users gender.

Which begs the question. Since machines have no gender. When the singularity comes:

How will the movement of genderless but sentient beings be called? ARA (Android Rights Activist) or Andronist? Maybe GRA (Genderless Rights Activist) or GRM (Genderless Rights Movement).

I'm sorry for the rant, but I still remember gamergate.

Stoic Joker

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What exactly is "feminist tech"? What makes technology either feminist or MRA? Machines have no gender. Nor does the machine care about the users gender.

Valid and interesting question. The company I work for is owned by a woman - a fact that is completely irrelevant to day to day operations. To me, making these distinctions only server to create and exacerbate a situation that would have otherwise never existed.

Renegade

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I get the use of the information in the link, but I never understood why people need to mix gender issues with technology. Ironically, doing so is SEXIST, as it serves no purpose but to further an agenda.

What exactly is "feminist tech"? What makes technology either feminist or MRA? Machines have no gender. Nor does the machine care about the users gender.

Which begs the question. Since machines have no gender. When the singularity comes:

How will the movement of genderless but sentient beings be called? ARA (Android Rights Activist) or Andronist? Maybe GRA (Genderless Rights Activist) or GRM (Genderless Rights Movement).

I'm sorry for the rant, but I still remember gamergate.

The article was pretty good. It covered a lot of ground.

I didn't get any "feminist" feel from it. It was simply factual from what I read, though I did skim.

I don't know what they actually publish though. That may be another matter. But the article itself was a solid piece.

I'd certainly pass the link on to anyone asking about publishing.

There's a thread on feminism in the Basement forum. That's a better place to discuss things like "feminist tech". From the article, "feminist tech publication" is merely "feminist" + "tech publication" from what I can see there. i.e. A tech publication from a feminist perspective, and not "feminist technology", which simply doesn't make much sense.

Regarding the actual tech side of the article, I'm not a fan of Google Docs, but it is an easy & cheap option. But she never gets into platforms much. It's all business.



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Gwen7

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Renegade nailed it!  it's feminists talking *about* technology. not someone talking about 'feminist technology' - which is meaningless. but maybe apple *still* has an app for it? :-))
i too have concerns about google docs. i use it. and i am involved with a few organizations that are in love with it. because it works. and i suspect mostly because it's free. but i keep waiting for google to come along and pull the rug out from under it someday. they have done that to other popular free products in the past like their feed reader.
free is nice. but it's not smart to get too heavily dependent on free anything. especially if it's made by google.

Vurbal

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^ I'll second (third?) that sentiment. The sole element of the article I would identify as being maybe, kind of, almost specifically feminist, if you squint really hard in just the right light, is her experience with an abusive partner. Due purely to differences in relationship and communication styles, it's perhaps more relevant to women than men, and, even then, only in the particulars.

In any case, it's nothing more than an example to illustrate a larger point. In her excitement about the potential opportunity, she jumped into a business relationship predicated on blind faith, rather than due diligence. One of several excellent themes in the piece is to avoid making decisions that way. If there's a more universal lesson for anyone entering into business, or numerous other ventures, I can't imagine what it would be.

She's writing from experience, which wouldn't be particularly credible if she didn't disclose what that experience is. She's definitely biased, but in a good way. I see a bias toward the wisdom to ask the right questions and intelligence to understand the answers. She acquits herself well on both fronts. In fact, I've bookmarked it to go back and read again, and also to share with my daughter - because she's a writer, not because she's a woman.

Thanks for sharing it mouser!
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Gwen7

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-vurbal - you are correct. her experience with her business partner is the usual sad story. and well covered in online circles. i too think it's included only to say it's important to choose business partners carefully. those who want to know more about those details can follow the link at the top of the article, although most of the information in that story is of no relevance to this essay. and why she wisely imho chose to leave it out.

superboyac

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I'm halfway through, good read.  I enjoy how she goes about organizing a project/business.  especially the way she writes about it.  It's helpful to know the thought process behind decisions.