I'm a huge advocate for women constructing paywalls around themselves and assigning financial value to everything they do because otherwise, it's too easy for people to take advantage of their gender socialization to give and give until there's nothing left.

As a sociologist, I more than understand the dangers of self-commodification and self-alienation but at the same time, the conversation around gender inequality has been stalled for so long that women have no protections and people refuse to educate themselves about gender.

There's a ton of resistance around women earning a livelihood from skills typified as "essentially" feminine, like emotional labor, active listening, and carework.

But the vast majority of people in poverty are women and that's why.

Men are downright hostile to the idea that attractive women don't just want to have a conversation with them for no reason.

Men flatter themselves thinking that they bring value to these conversations.

No, listening to your banality is work and you should pay for it.