By Sharanya Gopinathan
Literary scholar Bruce Holsinger’s project has been setting Twitter on absolute fire. A Google Books search showed him just how many male authors just refuse to type their own manuscripts, and instead have their wives type them out for them instead. He’s been using the hashtag #ThanksForTyping to share the instances he finds. His Twitter feed also points out just how many authors seem to have been unable to even just type out their wives’ actual names in their acknowledgements, spawning this hilarious tweet in response:
It is astonishing how many people who type books are named “My Wife”. Weird name. #ThanksForTyping
— saywoo mcgigglecutey (@seiwooster) March 26, 2017
Here are some of the craziest #ThanksForTyping tweets by Bruce Holsinger:
OMG
my wife, my typist, my cook.
an enlightened and informative acknowledgment. #ThanksForTyping pic.twitter.com/ZPZRXbf1VK
— Bruce Holsinger (@bruceholsinger) March 27, 2017
“at least” twice? You’d think one would remember. I bet *she* does. #ThanksForTyping pic.twitter.com/nUzU9n4vfU
— Bruce Holsinger (@bruceholsinger) March 27, 2017
typing, retyping, and typing yet again the manuscript#ThanksForTyping pic.twitter.com/T2lcZ1UvrN
— Bruce Holsinger (@bruceholsinger) March 27, 2017
This one is AMAZING. “My wife” did his paleography for him: transcribed, edited, and corrected from 16th-c. editions. #ThanksForTyping pic.twitter.com/w0Lk0knfDa
— Bruce Holsinger (@bruceholsinger) March 26, 2017
Self-referentiality ain’t gonna get you off the hook big guy. #ThanksForTypingpic.twitter.com/2DX4jLJ8th
— Bruce Holsinger (@bruceholsinger) March 26, 2017
No, @bruceholsinger. Thank *you* for typing. https://t.co/k9FoKQkKzU
— Anna Dubenko (@AnnaDubenko) March 28, 2017
Bruce’s tweets are hilarious in a laughing-at-silly-men way, which is one of my favourite kinds of funny, but it’s also a really serious issue. Women’s labour has traditionally been devalued, anonymous and ignored, and this hashtag has rekindled discussions on the invisibility of women’s labour, and also has people sharing really great reads on secretarial culture and its politics.
Check out the hashtag #ThanksForTyping on Twitter, because by now, lots of people besides Holsinger have started sharing their literary laziness finds, and it’s equal parts interesting and crazy.
Leave a Reply