This Hashtag Shows That Male Authors' Wives Are Unsung Heroes

Come on, fellas. Let's get it together.

This is Bruce Holsinger. He's a novelist and an English professor at the University of Virginia.

"The response was immediate and overwhelming," Holsinger said. "It's turned into a lively and mind-bending exchange."

A peek at an archive of women's academic labor: wives thanked for typing their husbands' manuscripts. 1/5… https://t.co/uZmmkAjOT2

For whatever reason, a lot of male authors over the years have been unwilling or unable to type up their own goddamn work. The acknowledgments of their books show how much extra work their wives did in turn.

"I have to thank my wife for typing the whole of this difficult manuscript in spite of the heavy burden laid on housewives by a six years' war and its oppressive aftermath," one example reads.

Holsinger said he drew his examples from all over: academic work, fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and many other genres — even self-help books.

"I am most grateful to ... my wife for typing, retyping and typing yet again the manuscript."

typing, retyping, and typing yet again the manuscript #ThanksForTyping

So much typing.

"at least" twice? You'd think one would remember. I bet *she* does. #ThanksForTyping

This man's wife had to type "the whole of this work at least twice."

Seriously, so much typing.

a quarter of a million words. #ThanksForTyping

Holsinger told BuzzFeed News that while many of his examples came from older texts, "a shocking proportion" came from books published in the last two decades.

"Ridiculous numbers of men, it seems, still didn't know how to type throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, or at least performed a kind of deliberate secretarial incompetence when it came to the basic mechanics of writing and transcription," Holsinger said.

This poor wife "typed and re-typed the whole manuscript five times" — and "on a decrepit typewriter" no less.

"With two aching fingers my wife typed out the whole manuscript."

"With two aching fingers..." From the acknowledgments of a book about, I kid you not, the Atonement.… https://t.co/gDaWtpALV8

"Under considerable pressure."

"My wife typed the entire manuscript under considerable pressure due to a severe time constraint [and my incompeten… https://t.co/KkOTW4etkG

"Now, there are some instances in which issues of disability or economic circumstance kept men from typing up their own work, and in those cases I wouldn't tweet them," Holsinger said.

"But in numerous examples these gently thanked wives even did their husbands' primary research for them: transcribing early modern paleography and field notes, typing up numerous drafts, rewriting, revising, indexing... the list goes on."

This one is AMAZING. "My wife" did his paleography for him: transcribed, edited, and corrected from 16th-c. edition… https://t.co/Fru82KDbln

In many cases, these long-suffering wives were not even afforded the courtesy of their own names.

This could not have been written without my wife's anonymity. #ThanksForTyping

"My wife" had to suffice.

My next dissertation will be titled "This Guy's Flock of Typists and the Marital Politics of Domestic Pedantry"… https://t.co/r3ri9PDE02

Not just wives, either. Sometimes anonymous daughters were involved, too.

It gets multi-generational too! Unnamed wives, unnamed daughters, men who don't know how to type.

This author quit his job to write his dissertation, while his wife did much of the work, cared for their first child, and taught chemistry!

Oh my god maybe for the win. #ThanksForTyping

This guy was even living off his in-laws while his wife and other family members did much of the work.

Unnamed wife typed, proofread, and sustained her husband's morale (but not his manuscript?) while both on in-laws'… https://t.co/lUD9CL8qju

Holsinger said many people have engaged in the hashtag to discuss "the politics of academic labor, the crucial role of women as collaborators and unacknowledged co-authors of academic work."

Holsinger noted that many people have studied and written about this phenomenon already, but the hashtag kicked off a big public conversation.

#ThanksForTyping is a brilliant hashtag highlighting the work that women do for little to no credit in academia.

"People have shared examples in French, Spanish, Portuguese, as well as many stories from their own or their parents' experiences of unacknowledged or anonymous academic labor," Holsinger said.

Some people even shared their own experiences of how women's labor often goes unappreciated in academia.

At convocation for my MA, Harvard GSAS dean told a story about his wife typing his dissertation. Told us to get married! #ThanksForTyping

And they shared some historical examples.

Fucking EINSTEIN #thanksfortyping https://t.co/IBJh7h3Y2i

So let's hear it for the unsung heroes, like the wife who "offered endless advice on a subject for which she had no especial relish."

And a special glimpse at a special marriage. #ThanksForTyping

This wife who typed and retyped the same bloody manuscript "15 or more times."

The unnamed wife who typed the manuscript FIFTEEN FOOKIN TIMES, and the named editor. #ThanksForTyping

Or the wife who retyped a thesis because the husband's "dirty rhymes" had to be cut out.

Castration anxiety, em dashes, and a wife who retyped it all. #ThanksForTyping

😐 😐 😐

Come on, fellas. Let's get it together.

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