To think “Side Hustle” can get in the bin?

[courageiscontagious]

I am so sick of my feed being full of people “girl bossing” their “side hustle” like it’s a good thing.

it feels like propaganda to make us think there is anything empowering about having to work a SECOND JOB in this dumpster fire of an economy.

One generation ago a man could buy a house and support his family on his one income with only a high school education.

Now, my husband and I have five degrees between us and we both have to bust our arses to support fewer children than my parents had.

FUCK SIDE HUSTLE CULTURE. It’s just another way to make us blame ourselves for being poor when there are systemic and structural factors fucking us over.

end rant.

I'm obviously not in with the lingo, because a side hustle sounds either dodgy or dishonest to me.

Never heard anyone use the term " side hustle" .
And " girl bossing" ? What on earth is that?

I get the point you are making though OP about how financially difficult it is now to buy a home and raise a family.

Totally agree OP.

Agree

Not sure what girl bossing is but I know what you mean about side hustles. The thought of a second job makes me feel exhausted. I'm a single mum with a mortgage and already work full time, run a department.

Instead I've gone back to doing what my gran did. I make my own jams, bottle fruit, grow my own fruit & veg, and make my own bread. It probably saves me £5 a week. I swap with a neighbour for eggs.

But it's fresh air & exercise, I can do it an hour at a time and it all tastes good, so it's more hobby than work.

I do agree with you, the language is both grating and demeaning at the same time.

However, I’ve recently started making a fair bit of money utilising social media (neither only fans nor an mlm!) and it has struck me that we may be so anti this language as, in our very misogynistic society, there seem to be a lot of women having success with their ‘side hustles’, especially online. Which does rather upset the status quo.

Women have always worked more than one job, we just need a better term than ‘side-hustle’. ‘Girl boss’ I’ve thankfully not heard of!

I thought a 'side hustle' was some sort cane or wire frame to make the hips look wider, (which I is belive is in vogue now).
Not dissimilar to the 'bustle' for enhancing the rear.
Or the 'tussle' for the... well you can work that out for yourselves.

I think you're conflating two issues. "Girl boss/side hustle" culture is all MLM slang and nobody is earning anything from them. Most lose money.

The fact two incomes are needed is a whole other story.

Well said OP.
See also the tiny house trend and aspects of the van life culture.
For some people these things are genuinely about freedom but an awful lot of it is people making the best of the low wage, unaffordable housing environment and even homelessness.

Yes, when it's just working two or more jobs to make ends meet, which is rubbish.

For me it's writing, which I'd quite like to segue into as a different career before/into retirement. It's not for the money, though it would be nice to make some money from it or turn it into a career, it's for a creative outlet. I have a well paid job which I enjoy, but I want more from life than that.

Other people have small businesses they'd like to turn into a main job one day. Fair play to them, not everyone wants to do 9-5 in an office, come home, make tea and put the telly on five days a week.

Yes there are syatemic things holding us back - some of us don't want to accept the status quo.

I’ve always understood ‘side hustle’ to mean something you enjoy doing on the side but that doesn’t make enough to live on – like writing a novel, pottery, painting etc. Not a hobby, but something you love doing and aim to make a bit of cash from too.

Missing the point but what 5 degree do you have between you?

These terms are commonly used now, particularly 'side hussle'.

I used to take surveys for pin money & honestly the term side hustle grated on me immediately. I don't have opinions on extra sources of income, but the term is stupid. Probably first encountered it (in surveys) about 7 yrs ago.

@courageiscontagious I agree - having to do extra work to support your family is increasingly common and a sign that wages are increasingly not covering living costs.

Agree. I work full time and have two kids to spend time with at the evenings and weekends. I’m not giving up the shred of time I have to do what is essentially a second job.

Side hustle is just a phrase to make selling stuff on eBay, Vinted etc sound better than it is.

The sexist origins of ‘pin money’ grates on me an awful lot more than side hustle tbh!

I have a side job, I do it because I like it and the extra money is spent on fun things rather than day to day living.

For those who have never heard of side hustle...have you been living under a rock?!

I dislike 'side hustle' too. I don't think it is an organic evolution of language. I think it has been artificially boosted by all the inane/misleading/manipulative content encouraging people to join an MLM scheme, flog home-made tat via Etsy etc or slave for a pittance as a gig economy worker.

It's meant to sound kinda cool, as if the exploited and/or deluded hustler is a canny wheeler/dealer making all the smart moves.

I'd forgotten about 'pin money'. There's 'moonlighting too. So many odd terms for making a small income.

Am picturing someone hustling/shuffling sideways in pursuit of pins that are sparkling in the light of an enormous moon

My side hustle is starting threads on MN about side hustles. The amount there we should get a cut of the advertising revenue.

Well I thought " side hustle" was a US term. Perhaps you and the OP are US based so it is commonly used where you are?
Is " girl bossing " a US term as well? It's absolutely cringeworthy and ridiculous imo. I've never heard anyone use it

I get your point op.
I think.its ok having a side hustle if it is for fun rather than necessity.

"Hustle" is quite a negative word implying disonesty, fraud or cheating. "Side hustle" sounds dodgy and it surprises me that it's caught on so widely.

"Girl boss" is just annoyingly twee. It's the 2020s, women have been able to be the/ their own bosses for decades. Girly-fying it is disempowering.

There's a bit of a gap in positively describing a second job, particularly if it's around the cusp of being a hobby that pays for itself/ profitable. The internet and social media have changed the range of what people can do as second jobs and their potential earnings from them.