In a 2018 survey to my patrons, I asked them three questions (below), and here are just some of their responses
- Why did you begin supporting me on Patreon?
- Why have you continued supporting me on Patreon?
- How can I make your Patreon experience better?
"I’ve learned a great deal from you and your work—on confronting depression openly, on taking care of self during low times, and on race and social justice. And you’re funny. I particularly enjoy the “how queer are you?” Or “top 3 hits by white women” style posts on Twitter."
"I was both enjoying your content, and learning from you on twitter and medium. Like I have actually applied knowledge I know I definitely picked up from you passing it on. After the first time I did it consciously was when i got myself over to your patreon."
"Beyond that, and actually more, I see (at least some of) the work you’re doing in your twitter community, and to the extent I catch it online, I am aware of the work you’re doing offline. I am grateful for being able to see and support."
"Read one of your essays (on Medium, I think?) and then saw links to others. I spent hours reading your essays and saw a Patreon link and went 'We need more good content like this'. Being in my late 40s, nonbinary wasn't really a thing when I was growing up, but I'm a professor now and my students introduced me to the concept a few years ago. I immediately identified with it
(I'd identified as Asexual for a long time, defined as 'equally disinterested in both men and women', even before 'Ace' was really a thing.)
So, I know when people look at me, they immediately read 'older white lady' and I'd rather spend my time supporting and elevating voices of younger people who have a lot more skin in this game than trying to present myself as more gender-neutral in a body that's like 'nah'."