Freelance

Freelance (pronounced free-lans or free-lahns)

(1) A person who works selling work or services by the hour, day, job etc, rather than working on some regular basis for one employer; also as freelancer or free-lancer; self-employed, free agent, unaffiliated.

(2) A person who contends in a cause or in a succession of various causes, as he or she chooses, without personal attachment or allegiance (applied often to politicians who tend to supports several causes or parties without total commitment to any one).

(3) The act of working as a freelancer; used often as a modifier.

(4) Of or relating to freelancing or the work of a freelance.

(5) A mercenary soldier or military adventurer in medieval Europe, often of knightly rank, who offered his services to any state, party, or cause (retrospectively applied).

1820: The construct was free + lance.  Free was from the Middle English free, fre & freo, from the Old English frēo (free), from the Proto-West Germanic frī, from the Proto-Germanic frijaz (beloved, not in bondage), from the primitive Indo-European priHós (dear, beloved), from preyH- (to love, please); from this evolved the related modern English friend.  It was cognate with the West Frisian frij (free), the Dutch vrij (free), the Low German free (free), the German frei (free), the Danish, Swedish & Norwegian fri (free) and the Sanskrit प्रिय (priyá).  The verb is from the Middle English freen & freoȝen, from the Old English frēon, & frēoġan (to free; make free), from the Proto-West Germanic frijōn, from the Proto-Germanic frijōną, from the primitive Indo-European preyH-.  Germanic and Celtic are the only Indo-European language branches in which the primitive Indo-European word with the meaning of "dear, beloved" acquired the additional meaning of "free" in the sense of "not in bondage".  This was an extension of the idea of "characteristic of those who are dear and beloved" (those who were friends and others in the tribe as opposed to the unfree, those of other tribes, slaves etc).  The evolution was comparable with the Latin use of liberi to mean both "free persons" and "children of a family".  Lance was from the Middle English launce, from the Old French lance, from the Latin lancea.  Ultimate root was via the Celtic & Celtiberian, possibly from the primitive Indo-European plehk- (to hit) and related to the Ancient Greek λόγχη (lónkhē).  The hyphenated form (free-lance, free-lancer et al) is a correct alternative but should be used with the usual convention of English use: consistency within a document.  If an alternative hyphenated form is used for one word, it should be used for all where the option exists.

The first know instance is in Ivanhoe (1820) by Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832) to describe a medieval mercenary warrior or "free-lance", the meaning lying in the notion of his arms (lance, sword etc) being freely available for hire and not sworn to any lord's services). Scott’s description of them resembles that of the Italian condottieri (a leader or member of a troop of mercenaries).  It became a figurative noun circa 1864, most frequent used when applied to writers & journalists from 1882, the unhyphenated “freelance” attested from 1898.  The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) listed it as a verb in 1903 and in modern use the word has morphed into an adjective, and an adverb, as well as the familiar derivative noun freelancer.  The sense of politicians who tended to go off on tangents and champion causes unrelated to the party platform they were hired to pursue was known since the late nineteenth century, sometimes with the implication (drawn from Sir Walter Scott’s picture of soldiers for hire by anyone) of mercenary motives.

The emergence of the gig economy doesn’t indicate any great change in the understanding of freelancing, the category of “gig worker” defined more by the method by which they obtain their work.  Gig worker encompasses just about any independent worker, including contingent and freelance workers, the convention of use being that they pickup their hours from a digital platform rather than the historically conventional channels.  Gig workers were understood not to be hired as employees by the company with which they contract to do the job, instead being freelance contractors, each individual task a separate contract.  That idea has been challenged in several jurisdictions with some courts and tribunals finding, in some cases, the nature of the relationship between freelancer and platform and the pattern of work performed being such that, within existing law, a conventional employer-employee relationship exists with all that implies.  This dispute is ongoing in many places and is played-out within the micro political economy.  

By contrast, a contingent worker is employed by a different company (usually a staffing agency or recruiter, often known as labour hire companies) than the one for which they’ll actually be performing the task.  The agency acts as the intermediary between the worker and the company, finding the jobs and the workers, billing the client and paying the contingent workers.  Contractors are different again and can be freelancers or contingent workers, the distinction being that they are deployed usually for fixed terms of longer duration than a gig.  There’s no precise definition but while a gig might last only minutes, a contract typically is measured in weeks or more.  The "freelance" status may be misleading in that there have been some known to to work exclusively for one entity (which might be an agent or other third-party) and for this reason and that they certainly weren't formally on the payroll.  In most cases though the freelancers can be thought of as proto-gig economy workers in that from an industrial relations viewpoint they were independent contractors even if in some cases their entire income might come from the one entity (indeed, some had signed contracts of exclusivity on some negotiated basis).     

Former Australian senator Cory Bernardi and animal welfare

Freelancing: Former Australian senator Cory Bernardi (b 1969; senator for South Australia 2006-2020) is a member of the Roman Catholic laity noted for leaving the Liberal Party in 2017 to form his own party, the Australian Conservatives.  Such creations, drawn often from the extremes of mainstream parties (of the left, right or single-issue operations) are usually short lived, the political inertia and structural advantages the incumbents create for each other being hard to topple; it’s tough even to sustain co-existence.  So it proved for the Australian Conservatives, Bernardi in 2019 announcing he was dissolving and consequently deregistering the party.  Electoral support had proved not only elusive but barely detectable although the senator claimed to be happy with the project’s outcomes, noting the Liberal-National Coalition's upset victory in 2019 was proof "common sense" had returned to national politics which was "all we, as Australian Conservatives, have ever sought to do”.  Rarely has spin been so spun.   

Bernardi’s most publicised contribution to political discourse happened in 2012 when he suggested allowing same-sex marriage would lead to “legalised polygamy and bestiality”.  "The next step, quite frankly, is having three people or four people that love each other being able to enter into a permanent union endorsed by society - or any other type of relationship" the senator was quoted as saying.  "There are even some creepy people out there... [who] say it is OK to have consensual sexual relations between humans and animals.  Will that be a future step? In the future will we say, 'These two creatures love each other and maybe they should be able to be joined in a union'.  "I think that these things are the next step."

His views attracted scant support from his colleagues, even several who opposed marriage equality distancing themselves from Bernardi’s view it was the thin end of the homosexual wedge, a step on a slippery slope of depravity descending to the violation of beasts of the field.  The backlash compelled Bernardi’s resignation as parliamentary secretary to the leader of the opposition, Tony Abbott (b 1957; Australian prime-minister 2013-2015).  In accepting the resignation, Mr Abbott described the comments as "ill-disciplined", adding they were “…views I don't share...” and “I think it's pretty clear that if you want to freelance, you can do so on the backbench."

From the backbench, the freelancer released a short statement saying he had resigned "in the interests of the Coalition", one of his thoughts with which few disagreed.  Sadly, even from organisations like PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) he never received any credit for his efforts to protect goats and other hapless creatures from the predations of packs of crazed gay marriage advocates.  Despite that, the former senator found his natural home working as one of the right-wing fanatics at Rupert Murdoch's Sky News where his thoughts are imparted to an appreciative audience which believes the ills of this world are the consequence of conspiracies by the Freemasons, the Jews, the Jesuits and the Secret Society of the Les Clefs d'Or.  His viewers agree with everything he says.

The paparazzi are the classic freelancers.

Paparazzo

Paparazzo (pronounced pah-puh-raht-soh or pah-pah-raht-tsaw (Italian))

A freelance photographer, especially one who takes candid pictures of celebrities to sell to publishers; noted for their symbiotic invasion of the privacy of the subjects.

1961: A borrowing of the Italian surname Paparazzo, a character (the freelance photographer) in Federico Fellini's (1920–1993) 1960 film La Dolce Vita.  The more familiar noun plural (which can be used for all purposes regardless of context) is paparazzi, pronounced pah-puh-raht-see or pah-pah-raht-tsee.

The surname carries no meaning within the film; there’s no historic or etymological relationship either to the plot or photography.  The name is not uncommon in the region of Calabria and Fellini is said to have borrowed it from a travel book, By the Ionian Sea (1901) by George Gissing (1857–1903) which the director was reading (in Italian translation) during filming in 1959; in the book is mentioned a hotelier, Signor Coriolano Paparazzo.  The photographer in the film is played by Walter Santesso (1931-2008).  Paparazzo, which technically is the singular form only, is hardly ever used to refer to an individual photographer, the plural paparazzi instead the preferred form which is so pervasive that a female photographer, who should be a (morphologically standard in Italian) paparazza, is also a paparazzi.  Some dictionaries even list an alternative spelling for the plural as paparazzos but there seems no evidence of use and it may exist only because the rules of English say it can. 

The quality of symbiosis is sometimes strained: Lindsay Lohan and the paparazzi.  For everything you do, there’s a price to be paid.

All forms must now be thought full-assimilated English words and the exclusive use of paparazzi has become correct English.  Because of the circumstances under which paparazzo, paparazzi & paparazza entered English, as a re-purposing of a proper noun, the “rules” under which they operate are those defined by the pattern of use.  The users spoke and it’s now paparazzi all the way.  Paparazzi is thus both noun-singular and noun-plural, masculine & plural.  Historically, there will be those who insist it has become a plurale tantum (from the Latin pluralia tantum (plural only)), a noun that appears only in the plural form and does not have a singular variant for referring to the individual object.  Some dictionaries do allow it can refer also to nouns the singular form of which is rare or archaic.  All bases seem covered.  The "freelance" status may be misleading in that there have been paparazzi known to to work exclusively for one buyer (who was more likely an agent than an editor or publisher) although for this reason and that they certainly weren't formally on the payroll.  In most cases though the paparazzi can be thought of as proto-gig economy workers in that from an industrial relations viewpoint they were independent contractors even if in some cases their entire income might come from the one entity (indeed, some had signed contracts of exclusivity guaranteeing at least a right of first refusal with a scale of payment on some negotiated basis).     

The symbiosis of stars and the paparazzi

Anita Ekberg (1931–2015) in Federico Fellini's (1920–1993) La Dolce Vita ("the sweet life" or "the good life; 1960, left).  The scene was shot in the waters of Rome's Trevi Fountain.  Ms Ekberg understood the often symbiotic relationship between paparazzi and their subjects, sometimes willing sometimes not.  Long after the event, cheerfully she would admit the famous incident in the lobby of London’s Berkley Hotel (right), when her dress “burst” open, was a publicity stunt pre-arranged with a freelance photographer.  Young ladies who followed in her wake learned much from Ms Ekberg and frequently her technique is seen on social media platforms (real people don't call them "the socials").

Hybristophilia

Hybristophilia (Pronounced hi-bris-a-fil-ee-uh)

An attraction to an individual who has committed a crime.

1986: The construct was the Ancient Greek ὑβρίζειν (hubrízein) (to commit an outrage against someone), +‎ -philia.  The -philia suffix was from the Ancient Greek φιλία (philía) (fraternal) love).  It was used to form nouns conveying a liking or love for something and in clinical use was applied often to an abnormal or obsessive interest, especially if it came to interfere with other aspects of life (the general term is paraphilia).  The companion suffix is the antonym -phobia. The related forms are the prefixes phil- & philo- and the suffixes -philiac, -philic, -phile & -phily.  One who exhibits hybristophilia is a hybristophile.  Hybristophilia & hybristophile are nouns; the noun plural is hybristophiles.

Brought to you by Cosmo which interviewed Dr Money for the December 1990 edition.

Although never explicitly mentioned in the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the phenomenon has long been noted and in popular culture is better known as “Bonnie & Clyde syndrome”.  In the mental health community, hybristophilia is (now sometimes) regarded as a paraphilia (a class of mental disorder characterized by a preference for or obsession with unusual (some still treated as “abnormal”) sexual practices) and the word “hybristophila” was in 1986 introduced by Johns Hopkins University professor Dr John Money (1921–2006), a New Zealand-born psychologist and sexologist with an untypical background whose work on human sexuality and gender remains controversial.  Dr Money’s had an academic interest in those who exhibited a sexual attraction towards individuals who committed serious crimes.

In the literature, it’s clear most hybristophiles are female, something not unexpected given the extent to which crime is a male-dominated business; most of the academic work in the field seems to have focused on women who have developed strong affectionate or romantic feelings towards individuals incarcerated for serious crimes and it’s been studied both in psychiatry and criminology.  Over the decades, the understanding of hybristophilia has evolved and there’s now a greater appreciation of the nuances which can extend to the political and although the original definition was restricted to sexual attraction (conventionally defined), aspects such as “thrill-seeking”, “sympathy”, “celebrity status hunting” (including deals for interviews and such) and a desire to “nurture or reform” have all been identified as factors which may influence the behaviour while some sources claim an alleged increased frequency of instances may be related to the rise in volume of “true crime” material on the internet and streaming services.  Of interest too is the role of the media in “romanticising” criminals and the rise (indeed the standardization) of the methods used by on-line dating apps: the response generated by the publication of a “hot” police mug-shot, the behaviour is not greatly different from “swiping right” on Tinder.

There has been criticism of the profession’s approach to hybristophilia, usually on the grounds of the definition being too broad and prone to the generation of ambiguities, some arguing the term may pathologize normal variations of human attraction, while others question the empirical evidence supporting its classification as a paraphilia.  Of course, the editors of the DSM have never listed it as a paraphilia and it is others who have made the link which at least implies a degree of disapprobation, the phenomenon perceived seemingly as a form of self-harm from which women need to be protected, an attitude with something of a history in psychiatry and medicine generally.  The matter of hybristophilia is emblematic of the general problem of the DSM’s category of paraphilic disorders being thought of as a sort of dumping ground for sexual behaviour thought unusual and when the fifth edition (DSM-5) was published in 2013, the editors acknowledged this by differentiating between (1) atypical human sexual behavior and (2) behavior either causing mental distress to a patient or which makes the them a threat to the psychological or physical well-being of others.  Although it’s clear legal implications played a part in the editorial committee’s discussions about revising diagnostic criteria, the goal really was to update the disorders in the category in a way which would reflect the outcomes for patients and those with whom they interacted rather than abstractions about the behaviour itself.

Lindsay Lohan and her lawyer in court, Los Angeles, December 2011.

What emerged was a change in the defined characteristics of paraphilic disorders, a recognition most people with atypical (as opposed to “abnormal”) sexual interests do not have a mental disorder requiring treatment.  After the DSM-5, to be diagnosed with a paraphilic disorder, a patient must either (1) feel personal distress about their interest (not merely a distress resulting from society’s disapproval) or (2) have a sexual desire or behavior that involves another person’s psychological distress, injury, or death or (3) have a desire to indulge in sexual behaviors involving unwilling persons or persons unable to give legal, informed consent.  There was also a process of re-naming conditions to delineate between an atypical sexual interest and a defined disorder, a process which essentially differentiated between the behavior and the disorder stemming from that behaviour; the APA was giving its imprimatur for folk to engage in consensual atypical sexual behavior without inappropriately being labeled with a mental disorder. With this revision, the DSM-5 distinguished between atypical sexual interests and mental disorders involving these desires or behaviors.  That hybristophilia is not specifically mentioned in any edition of the DSM is thus not an omission as such and the DSM-5 did include the diagnostic category called “Other Specified Paraphilic Disorders” (OSPD) which was created to encompass atypical sexual interests causing significant distress or impairment but not fulfilling the criteria for any of the listed specific paraphilic disorders.  In other words, OSPD was there as a kind of clearing house for clinicians who identified a problem and that might include a hybristophile if the behaviour is causing personal distress or impairment (or consequent problems for others with whom they have some relationship).

Baldur von Schirach in the dock, where he told some lies and some partial truths, Palace of Justice, Nuremberg, May, 1946.

Baldur von Schirach (1907-1974; head of the Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth) 1931-1940 & Gauleiter (district party leader) and Reichsstatthalter (Governor) of Vienna 1940-1945) would in 1946 have been hanged had some of the material relating to his time as governor of Vienna been brought before the court at the first Nuremberg Trial (1945-1946) but he instead received a 20 year sentence for which he should have been more grateful than ever he was.  In 1965, he was found to be suffering a detached retina and, after some objections from the Soviets, he was sent to the British military hospital in Berlin for surgery.  While under guard in his room on the second floor, the guards noticed movement in the tree next to the window and upon investigation, found a woman climbing the trunk.  She said he name was Karin Stein and told her interrogators she’d had always been “desperately in love” with their prisoner and had for years been sending him letters, cards and flowers (none of which he’d ever been allowed to receive).  She was escorted from the hospital and released but later returned, disguised as a nurse and managed to reach the door to his room before being stopped.  This hybristophile was a good stalker and turned up outside Spandau Prison when, at the stroke of midnight, he was released on 1 October 1966.  She would haunt him for some years.

“Sexy Sadie” mug shot, 1969.

Other notorious criminals who have married while serving long sentences include (1) Charles Manson (1934-2017) who at the age of 80 married the 26 year old who administered his social media sites; (2) Masson family member Susan “Sexy Sadie” Atkins (1948–2009) who in 1981 married someone who had convinced her was a multi-millionaire (she had the marriage annulled when she learned he was poor and had 35 prior marriages) before in 1987 marrying a law student to whom she remained married until her death; (3) Manson family member Charles Denton "Tex" Watson (b 1945) who, after becoming a born again Christian in 1975, married an admirer in 1979 and became an ordained minister, going on to father four children before the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation banned conjugal visits for those serving life sentences (the couple divorced in 2003); (4) In custody, confessed serial killer, rapist and necrophile, Ted Bundy (1946-1989) married a twice-divorced mother of two who'd dated him before his arrest and in 1982 she gave birth to a daughter in 1982, naming Bundy as the father; (5) Serial killer Richard Ramirez (1960–2013, dubbed “The Night Stalker” by the press) received his death sentence for, inter alia, 13 murders, five attempted murders and 11 sexual assaults. Seven years into his time on death row, he married a freelance magazine editor who had been in correspondence with him for some years, telling CNN in 1997: “He's kind, he's funny, he's charming, I just believe in him completely.  In my opinion, there was far more evidence to convict O.J. Simpson, and we all know how that turned out."  (6) Both the  Menendez brothers (Lyle (b 1968) & Erik (born 1970), the pair now back in the news) attracted hybristophiles.  Lyle married twice, firstly to a former model (who divorced him after she found out he was writing to another woman) and subsequently to a magazine editor who has since become an attorney although tabloid revelations that about Lyle leading a “double life” in prison as a gay man can’t have made for marital bliss.  Erik married just the once and the couple are still together; (7) There is also apparently (although undocumented) the condition “hybristophile rebound”: serial killer, kidnapper, and rapist Kenneth Bianchi (b 1951) married a woman with whom he’d been corresponding; earlier she had tried woo Ted Bundy before focusing her sights on Bianchi.

Brian Thompson (1974–2024; chief executive officer (CEO) of UnitedHealthcare 2021-2024, left) and Free Luigi hoodie from Chill Guy (right).

Hybristophilia need not of necessity be a matter of sexual attraction although it’s those cases which attract the most publicity.  Somewhat different is the widespread acclaim expressed towards Luigi Mangione (b 1998) who stands accused of the execution-style murder of Brian Thompson.  Mr Thompson was CEO of a health insurance company which had become notorious for its practices of “deny, delay & defend” (there are alliterative variations to that string) to avoid paying out against claims and the popularity of Mr Mangione is more a case of becoming a “folk hero” with his alleged victim being emblematic of corporate greed and the misuse of power in the US.  Still, it’s inevitable Mr Mangione will attract proposals of marriage; even among those not drawn to his single-handed attack on the excesses of capitalism, some will have noted his good-looking mug shot.  Not even 24 hours passed between the news of Mr Mangione’s arrest and the appearance on-line of “Free Luigi” merchandise.

Mr Ghosn (left) and Mr Putin (Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; b 1952; president or prime minister of Russia since 1999, right), the Kremlin, Moscow, 2006.

Another who became an instant folk hero (among certain groups) was the Brazilian born Carlos Ghosn (b 1954) of Lebanese descent.  While in Japan serving as CEO of Nissan and chairman of Mitsubishi Motors, Mr Ghosn was arrested on suspicion of financial misconduct at Nissan involving millions of dollars and, possibly noting the 99% conviction rate of the famously efficient Japanese criminal justice system, while under house arrest awaiting trial, he arranged to have himself enclosed in a large freight box which was flown out of the country on a private jet.  Upon landing at Lebanon’s Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport, the fugitive was greeted by cheering crowds, a reaction which played into the prejudices many hold about the Lebanese national character.  There is no extradition treaty between Japan and Lebanon.