It's interesting you say this. As you know, I've stayed subbed to a list for techwriters because observing their response to the dot.bomb was an interesting adjunct to my research has been on downsizing and unemployment among professionals/managers.
Recently, I tuned in to their discussions again. Not much had changed: there is a continual war between two groups, The Font Fondlers and the Technophiliacs.
The Font Fondlers say that being a professional is about serving the users, understanding what they need, and fighting mgmt for an appreciation of the needs of users as integral to product and company success.
The Technophiliacs think being a professional is about demonstrating your technological competence (you can write code, that you understand how the technology works (not just parrot a SME), etc), AND understanding the demands of the business world.
In both cases, though, the issue is about how TW should go about securing professional respect and better pay. The concern for users is genuine, but it is interesting the way that concern is framed: it is always also about ensuring that techwriters get more respect for their work _as_ professionals who base their decisions on what they claim is objective knowledge about what users need.
The difference is who they blame if techwriters aren't getting respect from mgmt and SMEs. The Font Fondlers blame mgmt for putting profit ahead of users. The Technophiliacs blame the Font Fondlers.
The Technophiliacs say that the Font Fondlers are using their supposed concern for users as a cover for whining about their situation, and that's just unprofessional! If the Font Fondlers had any self-respect, they'd suck it up, realize they were fighting a losing battle, and it's stupid hill to die on anyway because why identify with (l)users since all this stuff about usability is just smoke and mirrors dreamed up by wackademics who don't understand the dictates of the bidneth.
Besides, if it's so unbearable at your job, say the Tehcnophiliacs, then quite whining about your job and go out and get one that is more in line with your sacred values. Clearly, you must be attached to whining and being a failure and feeling unloved at your job; otherwise, you'd get a better one.
Complaining about your job to the group is just a sign that you're a loser. The Technophiliacs maintain that they don't whine. There's a reason for that, say the Technophiliacs: We are skilled and successful. It's you, the failures and whiners unhappy with your job, who clearly aren't skilled and successful. (Talk about the secularization of Calvinism!)
Someone on the list even articulated this _very_ clearly. He basically said that people who complain about the conditions at work, poor treatment at the hands of mgmt, having to use the wrong tools/fonts/style guides for the job, etc. are the "Rodney Dangerfields" of techwriting. The rest of the people who don't complain either don't have those issues (they don't really exist) or if they do, then they know how to shrug it off and get on with the important things in life.
No one complained about the way he'd cast this divide. People jumped on his bandwagon, supporting him. NO ONE disagreed with him publicly, or pointed out what enjoyment they were getting out of feeling superior, etc. This is unusual because it's not the first time this accusation has been made, this guy was especially insulting and obvious about it, and yet no one dared complained. Discipline and Punish.
The Technophiliacs successfully blamed and disciplined those who dared point out anything that might be wrong at at _organizational_ level, turning the issue into one of individual personalities that could either cope or not, who were either successful and chipper worker bees or were not.
Kelley