Exiting high school is often recognized as the start to a person's future. The decision a student makes, when they're eighteen is perceived as defining their future life. Thus, every person who graduated from high school with me had a different story, with different social connotations. To start, there's a valedictorian. Accepted to a four year university, STEM major, athlete. Next, top 20%. Again, four year university, majoring in Communications and Journalism. After that, community college art major. Finally, two months after graduation, a mother, unmarried, no plans to go to college.
These are all short archetypes of my friends, and they all have things to say about each other. Or rather, the people at the top of the list have a lot to say about the people near the end, particularly the last I mentioned. When they speak of her, they do so sadly, and say things like, "she's wasting her youth", "throwing her life away". Another thing to note about my friends, at least in the upper half consider themselves to be feminists. The ones, like me, who went to four universities, view ourselves as empowered women. The STEM majors are entering male dominated fields, and all of us intend to support ourselves. We see ourselves as in charge of our lives, and in a way it bothers me that the standard for being empowered is so based on cultural norms.
Throughout society, there's a stigma that certain roles have less value, or require less skill. For example, when I was younger, I couldn't understand why my mother, a mechanical engineer, decided to quit her job to be a housewife. Part of this stems from the conceptualization of women having less value in society historically, and subsequently, things associated with women (motherhood, being a housewife, ect) are associated with oppression. I've seen my friends post articles about how marriage is not an accomplishment compared to a higher education.
Inherently, this flies in the face of what they are trying to accomplish. To be a feminist, and to seak gender equality is a noble goal. However, the concept of being discouraged from pursuing a particular path works both ways. My friend chose to become a mother, something which many people, including myself, don't have the gumption or skill to do. It was not an act of oppression, but one of love, and of free will. To belittle this choice does not forward gender equality, and it diminishes the fact that raising a child, moreover, raising a child well, is an incredible asset to society.
Moving up, they speak a little better about the art major. "At least she's going to school." However, "How does she think she's going to support herself when she graduates?"
In a technical school, this sentiment is echoed by almost every person I've talked to. Even professors openly make fun of other majors for their lack of challenge and usefulness. At the most extreme, one of my friends asked me if I considered getting a degree in art is a real college degree.
The myth that majoring in art, literature, or some other "liberal art" has no value is untrue. To stratify a engineering or science career above a liberal arts or social sciences career is to ignore the fact technical professionals use the services of people who design music, album covers, movie sets, clothes, write political news, produce novels every day. Their children use the services of high school counselors, history majors, and English majors.
The problem with elitism is its ignorance of the contributions and value of others. It is perfectly acceptable to cultivate pride in individual accomplishments, however it is not necessary to degrade others to validify the importance of that accomplishment. Elitism discounts people who are also creating useful aspects of society, and it discourages them from producing their ideas.
