#47 Arts Degrees
February 1, 2008 by clander
When white people go away to college, they tend to study what are knowns as the Arts. This includes actual Art, English, History, Classics, and Philosophy. These can of course be broken down further into Film, Womyn’s Studies (yes the spelling is correct), Communications, Gender Studies, and so forth. It is important to note that a high percentage of white people also get degrees in Political Science, which is pretty much like arts, and only seems to have the word “science” in it to make white people feel better about themselves.
These degrees enable white people to spend four yeas of their lives reading books, writing papers and feeling great about themselves. It is a known fact that Arts students firmly believe that they are doing you/society a favor by not getting a job and reading Proust. They use this to protest for reduced tuition, more money for the arts, and special reduced student rates on things like bus passes.
But what about the white people who study Science, Engineering or Business? Unless they become doctors, they essentially lose white person status (and can only be regained by working at a non-profit).
So why would white people spend all that time studying and working to get into college if they are just going to read books that they might have read in their free time? Because white people have it made. They can take that degree and easily parlay it into a non profit job, an art gallery job, or work in publishing. If the pay is low, no problem, their parents will happily help out with rent until they magically start making six figures or non-magically turn 40.
White people can also take that degree and go to graduate school (future post) and eventually become a professor or adjunct professor where they will still require parental support.
If they are REALLY ambitious and need to make money, they can take that degree and go to Law School.
But the real reason white people need these degrees is so that they can sound smart at parties. Of course it trickles down to making connections, getting hired, knowing rich people, and so forth. But ultimately it all begins by saying “reading Henry James was the most rewarding part of undergrad.”
Using this to your advantage can be very difficult as attempts to talk about the books they skimmed while hungover can expose you. It is best to say that you were a first generation college student and your parents demanded that you study math, chemistry, economics or computer science. You had to read Joyce on your own.
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I am so white, but it looks like I lost my status through my science degree AND my disdain of art majors. Go me!
I have no money, my family are working class. I just finished an art degree.
So most of the shit in that blog is untrue and far too general. I don’t have it easy and now that I need to find a job in the arts I still won’t have it easy.
I studied art because I like it. And because I could spend 3 years learning more about it and the skills I need to find a career in art.
Maybe it differs here, being in England. But I don’t suppose it differs too much. People still study things because they like the subject or because it’s something they’re good at.
Liberal Arts degrees are what rich girls with rich parents do to keep their daughters occupied so they can “find themselves”. It doesn’t matter really if they get a job (if they do its part time and a retail job)because going to Florence on mom and dad’s cheque, living in the chicest apartment with a bisexual roomate and shopping in “vintage stores” and american apparel are ways for her to “enjoy her youth and become acultured citified adult”. Top that with non stop author quoting, a 800 dollar DSLR camera and saying you love John Coltrane over and over again and I’m sorry but I’m ready to kick the crap out of you you little bitch.
Actually youre parents are just hoping you find a husband so they can strip looking after you and you horrible “inde” fashion sense ass that emabrasses them when granny comes over.
You try so hard to be different. You think you are so cool with your electro house music blasting and your crappy bicycle. You are just like every other frikken wanna be. I know you secretly study vice magzine in your room at night. You just automatically say Barak Obama is cool cuz “he’s about change”. You suck. I hate you.
You laugh at me when i talk about going to college for a business diploma. “oh thats boring”. I fucking paid for it myslef bitch. Oh and my boyfriend actually looks like man and not some pink fluorescent hatted skate boarder white trash ironic fake dj.
ugghhh…
Wow, that’s some serious hatred. Death to whitey!
wow, who ever wrote that is very ignorant and must be a racist who has nothing better to do then to insult people that are different.
It just occurred to me that white people, which I suppose includes “somechick” as well as her nemesis “bitch,” like plain trash talking full of hate about that which they are not.
I would highly recommend you stop eating that pizza, get your pelvis off the couch, go out to get a life. I am sure you earned a job with your business degree, the question is when and how you are going to earn a life?
m
#1 I am not “white” in the classical sense you implying. If you include a brownskinned sephardic jew as white…
#2 I have earned a job with my business degree, and I have a very fulfilling life thankyou very much.
What’s wrong with venting my opinions? Unlike the the tightlipped witeys like you out there always being offended and such…, i feel more than happy to express my disdain for others. Who’s stopping me.
I happily get my ass of the couch everyday and enjoy a healthy diet which doesn’t really include copious amounts of pizza and refined garbage.
I don’t have to be a vegan, global warming, Feist wannabe chick to gain approval in my community. In fact I laugh in the face of those that try so hard to be different when in fact everythingthat they do to set themselves apart is really their attempt and follingwhat’s trendy and in style at the moment.
I have no problem and feel no ardour in expressing my opinions.
Thankyou very much for your concerns on my well being.
Somechick –
No you are not white. You are a Jew and it fits your personality because Jews love feeling morally superior to everyone. You even said it yourself:
“i feel more than happy to express my disdain for others”
what the fuck, matt?
somechick is absolutely right in the way she describes this type of ‘cool US arts degree white girl in europe’.
it is kind of annoying if people studying something so utterly useless look down on her for getting a business degree.
most of these people don’t know what a fulfilled life is, just like ‘middlegray’:
“I am sure you earned a job with your business degree, the question is when and how you are going to earn a life?”
as if a great taste in music, art or clothes makes your life more meaningful, or a business degree somehow prevents it from being so.
What’s wrong with expressing my opinion? You choose to get offended, not me.
Calm down.
Remember, assholes come in both sexes, but both sexes don’t come in assholes.
(continuation)
However, now an undergrad degree has become a basic requirement for most entry-level white-collar jobs (positions that once only required a HS diploma). In fact, it has been my experience that companies prefer to hire and train college grads with math/science/engineering background for non-tech positions because of the perceived higher value of such degrees. The exception seems to be Ivy League graduates. Yet an undergrad science major from a state school appears to have better career prospects that a humanities major from an elite university who does not have wealthy parents, connections or the means to attend grad school.
The situation is especially difficult for students of low socioeconomic status who need to financially support their parents. Since immigrants and divorced/single working mothers oftentimes live in precarious financial straits, their children feel the added responsibility earning enough to support their loved ones. Attending grad school is not always a given because they might not be able to move back to live rent-free but rather move in to help pay for rent. Loss of that added income could jeopardize their younger siblings from finishing college as well. Working for well-meaning but low-paying nonprofits unfortunately would not be a smart (or caring) option for their loved ones.
Children from upper middle class families typically do not have this concern in the back of their head. It is more a leap-of-faith vs practical decision to make (“do what you love” vs “do what makes most money”). Moving out on your own is a rite of passage, and moving back home to save money for grad school is an available option.
Which brings me to the danger of promoting a liberal arts degree to everyone (keeping in mind that this blog is entirely tongue-in-cheek, just using this post as a springboard for discussion). Not everyone who attends college (even elite Northeast institutions) come from the same background. So “studying what you love” is not always practical or financially responsible.
It is also misleading from universities to promote liberal arts without acknowledging the rapidly changing nature of the global economy today. Multinational corporations want graduates who bring something to the table other than “critical thinking skills and ability to write” (vaunted advantages of liberal arts degrees). Graduates with specialized degrees can more easily hire a tutor to help them polish their presentation and writing skills in their spare time than humanities majors can do lab work on their own (without significant outlay of resources, never mind accreditation, etc). Corporations know this – therefore an undergrad degree in the sciences essentially carries greater overhead value than humanities (cost of labs vs libraries).
Even nonprofits prefer engineering/sciences/business majors. Third World countries are in dire need of doctors, engineers, etc. who can provide low-cost support to build their infrastructure, teach and pass on these skills to their youth, and so on. I think students who want to work for international non-government organizations like the UN should ask themselves: “What do poor countries need? How can I best serve their needs? How can I use my $100,000+ education to acquire the skills that are most in demand in that country and teach these subjects to train the next generation there?” If someone is willing to forgo a high-paying job to make a difference at a nonprofit, then he/she would be helping the most by addressing an urgent need.
I think a happy combination of the “study what you love” vs “study what is practical” debate is evaluating what you are good (and can reasonably enjoy doing on a regular basis) and how you can use that skill to help others. Others could be your own family (if you are poor) or indigent people from other countries or even your own neighborhood (if your parents/sibling are self-sufficient). In this way you can effectively serve by using your education as a tool to help others in practical ways (and avoid being a financial burden to others).
Just some thoughts to share…
Great post
This post is hilarious because it rings so true!
Setting aside the satire, I think it does reveal something liberal arts degrees. Namely, in an ideal world studying something that you love without regard to career or salary prospects seems to fulfill the lofty goal of higher education. However, keep in mind that only the privileged elite were able to send their sons (women were banned from the Ivys until the 1960s) to the university.
Because of their wealth, social status and connections, these students essentially had it made in terms of maintaining their lifestyle. In other words, it did not matter what they studied as an undergrad because either a) they could afford to go to grad school; or b) they would go straight into the family business or a cushy job on Wall St. with on-the-job training. What mattered was that they could speak and write in the language of the ruling class (proper etiquette, grammar, accent, etc). Some passing knowledge of art, literature, etc. would also be useful at cocktail functions so as to maintain the nonchalantly well-rounded persona required in these social situations.
Exactly!
Something common to the very white literary people I know is to use photos of writers as their computer and cell phone wallpapers. This way, when someone asks if the photo is of your mother/father/grandparent, you can snort and say, “That’s Mikhail Bulgakov/Carson McCullers; the WRITER” as snottily as possible.
whoaa, that’s awful.
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the whitest of the white? writing a blog.
name me all the famous chemists/engineers you can. now name all the famous authors you can.
when did chemistry/math become something other than white? the kids that read books still beat up the kids that are good at math.
lol what? you don’t understand which kind of people this blog is about.
I think the O-Man’s been here stealing all of our secrets.
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