It’s something that a lot of us hear – or dread hearing – when we’re starting off in university. “What are you going to do with a useless degree like that?” Some variation of this question will be said, whether it’s by a friend, a family member, or even a perfect stranger who decided that they knew better about your future than you do.
Here’s the thing about academia – all degrees have value, but the amount it’s worth is always going to be up to you. Did you go into your university career with a different major than you have now? I did. This degree was less lucrative, less “useful” than my previous major would have been. But I excelled in the classes, and I enjoyed them, which was not what I was doing in my previous program.
The experience you have while you’re studying at the undergraduate, or even graduate, level does not just have to extend to coursework, but to other things as well. Did you make new friends? Did you uncover an interest you might have not otherwise known about had you not taken that class? Did you overcome a fear? Did you read more books than you ever thought possible? Did you learn something new about yourself? Did you have fun? Did you laugh? Do you have a professor who will stand out in your mind forever because of their literal catchphrase? (Mine was a Medieval professor who started every first day of class with: “There is no use of the F-word in my class! You can fuck all you want, but noooooooooooo feudalism!” – I had him for three different Medieval courses and looked forward to the reactions every single time.)
Your program is there to help you learn and become a better scholar, but it is also to help you grow as a person. To me, there is no such thing as a useless degree – I get more out of my degrees than most people would expect. Do I need to indicate that I have a Creative Writing degree on my CV for my museum work? No, but I claimed it as a double major because I wanted to do it for my own enrichment, my own enjoyment, and if you’re doing something that makes you feel good, then it’s not useless.
If you have fun, your degree is worthwhile.
If you’ve made friends, your degree is worthwhile.
If you have memories you’ll never forget, your degree is worthwhile.
If you learned anything during your program, your degree is worthwhile.
If you found yourself during your program, your degree is worthwhile.
Remember, there is no such thing as a “useless” degree. If you’re enjoying it, if you love it, and you’re studying it because you want to, that’s more than enough for your degree to be worthwhile. Let no one stop you from doing what you love.
This isnt a hot take but feminism which centers around periods/vaginas/boobs as Things Which Unite All Women is an untrustworthy brand of feminism
slogans like “no pussy no power” “viva la vulva” “not an ovary-action” etc as stand-ins for “i support women” are more damaging than yall think bc centering ur feminism around things which only cis women experience a) alienates trans women who dont experience them, b) is harmful to ppl who DO experience them but arent women, & c) furthers the mentality that gender = genitals/trans women dont really have a place fighting for womens rights. none of that is as progressive as yall think holding up a sign with a vagina on it is, same goes 4 writing that shit on pads. not every woman has a vagina & not everyone with a vagina is a woman, and feminism which marginalizes entire subsets of us for the sake of a catchy slogan isnt good feminism
Reducing women down to body parts, especially genitalia, is misogynistic.
It’s one thing to challenge stigmas around things like the vulva and menstruation, but when your feminism ties those things to women-hood, it is reductive at best, and inherently exclusionary.
This also alienates cis women who do not have the same body structure as others… women who have experienced mastectomies, histerectomies, etc… Identity shouldn’t have so much to do with the physical body in that way.
べんきょうしなければならない 