Major shaming is when an individual is negative towards others’ field of study. There is no doubt that each major has its complications. Dance majors have to practice all of the time, Musical Theatre majors have rehearsals almost every day of the week, and Communications students are always editing or writing something. But, there are times that when students are comparing majors, they discredit all of the work that other students do if they are in a different department. It’s almost as if being busy is a competition and the one with the most work wins.
I believe there are two kinds of major shaming. The first is when someone does not give a certain major the credit that it deserves. For example, if a Nursing student told a Musical Theatre major that their major is harder, that would be major shaming. Where nursing requires a ton of critical thinking, the arts is based on creativity and constant practice.
The second type of major shaming is when someone says “You will never get a job”. That not only discredits the work that student does and enjoys to do, but that lowers their confidence as well. If someone is passionate and good at what they do, then they will be able to get a job. There are several fields where jobs don’t come easy, so why tell someone that they will never obtain a job?
If we put it in perspective that each major is equally hard, this would make major shaming less likely to happen. People’s schedules vary and just because they do not rehearse sixty hours a week or edit videos until their eyes burn, does not mean that they do not work hard.