My [34, F] father is a medical doctor, mother doesn’t work and has never felt she had to or desired a career. I work in cybersecurity, have a master’s degree, am pursuing a PhD, and have written several books/produced several films.
…yet my mother insists because I’m not a doctor (and will never be a “real” doctor, according to her elitist logic that even dentists and PhDs aren’t real doctors), I must completely assume my male spouse’s identity. Even when trying to persuade my in-laws that I was “worth it”, her only reasoning was “Her father’s a physician!” Never mind that I used to want to go into medicine in adolescence, and both parents insisted I didn’t have the necessary intelligence or discipline.
Not that it’s particularly relevant, but my spouse has no desire to pursue a doctorate, so it’s not as if I’d have the collective “honorific” of “Dr. and Mrs.” like my mother does.
Just peak elitism. I can’t stand this notion that excessive education and certain super-hard-to-obtain professions are the only things that make a person worth it.