The oxford dictionary defines the word ‘Profess’ as
to ‘claim that one has (a quality or feeling), especially when this is not the case.’
And from the word Profess comes Professional and Professor
Then what does it mean to be a Professional or a professor. I’ve always found titles to be empty and restrictive. Titles like musician, animator, designer, artist, writer, etc. claim to create a certain identity of the person through a popular notion of others doing the same thing. In my design college there was a popular, invisible notion that ’animators’ have to be ‘animated’ all the time, quirky, funny, loud, like out of a Disney movie. When I see folks in the fine arts at times I see how heavily the notion of being different in attire, in looks, in thoughts, bears upon them.
I was recently asked if I was a comic artist by an acquaintance. Yes I made a couple of tiny comics, but I am not a comic artist I conveyed. As a human being I feel we do certain things that interest us or we are inclined to at certain points in life, I illustrate, animate, make films, write, alongside the myriad activities in life. I cook, read, blog, bike, play the guitar, clean my room, etc. too. But to say that the thing I do should define my identity takes away the power of my identity and its intrinsic need to manifest through the actions it does. The titles and ensuing expectations reduce the complex individual identities to an easily digestible, understandable, marketable product on the racks of its consumers.