As I said, it's complex. And I understand that some highly-specialized awards can be personally meaningful: when asked which of my awards matter most to me, I often list the FF, GS and RS -- the Felding Favor, Gingersnap and Rampant Squirrel, which were given to me by various boroughs over the years for help I gave to them.
But the whole fencing-peerage thing puts my teeth on edge because it illustrates the tendencies I most dislike: the way we create ever-greater specialization instead of finding ways to be more welcoming in the existing structure. As you say, YMMV, but it makes me sad that we've reached a point where this seems to be the only viable answer...
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But the whole fencing-peerage thing puts my teeth on edge because it illustrates the tendencies I most dislike: the way we create ever-greater specialization instead of finding ways to be more welcoming in the existing structure. As you say, YMMV, but it makes me sad that we've reached a point where this seems to be the only viable answer...