Page "Amateur" Paragraph 4

The stigmatization of amateurs as fools for contributing to society simply for the love of it can be explained by the amateur ’ s non-conformity to the ideological structure of consumption ( Goffman, 1963 ; Stebbins, 1992 ).

Amateurs are serious about the work they do, providing outstanding examples of contributions to society ( Stebbins, 1992 ).

But whereas professionals obtain licenses as their “ measurability of the excellence of service provided ” ( Stebbins, 1992, p. 21 ), amateurs break taboos by loving their work and not passing standardized tests.

From here, it can be argued that, to the extent amateurs threaten the professional industry by providing free services, the professional industry has an interest in making its counterpart amateur activity shameful.