I belive this phenomenon comes from the fact that for certain people, the "artiste" is a superior human being. Someone who belongs to a special caste. So they don't want to let you come through with it untested. Envious.
for certain people, the "artiste" is a superior human being
Ha. Yeah, those people are confused young women and other artists.
Someone who belongs to a special caste.
Most other people (parents, employers, non-confused women) do consider artists to belong to a special caste: the financially destitute, irresponsible "untouchable" caste.
Spoken from experience as an artist.
To answer the OP, I say programmer when asked by most people, "artist" when asked by confused young women.
I think most people don't consider artists are superior, but everybody tends to ask these questions. I think it's more a need to fit people into categories.
