This past week there has been a lot of discussion on the various groups and forums about an all too common stigma surrounding peerage: That you should never express your opinions about it, whether you want it or not.
Even though at the time of writing this my highest award has been my Cavendish Knot, I still feel like it’s worth to give my own experience on the matter.
When I first found out about peerage, I was fascinated by it. Even though it’s many years away, I do hope one day to reach a level of experience where I am honored with peerage(s). But the first piece of advice many people gave me was that the sure fire way to never get made a peer is to tell people you want to be one. And yet the existence of squires, provosts, apprentices, etc seem to contradict that idea.
For my first few years in the SCA, I was in a perpetual fear of being blacklisted because I was too vocal about my goals. I was afraid to interact with peers, who are supposed to be the people you can go to in the SCA, because that philosophy created an air of an elite club that you need to eggshell around if you’re not one of them.
Some of the best wisdom I’ve received on this subject is that you can strive to be a peer, but as a goal for your own improvement and betterment of the society, not just for the fancy title. And I think that’s where this stigma came from, that the people who are vocal about peerage are in it for the wrong reasons. That the people who proclaim it as their goal see it as the finish line. Because peerage is not the end, it’s a job. You’re expected to become a pillar of the Society when you take that vow, to better your field and instruct others so that the Society may continue. But you can strive for greatness and to become that pillar without having to be silent about it.
Another good piece of wisdom came from Dr. Henry Best: A peerage doesn’t make you a peer, it recognizes you as the one you already are. Getting a peerage doesn’t make you a teacher, a role model, or an expert in your field, it just lets everybody know that’s the kind of person you naturally are.
So for me, I’ll be doing my thing just the way I enjoy it and want to do it. I will improve my craft and offer guidance and service, working not towards the goal of being a peer, but striving to be the kind of exemplary person that a peer should be.
Secondary Thought: What makes a Peer?
A secondary branch of this discussion continued to ask: What is is it that makes a peer? Obviously there are many qualities, but what is it that sets a peer apart from an an expecially skilled or devoted person? Is it more important to have prowess in your craft, or to be a devoted servant of the realm and to the Society, or is it mostly personality? In my opinion, all of these are the legs you must stand on in order to reach that peerage, but they don’t require the same amount of weight. You should be have prowess in a particular field, AND be a devoted servant of the realm, AND be a good person. But they don’t necessarily have to be in the same amount, or have one outweigh the others in a specific way.
I was once told that a peer is someone that if they suddenly disappeared, there’d be a void that couldn’t be instantly filled by others picking up the slack. Maybe that’s because you were the top expert in bead making, maybe it’s because you’ve been coordinating events across multiple regions, or maybe it’s because you made the kingdom a safer and more welcoming place to be. It is true that you need all of those aspects in beyonf the norm, and prowess is needed to gain the attention of the peers for your consideration to begin, but you don’t have the be the exemplar of everything.
A peer is a pillar, but not necessarily the cornerstone.
Angist Arts 
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