not that university is the answer to everything, but with all this talk about gwen being peter’s intellectual equal (thus taking a jab at mary jane for not being so, since she’s an actress and a model — and we all know the misconceptions we have when it comes to those people’s intellect) since tasm started filming, i think people are forgetting that mj has 2 college degrees? anyone that’s been to college knows how hard it is to get one, let alone two. so.
#HER SECOND ONE IS PSYCHOLOGY BUT I DON’T THINK THE FIRST WAS EVER MENTIONED? #OR MAYBE I JUST MISSED IT
I completely, 100% endorse the sentiment here, but for the sake of accuracy and clarifying an extremely muddy stretch of continuity, MJ never completed her second degree, and may not have completed her first one, either.
For the first degree, there’s… not a lot of detail. We know she went to ESU, but it’s not clear what year she was in relation to Peter, Gwen, Flash and Harry, nor what she studied. In “A Chemical Romance,” a retrospective story from 2008, she refers to taking a drama class, but that doesn’t mean she was a drama major (even though that’s the most likely). After she was injured by Harry’s bomb in ASM #136, she takes at least a semester off (according to a scene in #141 where she talks about it with Peter).
She seems to be back in school by #151, but I don’t think her graduation is ever mentioned. It would have had to be after #185, when Peter was supposed to graduate, but she moves to Florida after one last appearance in #201, where she doesn’t mention her coursework but does mention working at a place called Studio 52. (Which isn’t to say she couldn’t be studying and working, of course.) But if we make the generous assumption that Marvel chronology makes any kind of sense, she either transferred to another school and finished her degree in Florida, or simply dropped out and entered the workforce.
MJ decided to go back to school to get a psychology degree in #419, and decided to drop out and return to modelling in Sensational Spider-Man #33.
So she either has one bachelor’s degree or none, but has made a run(a)way success of herself anyway. Given that Peter somehow twice landed prestigious think tank jobs without completing a master’s degree, and also taught high school for a while without any education qualifications, she’s in pretty good company. Or maybe he is.
thanks for the correction! i wasn’t sure about her finishing her second one (one day i’ll finish reading every comic available, i swear), but i think the marvel wiki (or am i thinking of some other place?) has her listed as a college graduate, and i think they mentioned she graduated before going to florida? but that could very well be someone just being generous.
but, graduate or not, the point still stands. :)
No prob! It’s very possible I missed a reference somewhere and MJ did graduate the first time around. I did check some of her biographies online but the ones that mention her college career(s) tend not to cite specific issues, which makes it tricky to pin down that kind of minor detail. Though the Marvel Universe wiki doesn’t say anything about her graduating as of a few minutes ago.
Absolutely. :) She’s a self-made woman, and while she may not have Gwen’s book smarts, she’s obviously intelligent, dedicated, and hard-working. So who cares how many degrees she has, right?
For whatever it’s worth, I just finished Marvel’s official “Women of Marvel Handbook” and it lists MJ’s education as “high school graduate, college studies (psychology major, incomplete)”, in line with what Skalja said.
But the handbook is…not fun when it comes to a “who’s whose intellectual equal” debate because the intelligence bars can be frustratingly inconsistent and vague. Higher rankings aren’t restricted to characters with higher educations, fortunately, but when the characters have such different experiences, talents, and skill sets, I’m like “forget this” to a lot of Marvel’s official stats. (Like, when the Marvel U has a number of dude “super genius” characters like Peter, Reed, Tony, Doom, etc. and the most intelligent female character by far is a small child—Valeria Richards—well, that looks fucked up.)
(via fuckyeahspiderwife)
![elliottmarshal:
[Image description: Mary Jane Watson and Gwen Stacy dance under disco balls. Behind them we see various people sitting at little tables, like in a dance club, watching them and smiling. At the closest table on the left hand side, we see Peter Parker who looks on with a dreamy expression.]
By Steve Rude](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lmn7g4Ynvw1qcu5qro1_250.jpg)