Archimedes

My mother in law is a very successful person who rose to power in her field by being abrasive and blunt. She treated her children like robots, teaching them to be prim and proper and has made them all to believe that they are a failure unless they get multiple degrees, and find jobs that pay well past $150,000 a year. Anything else they would hear that they're a failure. She is cold, distant, never says "I love you" to her kids, and her husband kind of just follows her lead with his tail between his legs. 

I grew up the exact opposite, parents who always said "I love you", promoted their children being happy and make sure they know they are very proud of us no matter what we do. I'm a teacher, I work extremely hard to have a positive impact in the lives that I teach...but this is never good enough for my MIL, and never will be. She has never approved of me, and never will. She typically acts like I'm not there when I'm around, and if she does acknowledge me it's condescending remarks about my profession. I actually have a Master's, but clearly I got it in something that doesn't pay well enough!

I'm at the point where I can't take being around her any more, it's too toxic of a situation for me too deal with. I don't feel it is fair to me to be treated like I'm not there or treated like crap. My wife is never going to stand up to her, even admitting that when we have talked about how she treats me. What is a good way to approach this? Is there a good way to approach this?