This weekend I was shopping at Old Orchard with my mom and my sister. As we were shopping, I saw a couple of younger girls I used to babysit sitting on a bench nearby in the store. I walked up to them, asked them how they were and what they were up to. One responded by saying "Just people watching, waiting for my mom to come pick us up." These girls sat there holding their coach purses, wearing uggs, and designer jeans (they are in sixth grade). As I was talking to one of the girls about where she was going for spring break, another one of the girls whispered, "Look at that girl, that's totally a fake chanel purse and those are fake uggs!" Then the girls shot her a dirty look, rolled their eyes and continued talking. My jaw dropped open! I disgusted by the way the girls that used to be so cute an innocent, were so rude! I asked if they knew the girl that they had just made fun of, and they said they didn't. I was shocked at how incredibly judgmental they were. They had no idea who she was, and never had a conversation with her in their lives, yet they were passing judgments already based on what she was wearing. I said goodbye and told the girls to have a nice spring break although I wanted to wash their mouths out with soap...
This really made me think about how people are perceived in the world. Even though we like to think not, are people truly judged based off of what they look like and what they wear?
Then I started thinking about when my friend got the initials of his father (who passed away) tattooed on his arm. His mother threw a fit and said that he would never get a job with that on his body. I wondered, can people look past physical appearance to who the person really is? If two men interviewed for a job and one was better qualified than the other, but had a tattoo on his arm or didn't dress as nice as the other one, who would get the job?
Is judging people by their appearance inevitable?
5 comments:
I totally agree with the title of your post, "don't judge a book by it's cover." I think that in our society too many people judge others on appearance. In our school girls will spend all their time and money on getting the newest clothes to fit the newest trends because they only think about what others think of them. We judge people from our school, from other schools, and people we have never met before. Its disgusting.
Andrea aren't you doing the exact same thing by judging the girls for wearing the uggs and having the nice purses? Good post, but you kind of raise the question when is it appropiate to judge. Because you all you shouldnt judge a book by its cover, you do save tons of time, cause reading sucks
I think that it is almost impossible not too judge people. The society we have grown up in has instilled certain ideas and themes in us. Today, I am constantly judging others around me. It's as if I can't even help it. I was thinking about obscure times where I judge people and the first example is on the lacrosse field. When I see another player, I immediately size him up based on his gear. I look at his helmet, does he have customized gloves, a nice stick, flashy cleats. As horrible as it is, I think we are all locked in to a world of judgement.
I think that that the stereotypes that we associate with tattoos (for the tattoo example) hinder people from looking beyond it
Andrea- I completely agree with you here. I see girls like this all the time around Wilmette and at the various malls. These are people's little sisters and what not. My neighbor happens to be in sixth grade and she got an iPod at age 7 or 8, got a cell phone at the beginning of 6th grade and pretty much whatever she wants she gets. I am absolutely astounded by how horribly these girls behave. I have to say that yes, depending on how people look they may or may not be hired for a job. People with tattoo's are not always as trusted and are generally hired less than those without. It is hard to admit this, and very sad, but it is completely true with our society. I have to admit that I am also one of those people who does things like that but I definitely try to limit how much I do it. I can not believe how visually based our society has become.
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