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| Yes | 26% | 10 votes | Total: 39 votes | |
| No | 74% | 29 votes |
Yes
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Add to FavoritesThe fact of the matter is that people are judged by their appearance. The question then becomes is the person doing the judging intelligent enough to dig a little deeper and find out who this person actually is.
Society as a whole makes these snap decisions based on stereotypes. Stereotypes are there because enough people in a particular group act in a certain way that a pattern is formed. This is both a good and a bad thing. I will use myself as an example of this fact.
It occurred to me some years ago that I was the person that parents warn their children about. I am just under 6 feet tall, weigh about 185 and have a shaved head. Just for the record my head is shaved because mother nature decided I didn't need all my hair, not as a fashion statement. I have more than 60 % of my body covered in tattoos. I have spent the better part of 2 decades learning martial arts. More or less if me and another person meet in an alley, I am the scarier of the two. By making a snap judgement, people would assume I am a skinhead or a criminal. They could be right. Many people that look like me fit into that category.
Once you get to know me then you find out something strange. I have a degree to teach history. I served in the military honorably for 6 years. I am a rehab therapist and amateur author. I take care of my sick mother, and yes even pay taxes. It doesn't bother me that I am judged by the original description. It never ceases to amaze me the shock on people's faces when they find out I'm am not a felon and can even read.
The point is, if you look at the statistics, you would be right in your original assumption. That fact can keep you safe. You just have to learn to balance your first impression with getting to know the person. You will probably be surprised with what you find.
Am I saying that my mother, a woman who is almost 60 and 5 foot tall go up to a group of tattooed men to ask directions? Not necessarily. Go with your instincts, but don't let that be your final judgement. I let people assume things about me without correcting them. It let's me know who they really are.
Learn more about this author, T. Scott Randolph.
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No
The mere fact that such a sophomoric question has been posed shows how intellectually challenged the American people have become. To judge a person simply based upon his or her current appearance is shallow and dimwitted. Consider this: you're visiting Paris for the first time in your life. You grab a taxi right out of the airport, excited to see the sights. At your first stop you step out of the taxi right into a nasty mud puddle. Do you then conclude that all of Paris is one huge mud puddle and immediately return home? Of course not! One cannot base an entire country on first impressions.
The same holds true when it come to human beings. Can we honestly suggest we understand why a person looks like he or she does? Perhaps the clothing they wear is the best they can afford because the PhD they received from Yale has left them broke and jobless. But why are they so slovenly and obese, you ask. Surely they lack self control. Consider the millions of men and women afflicted with thyroid disease. They have no ability to control their weight. They ingest one medication after another, hoping not that it prevents them from eventual death, but rather that it allows their body to return to an acceptable size. Can you sense how warped this obsession has become?
When one feels comfortable with their appearance they exude a sense of confidence and security that is difficult to find today. I live in Florida, right by the beach. My children and I visit the beach at least once a week. As I don my two piece bathing suit, I scrutinize my appearance in the mirror. Do I look fat today? Does my bathing suit match my cap? Have I shaved my legs and armpits? At the same time I ask myself these questions, I reprimand myself for even caring! I have had six children, two of them twins. I am fifty one years old. I am in incredible shape. I can outwork any teenager. I have a master's degree, a bachelor's degree, own a business and am raising my kids alone. How dare anyone judge me for my appearance?!
Then I see a huge woman strutting down the beach. She is grossly overweight. And she's wearing a thong. And she's smiling. Her head is held high and she makes eye contact with everyone in her path. This is a person to emulate. This person is so comfortable with who she is that how she looks doesn't even enter the equation. She treats all with equal respect. And what's really amazing is she is well aware of how people judge her. Just like Jesus Christ was aware of how he was looked upon, she too knows, and she too whispers, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
Learn more about this author, Lisa Larsen.
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