I was watching the Wright Stuff this morning, and they bought up the subject of ‘Judging a book by its cover’. Are having negative assumptions about people without knowing them a form of ignorance? Or is it natuarally our human instinct?
One man came onto the show and his face was coveredin tattoos – he said that he usually gets negative reactions from people. Personally if I saw this guy walking down the street I wouldn’t give him dirty looks at all. But I would avoid looking at him, as it’s rude to stare. But although I wouldn’t show any signs of condemation towards him, I do have my assumptions. Seeing a guy like that, I would assume that he was a biker into heavy metal and probably a tattoo artist, considering that he shows a love of body art. However, the shocking thing was that this guy works with children and does volenteer work.
But why do we assume that because someone wears something in particular, that they are bad? For example, as bought up on the show, if one saw a 13 year old boy wearing a hoodie, they would automatically assume that he is up to no good and is capable of mugging or stabbing someone. However, a lot of my friends wear hoodies and they have no intnentions to commit crime. It’s just something that young people wear these days because it’s easy to wear and they think its cool. But as Wright argued, since there is an inherent connotation to a particular garment and the person knows of this, then surely its their own fault for getting those unfair reactions from people?
This is a fair argument. I used to know someone who was a goth. She told me that the negative reactions she gets from people sometimes annoy her. But if this was the case, wouldn’t she stop being a goth to avoid that?? Or is it society simply being ignorant and their inabilty to accept that everyone is into different things and should be themselves as opposed to conforming to societies norms. This in a way, is a form of control. We are told what clothes we should wear, how to behave, how to be feminine or masculine. Things like this can cause anxiety for some people, especially if they lack money, or are sexually different. For example, someone could be looked down upon because they don’t have the money to afford designer clothes in order to fit in. Or gay person could be mocked and ridiculed because hes not considered masculine. However, because this is an inherent part of everyday life, it’s not considered bad. It’s just something we have to put up with.
A phycologistt called onto the show and he said that is human nature to judge. As children we make quick judgements about which strangers to talk to and not to talk to. However, some judgements are influneced by environmental factors, such as the media’s portrayal of certain people. Of course the media have a habit of portraying youths wearing hoodies as thugs as well as creating a guide of what is acceptable and what isn’t. Since when had the media glamourised long leather jackets and tongue splitting? We assue that a goth is a devil worshipper, or we might assume that someone with big boobs is a slut. Yes, these are prejudices that are inherent to society, but when that prejudge stretches to discrimination, it is considered bad. At the end of the day, you don’t know that person and by observing their clothes, one can’t assume that they’ve got that person figured out.
Link:
http://blogger.com/www.seop.leeds.ac.uk/entries/aesthetic-judgment/
One man came onto the show and his face was coveredin tattoos – he said that he usually gets negative reactions from people. Personally if I saw this guy walking down the street I wouldn’t give him dirty looks at all. But I would avoid looking at him, as it’s rude to stare. But although I wouldn’t show any signs of condemation towards him, I do have my assumptions. Seeing a guy like that, I would assume that he was a biker into heavy metal and probably a tattoo artist, considering that he shows a love of body art. However, the shocking thing was that this guy works with children and does volenteer work.
But why do we assume that because someone wears something in particular, that they are bad? For example, as bought up on the show, if one saw a 13 year old boy wearing a hoodie, they would automatically assume that he is up to no good and is capable of mugging or stabbing someone. However, a lot of my friends wear hoodies and they have no intnentions to commit crime. It’s just something that young people wear these days because it’s easy to wear and they think its cool. But as Wright argued, since there is an inherent connotation to a particular garment and the person knows of this, then surely its their own fault for getting those unfair reactions from people?
This is a fair argument. I used to know someone who was a goth. She told me that the negative reactions she gets from people sometimes annoy her. But if this was the case, wouldn’t she stop being a goth to avoid that?? Or is it society simply being ignorant and their inabilty to accept that everyone is into different things and should be themselves as opposed to conforming to societies norms. This in a way, is a form of control. We are told what clothes we should wear, how to behave, how to be feminine or masculine. Things like this can cause anxiety for some people, especially if they lack money, or are sexually different. For example, someone could be looked down upon because they don’t have the money to afford designer clothes in order to fit in. Or gay person could be mocked and ridiculed because hes not considered masculine. However, because this is an inherent part of everyday life, it’s not considered bad. It’s just something we have to put up with.
A phycologistt called onto the show and he said that is human nature to judge. As children we make quick judgements about which strangers to talk to and not to talk to. However, some judgements are influneced by environmental factors, such as the media’s portrayal of certain people. Of course the media have a habit of portraying youths wearing hoodies as thugs as well as creating a guide of what is acceptable and what isn’t. Since when had the media glamourised long leather jackets and tongue splitting? We assue that a goth is a devil worshipper, or we might assume that someone with big boobs is a slut. Yes, these are prejudices that are inherent to society, but when that prejudge stretches to discrimination, it is considered bad. At the end of the day, you don’t know that person and by observing their clothes, one can’t assume that they’ve got that person figured out.
Link:
http://blogger.com/www.seop.leeds.ac.uk/entries/aesthetic-judgment/
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