I am currently writing an article about a topic that shouldn't even have to be discussed. Yet, I find more and more these days, appearance, image, clothing, and beauty is all anyone cares about and others are often judged because of this.
Ever since the beginning of society, there has often been a single idea of beauty and what people should look like. But, here's the thing, beauty/appearance/image are subjective. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" is one-hundred percent true. What is beautiful or attractive for one person is a far cry from what another person thinks. Yet, our society doesn't recognize this.
Take a look at any magazine, movie-screen or video online. What do they show us about beauty and appearance? Is it the 'perfection' of the right sized body? The eyebrows that are on fleek? Maybe it is the curve of the jaw or the shape of the hands. But is this something a person can control?
In most cases, no.
A person can't control the shape of their face, the way their body curves, or what their hands look like. But yet, we are often judged on this. If we do not look like what is on TV, in magazines, or even described in books, then we are other. We are not beautiful. Most people would agree that this is wrong, that we shouldn't judge others on their hair, clothing or shape. But it still happens.
Why?
Because our society encourages the behavior. Women's magazines include fashion articles, tips on make-up, new hairstyles that are in. Men's magazines display a heavily muscled man on the front, encouraging men to find gyms, work-out, drink protein shakes. No one is free from the images that our society feeds us.
The fact of the matter is that this is purely superficial, yet we base our interactions with a person on our first impressions of them. If they do not fit the image of what our society calls successful and beautiful then immediately the interaction is marred by out judgement of them.
In no way am I a perfect person. I harp on people judging others by appearance alone, yet find myself making comments in my mind. Fighting the societal rules and norms is hard. As humans we want to categorize ourselves. Us versus Them. We put other humans into boxes so that our lives can become easier to understand. But once you put someone in a box, it is very hard for them to get out.
So stop putting people into boxes. Treat them like people, not objects to be judged. Every human is unique and interesting with their own back-stories and experiences. So stop putting your life before their's, and ask yourself, "Can that person control that aspect of themselves? Should I judge that person at all?" I would hope ten out ten times that you would say no. If we could get on the same page and stop shoving images and stereotypes down each other's throats, maybe, some day way in the future, we could finally live in a world where people didn't have to hide who they truly were behind layers of images.
Stop judging others on their appearance; don't put them into boxes.
