People make automatic assumptions about individuals based on his or her appearance. While certain assumptions are a necessary part of life, judging a person totally based on appearance can be considered prejudice. I would categorize myself as “People of color”. I get numerous of baffled reactions on my appearance. Some say, “are you Indian?” or “is your hair real or is it weave?”. Many make these assumptions because of society’s depictions on how one is supposed to look, and they try to categorize you into a group that fits their mentality. Forming opinions based on an individual’s appearance is inevitable. Most of us judge people on the way they look, dress, and maintain themselves. Yes, strangers have also misjudged me on my appearance at various accounts. One day a fest in my school, I wasn’t dressed the way students dress at fests. Everyone wore beautiful new dresses and miniskirts whereas I wore the same old t-shirt and kept my makeup at minimum. I got stares throughout the fest on how inappropriately I presented myself. We can stop making judgments based on appearance only when we understand the meaning of sayings that have been with us since the beginning of time. “Don’t judge a book by its cover” or “Beauty is skin deep.” We need to reject the stereotypes of how people look.
I think the theories in “Feminist Philosophy of language” that stood out to me are “Maleness as Norms”. The society reacts in an increasingly hostile and threatening manner when a woman can do what a man can do. for example, it states “Moreover, they call attention to women’s presence in positions of authority—doctor and manager. Nonetheless, most feminists who think about language find these terms objectionable”. Many make the assumption, when we think of a big corporation and the CEO, often a male role is pictured to play the part. This can be a woman’s job as well as it is a man’s job. Society has created the assumption that men and women are categorized to do a specific job because of its task. For example, Men take the role of playing a manager when a female takes the role of being a nurse/caregiver. Society keeps on reminding the girl of her sexuality and the dangers that come with it. Girls are kept in a greater state of ignorance than boys and are often ill-prepared for what is to come.
Hello Megan M. Ramdin, categorize myself as “People of color” as well but people always ask me, are you mixed, are Afro-latina or others and i always answered that i am from Haiti and i am black . But those illiterates people said that i don’t look Haitian or black just because my skin is brown not even light. I really enjoy your discussion thanks for sharing.
Hello Megan,
beautiful post as always. I love when you said “Beauty is skin deep.” We need to reject the stereotypes of how people look. I believe that our society judge each of us based on looks,body shapes,clothing (expensive / designer or cheap) and of course on gender no matter what we do.
I always remember my grand’ma’s saying :” your look will talk for you before you enter a room, and your body gestures will talk for you before you open your month ”.
Hi Megan, I definitely agree. People will box others in a category to try to gain or validate their own ignorant understanding of things. I’ve also recognized that some men become intimidated when women challenge these norms because they have their masculine identity is reliant on the oppression of women.