I believe it is not possible to perceive others without in some way judging or categorizing them. The reason I believe this is because everytime we are in the public eye whether it be at the grocery store or a fancy restaurant we are constantly checking out the people around us to compare them to ourselves, either to boost ones own self esteem or to make you aware of what you are lacking. I know my husband always gets a kick out of going to quickstop and seeing the 40 year old white trash clerk who is missing teeth because it makes him feel good about all his hard work to get the job he currently has. He feels very greatful for his career choice as an engineer, yet also superior to the clerk who he has judged to be white trash. This is horrible to do, but because of the stigma media has placed on material things I don’t think it is possible to not judge. I notice I find myself often judging women by the type of purse they carry. If they carry a Louis Vuitton I tend to view them as having money or trying to give the impression that they have money, espescially if it is a fake. You can actually learn to tell the fake bags from the authentic. I think the people who are carrying the fake bag are trying to be judged by others as having money though they either don’t or are to cheap to buy the real thing.
As long as we are in the media age I am not sure that we can make our judgements more fair. All that is talked about is who is on top and wears the most expensive items or has the most money. Sadly I think we have used this as a scale to measure our own and others self worth and class level. We should try and look at each person as an individual and not a member of a group. We also should get to know someone on the inside before making a judgement as to what we see on the outside.
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Hello Capone's Mom! You mentioned, "We should try and look at each person as an individual and not a member of a group." How do you think we can go about doing this? Is it possible to set our judgments aside?
ReplyDeleteYou also mentioned 'media age'. Do you think it is possible to raise a person in this society without participating in this type of behavior? :)
We need to focus on the individual by not associating them with their sterotypical group by being open minded. I think it is possible to set out judgements aside but also very very difficult to do.
ReplyDeleteI think the media age is hard to avoid. Unless you raise a person in the deep woods where there is no access to any of these luxurys it is probably almost impossible to not participate in this type of behavior.
you're too much capone's mom. love the reference to the white trash clerk. ouch, that hurt. but i do agree with your overall message that it's virtually impossible to not perceive others without some judgment. i have friends who will begin a tale of judgement of someone with the phrase "no judgement..." it's human nature. whether it's a means of validating oneself or not. but i do feel it is possible to make the judgments we pass more fair. one way of doing this is to be aware of the judgments you're passing and to try a little compassion. using your example of the trashy clerk and your husband's judgment of this person. look at it this way: you don't know their life story. maybe having any job is a step in the right direction for them. anyone with no teeth has had a hard life of some sort. while an educated person might find being a clerk demeaning and sad, the clerk may be happy to have a steady paycheck. a little understanding goes a long way. no judgment.
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