Personally, I believe that one of the worst things society has inflicted upon us and will always keep on inflicting is judging people based on their appearances. This is something that is so ingrained in us that for us to even break free from such a destructive habit will require a lot of willpower.
We judge people based on what they look like, how they dress, how they smell, and the accessories they have on their bodies. We use these things to tell ourselves the kind of people we believe them to be. And from then, we treat them as such.
One can argue that this is ingrained in us only as a natural instinct. It’s designed by Mother Nature so we can know how we can handle a situation. When you see someone who’s obviously bigger than you or even remotely scary, the way you’ll handle an altercation with him will be different from the way you’ll handle someone who’s smaller than you and doesn’t look even the least intimidating. But then, it could always turn out that the big guy you’re scared of is actually a scaredy cat that can’t hurt a fly while the little guy you think you can handle is a monster that will hurt you badly without batting an eye.
That is where there’s a flaw in Mother Nature’s plan. And then, we don’t employ this tactic in security only. We also use it in selecting our friends, lovers, and even places we’d live. Many times, just with only a “look”, you’d simply conclude that a person is not meant to be your friend. You could be friendly with them, but you’d never consider them to be your friend. This is because you already have an idea of the kind of people you want to roll with, and if they don’t fit in, they’re out. You might end up getting to know the person better and in the long run, find out that you have way more in common than you believed at first.
Due to how humans place a lot of emphasis on what they see, that is why people also place a lot of emphasis on what they show. “Fake it till you make it” is a phrase that has always been bandied about, but have you stopped to wonder if it’s not really about wanting to fit in? It’s more about wanting people to see you in a certain way so they will treat you in a way befitting how they’ll see you. People who are broke in real life, act like they’re rich. They take glamorous pictures and talk about how much they’ve spent. Many even go as far as to broke-shame others like them.
And they do all this, for what? You’d see that their viewers will think they’re rich, and treat them as such. If they’re offering a service, people will see them as accomplished and will not try to haggle too much on the price. Let’s face the truth here, people will always treat you better if they think you’re richer than they are. They might not like you, they might be jealous of you, they might even be plotting your downfall, but they will treat you better. At least to your face. When you speak, they’ll take your words more seriously.
This is the reason why every once in a while, celebs keep “showing” that they’re successful. Every couple of months, they’d talk about how they bought an expensive car for themselves or for their friends, they’ll talk about how they bought expensive watches or built mansions for their mothers and great-grandfathers. The blogs will spread the news, and when people see it, they see that the guys are still in money and are still relevant.
What am I saying? People will always judge a book by its cover. You’ll always be judged based on your appearance. Your looks, your dressing… but then, that’s when we all get separated. Because the looks can only be upheld for so long. Eventually, who you really are will be exposed and if it doesn’t tally with what you’ve been showing everyone, then you’ll be in a bit of a pickle.
So, I guess the best defense is just to be you. You can also choose to “fake it till you make it”, I don’t think there’s a law against that. But then, just know that there’s nothing new under the sun. Eventually, it will all come to light.
Appearance has done more harm than good to mankind but at the end of it all, first impression matters. People will judge you based on how you look like and do you even know that you can get well paying jobs with your looks too
It matters but the negative effects are being rampant
Yeah... looks will always matter for us. We just have to do as much.