Critical Thinking

Judgment Day

Throughout our lives we have become accustomed to judging people by their appearance on the outside, but by taking a little extra time we might be able to get to know the person’s interests and for whom they really are on the inside. Judgments by first impressions are one of the most commonly used techniques to characterize a person. Sometimes these judgments can be appreciated, while at other times they can one of the most harmful things in our lives. People criticize others just because of the way they look, but when they speak their opinions out loud that is when feelings get hurt.
“Masks,” an essay written by Lucy Grealy, she describes what life was like with a face deformity that she had gotten from cancer. When Lucy was nine she was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, a lethal form of cancer. Due to the cancer Lucy lost nearly half of her jaw, not to mention the three years of chemo she had to go through. Lucy underwent several surgeries to reconstruct her face. Already the life of Lucy sounds pretty tough. Now put yourself in Lucy’s shoes and envision being teased, ridiculed, whatever forms of mockery imaginable. Doesn’t sound enjoyable, does it? Well this is what happened to Lucy on a daily basis.
“Hey, girl, take off that monster mask-oops, she’s not wearing a mask!”(42) In sixth grade Lucy was told this by a group of boys. It didn’t stop here other horrible remarks that Lucy received were: “I bet David wants to kiss her, don’t you, David?” “Yeah, right, then I’ll go kiss your mother’s asshole.”(45) “What on earth is that?” “That is the ugliest girl I have ever seen.”(45) Why would anyone deserve hurtful comments like this, just because of the way they look? Why must we judge on appearance so quickly without even knowing the person? People often use judgments as a way of determining if a person is acceptable, or not. It is also a quick way of accepting people as friends. What is the sense in using judgment as a way of accepting, or making new friendships? People could appear approachable and accepting, but who’s to say if that person isn’t cold hearted, or dangerous. These attributes could be avoided just by getting to know that person.
Another story that relates to the matter of judging and accepting others is, “High School’s Secret Life,” by Emily White. Throughout this story Emily describes the cafeteria life at Calhoun High in Seattle, WA. Emily digs in deep and uncovers all of the different “tribes,” contained within the Calhoun High. From band geeks, nerds, jocks, to punks Emily describes how each “tribe,” is different, and how each group has their own territory in the cafeteria. Another way of identifying people, that Emily wrote, was by the clothing that people wore on the high school grounds. In her essay, Emily stated that, “The popular kids at Calhoun dress overwhelmingly in the ubiquitous trendy brand Abercrombie & Fitch.”(18) It is very fascinating how the clothing that a person wears is a way of showing their identity. From the eyes of a student, the high school cafeteria it is a haven for critiquing people’s appearance and finding out the identity of others.
Judging peoples appearance is everywhere and can not be avoided. In both of these stories, Masks and High School’s Secret Life, people are constantly evaluating others appearance. As far as the evaluation goes in these stories Lucy had it harder than the students at the high school did. High schools have a lot of various groups throughout the campus, but more than likely there is more than one person contained within that group. Even if the group only has three people in it that is better than constantly being singled out like Lucy was. Throughout her life Lucy did have several friends, but she was also limited, in some sort of making any new friends, just because of the way her face looked. Acceptance is not a self choice. You could try to change your clothing to become more acceptable, but who’s to say if that will even emit to change the way people view you.
The way we look is unchangeable. That is why people should take the time to dig underneath the skin and really get to know that certain individual. It is true that looks can be deceiving, but who are we to say that person shouldn’t be trusted when we don’t even know them. When we put others down just because of their appearance, we really hurt the feelings of that person through an unnecessary action. By making these rude remarks the victim receiving them loses their own identity. The more we put people down the more their self confidence is degraded. This could lead to lack of friends even suicidal thoughts, and nobody deserves to carry a burden like that, but by taking that little extra ounce of time to get to know a person on the inside and their interests, judging appearance would be a thing of the past.