Most people are worried about their appearance and how other people see them. While it is true that we can sometimes tell something about people by looking at their external appearance, it is not the best measurement. I believe that people should not judge others by external appearances. This is because it is unfair to make assumptions about a person’s character based on outward appearance and because people change their appearance to fit different situations.
To begin with, someone’s external appearance is not a mirror of his or her inner self. I can relate an example from my own life. I came from a very poor family that was unable to put me through university, so throughout my academic career it was required that I work part-time in order to pay for my tuition each semester. During the summer, I was covered in sweat and dirt from working for a lawn care service, but when people saw me in that condition, they assumed I was uneducated and not very intelligent. In reality, I was a straight A student with a good academic reputation on campus and among my professors. Customers I worked for could not see this, and my co-workers were also surprised to see me reading textbooks during breaks. Judging a book by its cover can often lead to mistaken assumptions.
Moreover, external appearances can change with location. For example, think of an evening at the opera where formal clothes are required. In the audience of an opera hall, you can see men in tuxedoes and women in evening gowns. Everyone is dressed the same, so there is no real way to determine what everyone does in their everyday lives. The man sitting next to the doctor may be a gas station attendant, and the women next to the lawyer may be a housewife. In certain settings, looks can be deceiving and there is no telling what is under the wrapper. That is because clothing, hairstyles and other factors of external appearance can be adjusted to fit any situation. A gas station attendant might love opera and a company CEO might like to bowl on the weekends.
To make people do it, it is almost never safe to make an assumption about people based only on external appearances. It is not accurate to judge a personal trait based on outward appearance. Furthermore, people can change their appearance to fit occasions where their true selves do not show through. For these reasons, it is important to get to know someone before making a judgment.
To begin with, someone’s external appearance is not a mirror of his or her inner self. I can relate an example from my own life. I came from a very poor family that was unable to put me through university, so throughout my academic career it was required that I work part-time in order to pay for my tuition each semester. During the summer, I was covered in sweat and dirt from working for a lawn care service, but when people saw me in that condition, they assumed I was uneducated and not very intelligent. In reality, I was a straight A student with a good academic reputation on campus and among my professors. Customers I worked for could not see this, and my co-workers were also surprised to see me reading textbooks during breaks. Judging a book by its cover can often lead to mistaken assumptions.
Moreover, external appearances can change with location. For example, think of an evening at the opera where formal clothes are required. In the audience of an opera hall, you can see men in tuxedoes and women in evening gowns. Everyone is dressed the same, so there is no real way to determine what everyone does in their everyday lives. The man sitting next to the doctor may be a gas station attendant, and the women next to the lawyer may be a housewife. In certain settings, looks can be deceiving and there is no telling what is under the wrapper. That is because clothing, hairstyles and other factors of external appearance can be adjusted to fit any situation. A gas station attendant might love opera and a company CEO might like to bowl on the weekends.
To make people do it, it is almost never safe to make an assumption about people based only on external appearances. It is not accurate to judge a personal trait based on outward appearance. Furthermore, people can change their appearance to fit occasions where their true selves do not show through. For these reasons, it is important to get to know someone before making a judgment.
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