All of us have been judged our whole life. People dislike us for no reason, or like us because of a smile. These people don't even know us, they judge on appearance. It's like that feeling you get when you see "delinquents" on street corners and you're alone: you know, that little voice that says "cross to the other side of the road, become less of a target" as if they'll grab you and stick a knife in your leg or something.
I know that I have been judged a lot for how I look. The person I am loves to aggravate that, I know that if I look a certain way I can get people to look at me with disgust or contempt or just plain confusion. It rained today, and I took my frog umbrella with me. I love these umbrellas and, though I know they're really for kids, I like carrying mine too much to care what people think. Before I got the umbrella I had wanted one for a long time. My parents never let me have one when I was little and, along with a pair of wellington boots with frog eyes, they were one of those things that I never let go of wanting (unfortunately I couldn't find any boots with frog eyes in adult sizes). Carrying this umbrella has, in the past, meant I've been approached by a guy doing a survey for parents; I've been looked at like I'm crazy; in college it gained me a reputation for being strange (along with my bare feet and leather trench coat). People judge me and I know it. I've even been known to describe it as a filter, fickle people care that I wear no shoes and call me names. People worth my time don't care at all.
Despite this, since I was about seventeen I have tried to live a life in which I try not to make bad judgements about people I meet. It's hard sometimes, especially when my friends are being hurt by someone. No matter what they're doing though I try to remember that the side I see is only a snap-shot of who they actually are. No one shows their whole self to any one person. Even couples won't see every side of the other; I've never seen Mark teach, for instance, and I don't know what he's like in the classroom. Speaking of Mark, he has a philosophy not to dislike the person but rather to dislike the action they choose.
Out there today (just as in previous times) there are judgements that we make based on someone's sex. Take male dominated societies for instance; those are places where women are seen as being inferior or have society's expectations thrust upon them. They don't have equal opportunities for work or sometimes even freedom. Yet some people believe it to be necessary in order to repress those fiery qualities in women. I'm not arguing that they are right or wrong here, but I wonder what these countries are leading to. And if you think that this should be the case, why do you think that? Is it because of women you've met? Because I can assure you that not all of us are like that, not all of us grapple for power over men, not all of us want you to do everything our way... if that's all you've experienced of women then you haven't had a very fair cross-section of our sex. There's humility and compassion and love in there too. Perhaps those who think it is right to imprison women should look at it the other way, what if women were to have been pushing you down for generations, how would you be reacting. I'm pretty sure you'd be fighting for equality too.
What about stereotypical judgement though? I mean, as I said before, we only ever see a snap-shot of anyone. That hoodie that teen is wearing puts him in a box? Well I'd argue that no one really fits into a single box, you can try and fit yourself into a certain box but at the end of the day there'll always be something that pushes you out of it. I'm the first to admit that I have some feminist thinking in me, but I would in no way fit in the feminist box, though admitting the fact that I like some of the thoughts would get me judged.
What about picking up someone else's judgement though? I mean, say you've never met a certain person yet your friend tells you what they're like. I'd say you have even less right to judge them than you have to judge anyone you've actually met. If you judge like that (and I know I have done in the past) you become one of those people that you think are fickle.
Ultimately we have to ask where does our judgement lead? To malicious gossip? To spite? And if so, do we think it's healthy to be thinking like this? I guess that's for each one of us to decide for ourselves. At the end of the day though, people are individual and, as such, no one will ever completely fit into society's ideal image. As Jesus said, let he without sin cast the first stone. I'm pretty sure we're all guilty when it comes to judging people and I'm also pretty sure that we wouldn't want it to happen to us.
However, when brought up in this climate of judgement, can we really expect anyone to refrain from doing so?
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