Hey, Keep Your Assumptions and Probing Questions to Yourself!
If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard the phrase, “don’t judge a book by its cover,” I could buy a mansion in the Hollywood Hills and live out the rest of my days surrounded by comic books and chicken wings.
Hey, everyone needs goals, right?
We are taught at an early age not to leap to conclusions about people based on their outward appearance. We teach our children this lesson as soon as we can. They will likewise pass this lesson along to future generations.
However, it seems like the more we try to reinforce this concept, the less we succeed at doing so. We live in a culture that demands outward-facing perfection. Of course, most people know better than to state this outright for fear of being negatively judged for “shaming” anyone for anything…though TMZ has managed to carve out a lucrative niche for themselves by catering to the lowest common social denominator, pointing out celebrities’ flaws in creatively cruel ways that garner millions of clicks and views.
The point is, we’re told not to make snap judgments about people based on their appearance, but we’re conditioned/shown to do exactly that.
“He’s fat. He must eat junk food all day long.”
