Lurking again
I was browsing through MeFi today and came across the following in a discussion about changing your appearance:- "I started getting my hair cut at the right place in town for my demographic."
WTF??
I could understand saying that you got a more fashionable haircut or that you got a cut that suited you, or even that you tried a new style but 'the right place...for my demographic???'
Is it just me that reads this as 'no personal taste - follow the herd' couched in pseudo intellectual adspeak? So, all I have to do to improve peoples' opinion of me based on my appearance is figure out what demographic I fit into and then just do what they do?
Which rather implies that your personality should fit the demographic too.
Umm, you see I tried that a long time ago. The 'try to fit in' thing. It wasn't good. The trouble is if your personality doesn't slot neatly into the demographic then you end up looking/acting like one thing and being another. Which just makes people think you're not genuine, they can't quite put their finger on why they don't like you but they don't.
I think it comes down to people's expectations, however ill founded, and how closely the person or situation fits them. Good fit = joy, like, happy, approval. Bad fit = sadness, hate, disappointment, anger. And it has very little to do with how realistic or well researched those preconceptions are, it has even less to do with the actual person or situation causing the joy or disappointment. It has a lot more to do with this crazy idea some parts of society seem to have got in their heads that it's good to be sheep, and the even crazier idea that if you treat non-sheep like crap it doesn't make you an asshole.
Newsflash people. if you think it's ok to judge someone and act as if that judgment is sound without actually bothering to find out if they're a decent person or not. Guess what? You are an asshole. If you look down on someone because they don't fit your demographic, guess what? You're an asshole. If you think someone is somehow less than you because of how they put food on the table, how they look, where they come from, how much they earn, how tough they are, how they dress, what accent they have, what colour their skin is, who they sleep with, what deity they worship, what books they read, what music they listen to... and you treat them like shit or bitch and laugh about them behind their backs with your mates/colleagues without ever bothering to see if they are actually a decent, honest, kind human being... guess what?
And then I'm going to feel totally justified in judging you to be less, not only less than me but less than the poor sods who you look down on. Based purely on how you treat others, and how much responsibility you take for your words and actions, how well you treat those who can't compel you to treat them well and how prepared you are to stand up for and offer aid to those who cannot do it themselves and/or can't benefit you in some tangible way. Oh, and on how much hypocrisy and/or compassion you exhibit. Those are the criteria for my particular demographic, I like to refer to it as "civilised integrity"
WTF??
I could understand saying that you got a more fashionable haircut or that you got a cut that suited you, or even that you tried a new style but 'the right place...for my demographic???'
Is it just me that reads this as 'no personal taste - follow the herd' couched in pseudo intellectual adspeak? So, all I have to do to improve peoples' opinion of me based on my appearance is figure out what demographic I fit into and then just do what they do?
Which rather implies that your personality should fit the demographic too.
Umm, you see I tried that a long time ago. The 'try to fit in' thing. It wasn't good. The trouble is if your personality doesn't slot neatly into the demographic then you end up looking/acting like one thing and being another. Which just makes people think you're not genuine, they can't quite put their finger on why they don't like you but they don't.
I think it comes down to people's expectations, however ill founded, and how closely the person or situation fits them. Good fit = joy, like, happy, approval. Bad fit = sadness, hate, disappointment, anger. And it has very little to do with how realistic or well researched those preconceptions are, it has even less to do with the actual person or situation causing the joy or disappointment. It has a lot more to do with this crazy idea some parts of society seem to have got in their heads that it's good to be sheep, and the even crazier idea that if you treat non-sheep like crap it doesn't make you an asshole.
Newsflash people. if you think it's ok to judge someone and act as if that judgment is sound without actually bothering to find out if they're a decent person or not. Guess what? You are an asshole. If you look down on someone because they don't fit your demographic, guess what? You're an asshole. If you think someone is somehow less than you because of how they put food on the table, how they look, where they come from, how much they earn, how tough they are, how they dress, what accent they have, what colour their skin is, who they sleep with, what deity they worship, what books they read, what music they listen to... and you treat them like shit or bitch and laugh about them behind their backs with your mates/colleagues without ever bothering to see if they are actually a decent, honest, kind human being... guess what?
And then I'm going to feel totally justified in judging you to be less, not only less than me but less than the poor sods who you look down on. Based purely on how you treat others, and how much responsibility you take for your words and actions, how well you treat those who can't compel you to treat them well and how prepared you are to stand up for and offer aid to those who cannot do it themselves and/or can't benefit you in some tangible way. Oh, and on how much hypocrisy and/or compassion you exhibit. Those are the criteria for my particular demographic, I like to refer to it as "civilised integrity"