When reading A Cycle Of Outrage by James Gilbert, I kept
thinking about how in the beginning of the article that a teens appearances
seemed like the main reason behind the accusations on whether or not they were delinquents. This was in the 1950s and this stereotyping
still happens today in 2014. People are constantly judged on prejudice ideas,
and don’t people always say “don’t judge a book by it’s cover”? Teens are
especially judged for the way they dress or look. For example, If you have
tattoos or piercings, people could think you’re a delinquent and that’s that. There is no real
consideration of that persons personality, people just take what they see on
the surface and go from there. I personally was judged a lot by people for the
way I dressed in my early teens. What can I say, I loved tripp pants and
fishnets, sue me. But it was a stage in my life where that’s how I wanted to
dress and I did because I personally thought it was cool and I didn’t care what
anyone else thought. A lot of people thought I was mean or intimidating based
off my appearance, which I completely disagree with. I like to think of myself
as a friendly person and if they just got over that hump and actually spoke to
me, they would know that themselves. I remember specifically when I was 13
years old this boy who was a bit older than me asked if I smoked cigarettes (Which i don't),
literally only because of my accessories (Big hot topic purse) and because I
like to wear black. It bothers me that people think they have a right to make
assumptions about another person based off of appearance alone. People are so
much more complex than that and deserve to be treated equally. I don’t care if
they are covered head to toe in tattoos and piercings, or wears black all the
time, or fishnets and band tees, that doesn’t define who they are, it’s just how they like to look. That same person who everyone thinks is a "delinquent" could very well be taking care of old people or doing charity work. it seems like people always just assume the worst.
I think it would be interesting to look into the style changes over the generations and get a visual on what is categorized under "delinquency"
I completely agree with you. It's frustrating when you need to consider if you want to get a piercing or tattoo or dye your hair based on how people are going to react. I remember my grandma stopping me before I went to the parlor to get my nose pierced..she said she was afraid that having a little nose piercing was going to keep me from maybe getting a job because people will judge me. Why do piercings and tattoos make someone think about delinquency?!
ReplyDeleteWhile I was reading your post the quote "never judge a book by its cover" came to my mind. You're so right when you say something as simple as piercings and fishnets stockings can change the way we perceive a person. It’s sad. We should rid the word “delinquent” all together! People misuse it daily
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
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ReplyDeleteYour picture at the end was a very good example of the overall point in your post...I liked it a lot. I think the tattoo's/piercings points was a very good one as well, because I also remember- like Jess said- a lot of people and my family members telling me not to get my tattoo because it would make me look trashy or limit what I could wear in public...and I don't think it matters what I wear in public, especially because I got the tattoo for a reason..to show it off! Not to hide it!
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