It is often said, "Don't judge a book by its cover," and at some point in life, we have all born witness to its truth. My most recent experience was whilst watching this Gothic, Marilyn Manson looking guy called Andrew De Leon on the latest season of America's Got Talent. The quoted words above came alive when the young man opened his mouth and sang a very beautiful note of opera as opposed to the stereotype of rock or heavy metal. What was even more remarkable for me was that the young man, whilst following the show, turned out to be a really decent fellow. His talent/behaviour didn't match his appearance at all. So why didn't he dress more conventionally? Perhaps he, like Marilyn Mason, wanted to challenge the status quo by his artistic appearance. It could also be just another desperate cry for attention. Who knows?
The impact it had however, provoked me to revise my once unbreakable stance on how I judged women's wardrobe. I am an an admirer of 'sexy,' good looking women but I've always been able to draw the line between sexy and slutty. Therefore, it bothers me when I see young girls walking through town advertising parts of their body that I deem should be privileged to a selected few; family included :-). One day, I met this student of mine with a skirt so short, the tag should've been labelled, "Please use caution when approaching stairs or bending over." And to my astonishment, when I challenged her choice of wardrobe, she responded with, "Sir don't judge a book by its cover." I was speechless. Could she be right? I thought. For the entire year that i taught her, I perceived her to be an intelligent and decent young woman. Yet here she was, dressed like a prostitute soliciting an older man. Was I judging her the same way that i did with Andrew De Leon on America's Got Talent? Could her dress not have a direct correlation with the type of person she is? I was still deep in thought.
"Well?" she interrupted, still curious to know what my impressions were of her rebuttal. Right then I remembered something comedian Dave Chappelle said about the exact topic and I smiled. I had gotten the answer. "You may not be the person whom you dress like but you have to admit that it's confusing." She nodded her head in agreement. "If I were dressed like a police officer and you came to me for help, and I told you that I am not really a police officer but I just dress like one; what would you say?" She smiled, "Why the hell are you dressed like that if you're not an officer?" To which I responded, "Exactly." Some people, have a particular reason why they go for the non-conventional wardrobe and others just do it because they don't know any better and it is a clear reflection of that ignorance underneath. Nevertheless, we still ought to be careful how we judge the appearance of others lest, an Andew De Leon comes along and cause us to put our foot in our mouths.
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