What assumptions do we make about stylish women?
By LAUREN PADILLA
Longmeadow High
There is no shortage of propaganda instructing members of society not to judge others on appearances. We aren’t supposed to assume a poorly-dressed woman is a lazy person, based solely on her lack of suitable attire. If someone looks as if she’s just crawled out of a garbage can, we are (theoretically) supposed to withhold all critique. However, such advice is almost always prejudiced toward the person whose style society would typically deem sub-par. But, what about the other side? What assumptions do we make about stylish women?
In a recent school conversation, the subject of appearance versus reality surfaced for discussion. One view was that a well-dressed woman would, in all likeliness, not stop to speak to a homeless person of the street. Really? I wanted to pull a Margaret Thatcher and slam my bag down onto the desk. So, apparently it’s perfectly acceptable to assume a well-dressed woman is heartless. Yet, voicing a derogatory comment toward a homeless woman based on her appearance is intolerable. Why the double standard?
After taking a long walk through the hallway, and expressing my dismay to at least five friends, I decided to do a bit of research. I spoke to a few students, and asked them a simple question: When you see a stylish woman, what do you assume? At first, the students answered as expected — that they wouldn’t make any assumptions. After a bit of careful prying though, I successfully uncovered the truth. They assumed the woman to be unapproachable and cold.
Interestingly, though, the adjectives used to describe the hypothetical woman in question changed as I specified exactly what it was she was wearing. There seems to be a scale of fashion-forwardness used to determine a woman’s character.
When I said she was wearing a pair of black slacks and a cardigan, the students said very little. However, when I specified further and said she was wearing all designer clothing, with a pair of sunglasses and carrying a cup of Starbucks, opinions shifted.
Automatically, they assumed she had to be an ice woman. So, the conclusion I have to draw is that society looks fondly upon women who care about their appearances. But, when a woman is so well-dressed that she looks as if she’s walked off the set of Vogue, we assume she is vain and materialistic.
Of course, I don’t think the idea of judging others on appearances will ever change. It just won’t — as long as humans remain visual creatures. Nonetheless, the standards which we employ in our critiques, should. If society claims it is taboo to assume a person is inferior based on his or her unkempt appearances, the same method should apply to the fashionable.