The Stereotype And Judgement Of Body Characteristics In The World

In the world we are living in today, judging and stereotyping have been a big influence on other’s perspective on us. Every day, we can see that people are getting judged and criticized by other groups of people by their appearances, such as their weight, hair color, height, and disabilities. Ｍy friend and I have been judged when we were in elementary school.

Firstly, I looked fatter and shorter than other people of my age. it made my peers and teachers to view me differently. My peers and teachers thought that a fat person cannot play sports and even run a relay race. Secondly, one of my friends was judged by other people due to his tallness. He is very tall and the size of his body is two times bigger than normal people. He gets judged a lot when he is taking public transit, such as buses and subways. Lastly, People have some first impression on people who have weird hair color, tattoo and also the clothes we wear. These physical traits can cause both positive and negative judgments. ultimately, people do not judge other people due to their personal behaviours and personality, but the appearance of our body. People who are short and fat are usually being labeled as people who don’t know how to play sports or people who don’t usually work out. For instance, I have my own experience that my teacher and peers did not want me to participate in a relay race. One of my peers said, “ You are fat, you can’t run fast”. However, I still participated in the relay race, and I was the one who ran over the opponent teams.

Also, every time we had a basketball game. The opponent team has an impression it is not hard to guard me because I was fat and short. They usually made the weakest player on their team to guard me. However, their stereotype on fat person was wrong, I led my team to win the first place in our grade. Due to my “fatty” body and short height when I was in elementary school, I looked low self-esteem than everybody who was thinner than me. Every person in my class was trying to make fun of my physical appearance. I did not have many friends, and I kept some distance from them. I tried to avoid eye contact and conversation with my peers because they always called me “fatty boy” if I have any contact with them. After I graduated from the elementary and entered middle school. My friends have a different point of view on me. They thought people who are fat are powerful, strong and energetic. Every time we had a hard work, such as carrying heavy boxes or textbook for the whole class. I was always the first person to be called. Also, my fatty body has provided them with the feeling of safety. One of the friends had told me that “ If we are in a fight, you have to stand at the front. You are fat, use your fatty body to protect us”. However, I was just looking fat, but I was not even powerful and strong. Overall, my fatty body has a big impact on people’s thinking of me and has led them to judged and stereotyped me. People who are tall and fat are seemed like a threat, being tall and fat is seemed more powerful and stronger than people who are only fat. One of my friends, his special body features such as he was 11 inches taller than normal students and the size of his body was two times bigger than us when we were in the middle school. He did not like to take public transit, because people used disgusted eyes to see him. People avoided to sit beside him and did not even want to get close to him.

For example, when we were going on a field trip by taking public transit. One aggressive passenger was sitting beside my friend. Due to his body size, that passenger was disturbed by my friend. However, the passenger said “ You fatty man, you should not take the bus. You should walk and get rid off your fat”. My friend was shocked and disappointed. Since then, he was afraid to take public transit when the bus or subway is crowded. Also, due to his size and height, people thought that he was good at sports. For instance, back to middle school, our basketball coach wanted him to play in the basketball team, even he did not even know how to play. This is the first time that he felt high self-esteem. However, he knew that he would not be the first option without his height and body size. Those who are tall and big are stereotyped as people who are experienced in work out. People were shocked all the time after they know he does not go to the gym. They said, “ I thought every person who is big lifts heavy weights in the gym”. Overall, his height and body size have a negative and positive impact on how people think about him. Throughout my lifetime, I have heard many judgments on others appearance, such as hair color, tattoo and how they dress. When someone dyes an uncommon color for his or her hair, such as green and pink. People in Asian countries usually judge them as a person who has “mental issue” and gangster. For instance, my parents usually told me that do not dye your hair in weird colors when I was in middle. They said,” It looks like you fight in the street and you don’t like to study”. After I grew up, I think dyeing hair is just like art. Some people love colorful paintings, but some people love black and white paintings.

Additionally, tattoo is also an art. However, lots of people think that a person who has tattoo has been into jail. When I first came to Canada in 2015. I thought tattoo and weird hair colors are acceptable and more open by the society in Canada than in Asia. However, I have seen and heard discussions on someone’s hair color and tattoo in the public. For instance, a child was taking the bus with their parents. A male with tattoo on whole body and pink hair color was sitting in front of them. The parents told their child “ Don’t be like that person in the future, it is not cool. It looks like he has a mental issue and maybe he just got out from jail”. I felt sad for that person. In our open society, people even get labeled as a patient who has mental issue. And even worse, a person who just got out from the jail. In conclusion, judgment and stereotype have a big impact on how people think about us. People usually judge others with their first impression and physical feature but not their behaviour and personality. People who are fatter and shorter than normal people usually get judged and laughed. People who are taller and bigger than normal are usually thought as athletes of specific sports. People who have tattoo and weird hair colors are usually thought as people who have mental issues and people who just came out from jail. Why do people label them as “special”?