Picked up the October issue of Elle. I don't know why I bother. They usually print disingenuous articles about inner beauty, and then plaster their pages with photos and ads all designed to make us feel "less than" if we don't pony up to the beauty bar and buy, buy, buy. To my surprise, I must admit that the editor's letter was spot on this month. And I quote ~
"Let's just say it: We judge people by the way they look, and that judgment is swift and brutal. The cues come fast: the expensiveness (or lack thereof) of the fabric, the label of the jacket, the provenance of the jeans, the jewelry, the haircut, the bag. And, rightly or wrongly, I'd bet we're hardwired to be fairly accurate in our assessments...our subconscious picks up hundreds of micro-expressions that transmit spot-on data about people's real feelings...But what really happens...is that we draw an equally tough picture of others' intelligence, values, and inner life. And man, are we usually way off.
(Case in point) I struck up a conversation with an older man in a feed cap, high-waisted stonewashed jeans, running shoes, and an Epcot teeshirt...It turned out the gentleman was a PhD physicist and engineer...He was brilliant, funny ...in other words, he was a person of substance and curiosity, who at first glance appeared to my tiny, judgmental mind to be nothing but another bored grandpa occupied by thoughts of bingo and what's for dinner. My point, of course, is that our quick summations of people's looks are often reductive and unkind."
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