A descriptive narrative about how people perceive others based on the clothing and accessories they are wearing:
Diana, a 16 year-old-girl who went to a typical American high school, was invited to a birthday party and was being convinced by her friends to attend. She didn't want to go, because it was Debbie's party, and she was one of the most popular girls in school. She was the fashion-developer kind of girl, someone people would follow... And Diana didn't really have the patience for these naive and shallow people. All of Debbie's friends were just like her: girls in high heels, short skirts and who used a lot of makeup. Diana thought to herself "What for? We are going to school to learn, this is not supposed to be a beauty pageant". She told her friend Lucas that she had no intentions of socializing with this kind of people. "They will have nothing interesting to say, I'm sure", Diana argued. Lucas told her she was being too judgemental, but Diana was very convinced of her opinion. "They are certainly narrow-minded girls who do not interest me, I don't want to go just to seem like one of them. Ah, and I most certainly don't want to put on tight clothes and a lot of makeup just to fit in", she said, leaving Lucas behind with a salute and going to her class.
It was finally Friday night, and all of Diana's friends were already set up to go to the party. She couldn't be convinced but decided she didn't want to stay home by herself feeling bored. So, Diana went to a snack bar to have some french fries and soda while she caught up with her favorite writer's new novel. When she got there, to her surprise, one of Debbie's best friends was sitting at a table by herself, listening to some music on her cell phone. The girl, whom Diana knew as Cynthia, looked at her and invited her to sit along. Diana thought about refusing, after all, she wanted to read, but she was very curious about the situation. Then, she accepted and sat with Cynthia. "Why aren't you going to Debbie's party?" Diana asked, a little embarrassed. "I don't feel very well today. I'm very sad about something I'm not so sure what is, but I think it might be related to my future. I don't know if I'm getting into a nice college and that is making me very anxious. So, I decided I didn't want to go partying and socialize today. What about you?" Cynthia asked, and Diana just didn't know what to say, as she stared at the girl's shiny lipstick. She decided to lie and said, "The same, I don't really feel like socializing". Then, they started talking and discovered they had a very similar taste in music and books. They stayed there for hours, eating and talking, and when they left both were feeling a lot better. From that day on, Diana and Cynthia became very close friends, and Diana decided to give a chance to other people because she realized that the way they dressed or appeared to be could be totally unrelated to their personality and that Lucas was right, and she probably was being very judgemental towards them.
The story written above is an example of how judgemental people can be when they have internalized a stereotype associated with determined clothes or accessories. Usually, these stereotypes are developed in society and are unconscious to people. Their economic status and even the place where they live can also be inferred by other people based on how they dress. They might be misunderstood or misinterpret just because of the way they dress or express themselves in appearance, but nobody can really tell what is inside someone or what is their background based only in how he or she looks or appears to be.
