Face-Value

How much is a face worth? What do impressions really tell us?

As a model who's used to being judged on looks alone ,on one hand, and a varsity student on the other who was recently doing this experiment with his university lecturer; my tutorial group was asked to look at a class photograph taken circa 2002.

We were asked to literally size-up the students ranking the Top 10 and Bottom 10 students into two groups namely 'Academic prowess' and 'Sporting prowess'.

Yes, on looks alone. That single shot. Never mind if it was a bad shot, or the subject(s) had a bad day or a bad photographer, was distracted or whatever. That alone. That single mug shot in time where first impressions were used to size up how smart or dump or active or clumsy a kid ought and should be in real life.

Cruel.

Yes, the lecturer justified her purpose saying that it proves the point of the teacher-expectency in relation to eventual self-fulfilling prophecy and performance.

How, can I be comfortable with stigmatizing people that way? The discrimination is palpable, subconscious and natural, no doubt.

But I've had the fortune (notice its not good nor bad nor otherwise) to have been cast in a position to see and recieve both ends of such humanistic tendencies.

I once posted this personal shout -out

" What others have to say , does matter. But how much does it matter to you,
you'll have to decide."

I still believe in this notion whole-heartedly (you're kidding if I don't? I coined it yeah).

But the real issue is while I personally have the global self-esteem to live-up to it ,what about unfortunate kids or souls out there who lack the self-efficacies in whatever area is dear or important to them enough , where by it bothers them incessantly and a single word that even remotely smells negative, could tear them to shreds or scar them further?

Can simply being steadfastly neutral save the day?

It really bring light to how we deal with the people around us. And how hurting them might hurt our own karma.

'Don't spoil the karma?' as that beautiful-song goes... you have to try.

B'cos preceeding consequences on that are far more dire than you ever thought.

I can go all cliche saying the usual 'book covers' and 'don't judge them'. But I'd be missing the point.

It's what you say which DOES matter. What you see, DOESN'T.

So, to put it bluntly. WATCH IT.

Be NICE or Be Gone.