Judging books by their covers

Appearances can be deceiving, can't they?

A person who appears at first glance a rough diamond may well turn out to be the most polite, gracious and generous soul you have met. Likewise, just because someone is well-groomed doesn't make them immune to all the traits we find undesirable.

First impressions are largely formed through our appearance and the mask we wear can be manipulated in so many different ways to convince people we are one thing or another. The colour of our hair, its styling, our dress sense and formality all help shape people's perceptions of what kind of person we really are.

How often have you heard someone when perhaps runs foul of the law that they "always thought he looked like a bad egg"? Or, "she seemed so nice and looked so innocent, it's hard to think she would do anything like that" of a woman on drugs charges, for instance.

Court appearances themselves are fascinating. So often people who otherwise wouldn't thank you to be seen in a tie stand in the dock trussed up and uncomfortable, hoping the court will see them in perhaps a different light than whatever charges they face suggests of their character.

So what to make of the suggestion that judges in a beauty pageant were encouraged to select a particular candidate due to her hair colour. And no I don't mean the messy saga of the Miss Wanganui winner stripped of her crown because she coloured her locks, although that case may be relevant.

And how also to digest the various stories that suggest blonde women are more successful, treated better and have more attention lavished on them than their brunette counterparts? Or other research that suggested taller people were more likely to be paid higher wages?

Are we really that shallow? On some counts yes. We will all have been out in public and either experienced ourselves or seen situations where people are treated differently to others presumably because of the way they are dressed or look. I know I have been shopping in my scruffy weekend attire and wondered at the lack of service and pondered if the reaction might be different were I adorned with work attire.

Maybe in those cases it's purely down to poor service but if you ask yourself honestly, has there ever been a time when you judged someone based on the way they look only to find you were way off the mark?

It would be nice if for the most part people were judged for their actions, not their appearance. Sadly it seems all too often experience suggests that is not the type of society we live in.

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