TORSO TIPS 99BOX 24: YOU ARE WHAT YOU WEARImagine this scenario. You are walking down a sparsely populated street
one evening and you hear someone coming up behind you. You can’t see
the person’s face or hands clearly in the dark, but you can determine
he is wearing a suit and tie and carrying a briefcase. Now, imagine the
same dark sidewalk, but this time picture that all you can see behind you
is the outline of a person wearing disheveled and baggy clothing, sagging
pants, a tilted cap, a stained T-shirt, and tennis shoes that are worn and
raggedy. In either case, you can’t see the person well enough to discern
any other details—and you are assuming it is a man, based simply on the
clothing. But based on the attire alone, you will likely draw different con-
clusions about the potential threat each person poses to your safety. Even
if the approaching pace of each man is the same, as the person nears,
your limbic brain will activate, even though your reaction to these individ-
uals will be based exclusively on your reaction to their clothing. Your assess-
ment of the situation will either make you feel comfortable or uncomfortable,
even potentially frightened.
I am not going to tell you which person would make you feel more
comfortable; that is for you to decide. But right or wrong, all other things
being equal, it is their clothing that often greatly influences what we think
of individuals. Although clothing, itself, cannot hurt us physically, it can
affect us socially. Consider how judgmental and suspicious some Ameri-
cans have become since September 11, 2001, when they see a person
in clothing that reflects a Middle Eastern background. And furthermore,
imagine how some Middle Eastern Americans have been made to feel as
a result.
I tell college students that life is not always fair and that, unfortu-
nately, they will be judged by their attire; therefore they need to think
carefully about their clothing choices and the messages they are sending
to others.