This week: Judge and Jury Edited by: Kit  
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Have you ever misjudged someone's character? What happened?
Sometimes we judge a person without good reason. This week's Drama Newsletter, then, is all about being judge and jury.
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Do you ever judge others? I think that we all do, to some extent. Some of it’s even necessary for our survival. For example, if someone’s acting in a threatening manner, it’s best to get out of their presence as quickly as possible. At other times, though, the judgements we make can be unhelpful, silly, and even plain wrong.
A person’s attractiveness, for example, can influence people’s perceptions of them in a variety of ways – and they’re not necessarily true. In a study by Hernandez-Julian & Peters (2017) grading in university courses was affected by whether or not the instructors could observe the appearance of their students. The students whose attractiveness was rated as above average achieved significantly higher scores when in traditional classrooms, compared to when taking visually anonymous online courses. Likewise, Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968) found that teachers’ academic expectations of their students were significantly associated with the students’ attractiveness. These kind of judgements carry on into the workplace, to the assessment of someone’s competence, and even into the courtroom, where guilt or innocence, or the length of sentencing can be affected by one’s appearance. If this seems surprising, a look at the stories we tell, and read, and watch will show a similar trend. The male and female romantic leads tend to be very attractive. Villains are frequently shown as unattractive, unkempt, either very thin or overweight, with bad teeth, and so on. This is even the case in children’s stories, with the warty witches. There are some stories in which beauty equals danger, but generally speaking the heroes and heroines are meant to look appealing.
Here in the UK we have a class system that’s really rather silly. I wasn’t born into it, and I still do not comprehend it. I don’t dispute that there are different income levels, but for some reason Brits make a wide range of assumptions about other people based on whether they’re labelled as working class, middle class or upper class. For example, working class people are assumed to be uneducated, not very bright, pretty narrow-minded and quite likely bigoted. They like low-brow TV such as reality TV and soap operas. They’re into celebrities, and gossip magazines. They care about football, and beer, and sausage rolls. Middle class people, on the other hand, care about their education and extracurricular activities. They like museums, and documentaries, and listen to classical music. They’ll enjoy attending musical theatre, but may not have a proper appreciation of opera and ballet, like the upper classes. And so it goes on. I don’t know about you, but I don’t fit into any of that. We’re each of us individuals with our own interests and tastes, and it doesn’t do to label people like this. Unfortunately, politicians are keen on labels and tend to target perceived groups accordingly.
A while ago a friend of ours had to use a wheelchair, and he experienced something that’s all too common – when you’re noticeably disabled quite a few people will address the person you’re with, rather than you, even if the discussion concerns you. Your leg may clearly be in a cast, which is a very big hint about the reason for your situation, but they’ll still talk past you as though you couldn’t possibly understand what they’re saying, nor answer any questions yourself. In one restaurant our friend wasn’t even handed a menu, as it was assumed his companions would place his order for him. To say that our friend felt displeased would be an understatement. He also felt completely baffled. There was no reason for him to be judged as incapable of speech, or basic decision-making skills. On the other hand, people with less obvious disabilities frequently face negative judgement when accessing services and support systems meant for them because ‘there’s nothing wrong with you’. This can be when using a parking space, or a bathroom, or a seat on public transport, for example. Rather than accept that at least a vast majority of people using these will have reason to, this kind of policing of who is and isn’t deserving has people having to explain themselves over, and over, and over again.
It’s nothing new, of course. I remember when having tattoos was seen as a bad thing, and might stop you from getting a job. Even now some companies shy away from visible tattoos. I can understand it if the tattoo is hateful and offensive, but a little butterfly on someone’s wrist does not affect their ability to do the job.
Why do flight attendants have to wear make-up? Why do some companies still try to get women into high heels, even though it’s known they’re not good for the body? And what’s with ties for men? They can’t be comfortable, especially during warmer weather. Societies set expectations of how people ought to be, and any deviation from these norms are subject to negative judgement.
It isn’t fair. It isn’t helpful. Sometimes it’s plain silly. Is it possible to overcome it? Probably not, or not entirely, because it is to some extent inbuilt. We can question our judgements, though. And as writers we can create interesting characters who break unhelpful stereotypes. It’s up to us to shape our future.
Kit
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Drama: May 01, 2024 Issue [#12528]
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