The Cause And Causes And Effects Of External Appearance

Non-conformity is skin deep is an article by David Brooks of 27th August 2006, which argues that people fail to adopt the violations that are socially acceptable such as tattoos shallowly. Brooks notes that people’s nonconformity is superficial because they adopt to some transgressions only to look powerful but still remain unchanged inside. The writer made a positive observation through this work because many people have transformed to the socially acceptable violations in the society.

Often, stereotypes and perceptions develop from ignorance not fully understanding a situation from various views. A study conducted by Silke Wohlrab, Bernhard Fink, Peter M. Kappeler, and Gayle Brewer (2009) set out to investigate why someone might choose to get a tattoo. Researchers proposed the idea of a potential signaling function of tattoos, and began to question the type of information that is perceived by observers through an individual’s tattoos. If the tattoos acted as handicap signals, “a feature that indicates an individual’s reproductive quality as its production or maintenance is physiologically costly and only affordable by high quality mates individuals” (Wohlrab, Fink, Kappeler, & Brewer, 2009), then the experiment should yield

Most people in today’s society are not pleased with their image, whether it is physically or how they form their character. In “Enhance Your Body Image” (2015) Rebecca J. Donatelle opens her essay with “When you look in the mirror, do you like what you see? If you feel disappointed, frustrated, or even angry like Ali, you’re not alone.” She continues with a study depicting 80 percent of women are dissatisfied with their appearance (p.339). This does not only mean physical appearance; Santiago Quintana in “The Space In-Between” (2015) talks about how he did not belong in his social environment because resulting in him being bullied. A person’s values are molded by cultural influence, friends and family; furthermore, to be appreciative of

People are judged for their appearance all over the world, every day. People with brown, ragged clothes are assumed to be less intelligent, or homeless. People with long hair are assumed to be female. There are many stereotypes that limit the social actions of many people, and it is not just in real life. Rodman Philbrick shows that these stereotypes are not always true in the book “Freak The Mighty” in the form of Maxwell Cane, Kevin, Loretta, and Iggy Lee. All of those characters are misjudged by others, and in some cases, even by themselves. The message that your appearance does not determine who you are is very important, and applies to everyone everywhere.

In many day-to-day experiences people tend to view or prejudge people based on only how they are dressed or wear their hair. As a personal example, a friend knew someone covered with tattoos and piercings, he tended not to associate with him until he gained the curiosity to sit down and have a conversation. Afterwards, he learned that behind all of the tattoos and piercings he had an interesting

Gradually the acceptance of tattoos seeped into the Western society, which led to the tattoo fad in England and USA in the late 1800s (Caplan, 2000). Despite the historical stigma, the fashionable society started adorning tattoos as a social expression. What started as a fad for the working classes, soon spread to the upper classes. Interestingly, the trend did not unify people of different classes. The upper class discriminated the tattooed lower class and saw their tattoos as a sign of deviance.

Although there is history that proves tattoos were used for many reasons, some people still fell into groups that are considered stereotypes. The stereotypes of people with tattoos were considered to be criminals, drug addicts, or habitual underachievers. There is somewhat of a statistical truth to that slander. Sadly when it came to people who had chosen to show their tattoos in public, the stereotype is all too real. That is no surprise though; people with tattoos are treated poorly by the majority. Traditionally, tattoo clientele was considered to be that of bikers, bad-boy personalities, and truckers; however all that seems to be changing. There is still the tough guy image to contend with. However, it is mostly just with the older population. Chris Weskamp told the Denver Business Journal

As I was reading The Beauty Bias, by Deborah L. Rhodes, I came across a statistic that perplexed me, saying the total “annual global investment in grooming” comes to $115 billion (Rhodes, pg. 32). This shocking fact provokes a worrisome question: Why do we, humans, spend so much time, money, and thought on our appearance? As a complex question, there are several equally complex answers. However, the simple answer is that everyone else invests their time and thought into your outer shell, eliciting effort from you to improve what they study - your external image. The concern placed on one’s fashion choice or natural features by society takes away from larger, more pressing issues such as the declining economy, or feeding third-world countries.

In, the three stories that we have explored this semester, Passing, A Raisin in the Sun, and Mama Day all have the same theme of how identity is based off of the appearance of someone, and how that appearance reflects how they will behave. So the behavior of someone is based off the outward appearance of someone. This is shown by the fluidity of Clare and her ability to assimilate into different culture easily, in Passing, the various examples of the various the conflicts between Cocoa and George in, Mama Day, and the how the characters in Mama Day, present themselves.

There is an English saying: you shouldn't prejudge the worth or value of something, by its outward appearance alone. Not only does this go for objects of value, but for people as well. This is a modern theme which can be applied to the 21st century mentality, where mass media and advertisements put focus on ideal beauty. If there were no predetermined ideal models which defined the meaning of “normal”, one would never suffer isolation. Disabilities, unattractiveness, or unusual physical attributes in one’s self are attributes that people look for. Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, puts to focus the importance of appearance through the tale of a creation that was not only unwanted, but never given an opportunity to show his true self. By examining

In recent years tattooing and body piercing have become increasingly prevalent in popular culture. These forms of body modification are no longer tools used by criminals and gang member, showing their role in society. These practices are used by many of teenagers and young adults in our society today. In fact many of these practices have been a positive trend in American culture, giving adolescents a way of expressing themselves

Nevertheless, tattoos underwent a revival and a shift in the 1900s. As a result of tattoos becoming more popular, the previously held concept of the phenomenon has significantly decreased and has become more socially acceptable. The media’s presentation of tattoos, and their inclusion in both the fashion and art industry have had an impact on the symbolism circulating the world of tattoo, and has weakened its negative association to deviance (DeMello, 1995 as cited in Larsen, Patterson & Markham, 2014). This mainstreaming

Body modifications, with the focus of tattoos, have existed in our society for centuries and the way in which it is perceived has changed somewhat over the years, yet certain dishonors still remain our modern day. Like most body modifications, tattoos are an often misunderstood form of body modification. Despite the stigmas, tattoos have become a unique object of desire to endless diverse groups of people. But are the popular assumptions of tattoos out of sync with the true meaning behind them? Further explanation and exploration of the history will reveal the social and cultural practices of tattooing and the causal connection between the mind and the tattooed body, in addition to providing answers as to why tattoos stimulate uneasiness

A persons’ image is vital when meeting someone for the first time. Our peers, employers, family, superiors, even strangers that you walk past can automatically judge someone, and imagine how they present themselves to the world. Tattoos have been predominantly linked with a rebellious attitude and pictured on out of control stereotypes such as rock starts, bikers, sailors, and disobedient teenagers who want nothing more than to hack off their parents. With a new coming of age generation and a step into a more lenient and liberal society these types of patrons still participate in body art but so do doctors, lawyers, or just the run of the mill house mom. Tattoos signify religious beliefs, cultural influence, or each individual’s sole

Individuals with tattoos transform their skin in to a social billboard, expressing both explicit and implicit aspects of their identity (Atkinson, 2003), using or acquiring tattoos to communicate known attributes about themselves (Livesley & Bromley, 1973) or attributes that they do not possess but have a desire (Schouten & McAlexander, 1995). For example, riders of Harley Davidson motorcycles may view that brand’s attributes as consistent with their own (actual self) and therefore an individual may decide to acquire a tattoo which is linked to that brand (Schouten & McAlexander, 1995). On the other hand, an individual may aspire to be a Harley rider or aspire to link oneself to the traits of the Harley brand, and therefore an individual may obtain a Harley based tattoo to communicate an attribute of their ideal self (Schouten & McAlexander, 1995). Mun, Janigo and Johnson (2012) take that idea one step further by suggesting the only reason individuals desire specific tattoos is because