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Issue208
“The way people look, dress, and act reveals their attitudes and interests. You can tell much about a society’s ideas and values by observing the appearance and behavior of its people.”
The speaker states that only through observing the appearance and behavior of a society's people could we tell much about a society’s ideas and values, for the reason that the way people look, dress, and act reveals their attitudes and interests. Although I readily accept his conclusion, yet I fundamentally disagree with his reason for the conclusion, .
Does people's appearance and behavior reveals their attitudes and interests? As far as I am concerned, sometimes that would well serve to reveal, however that could probably at times be used as disguises to cover up what they really mean.
Since every individual has his inherent way to act in certain circumtances, some of their actions might serve to reveal his attitudes and interests just like the senario presented in the saying "explore one's inmost through the eyes". But things would be quite different when the society is classified naturally into various groups according to the people's interests. Everyone thus wants to identify himself with one of the social groups, and therefore his behaviors are always adjusted to reflect the characteristic of his community, otherwise he might be alienated or even exculded by his companions. For instance, we could judge from the way a man is dressed whether he is a white collar worker. In some cases, we might associate well-dressed, neat, acumen in speech with a well-educated man. Conversely, if a teacher wears or acts in a too avant guard style that he has a strong willingness to do, he may be criticized by his colleagues and students and might eventually lose his positon as a teacher.
It clearly shows from the above that identity with a certain community in a society sometimes, however, only serves to help cover up what people really mean by his appearance and behavior, for most people have a natural inclination and desire to be accepted and appreciated to obtain certain psychological satisfaction by his peers. And it is of course due to this effect that certain individual desires and interests are sacrificed to accomadate to the overall characteristic of the community. One extreme example lies in the country in a non-democratic society--the former Iraq as an example. People act cautiously in accordance with the ruler of supreme power to prevent persecution, no matter how they really feel. In many communist countries, everyone dare not express any discontent with the government for fear of being punished. In the case of this kind of society, people's appearance and behavior are not determined only by their own will, and so, obviously, they do not at all reveal people's real attitudes and interests.
Since people's behavior and appearance are the consequences of the interplay between the them, it might to some extent tell about a society’s ideas and values. Social ideas and values seems a propulsion when people act according to them, while an obstacle in the way when their behaviors go beyond them. In the United states, for instance, the society encourage philanthropy donations in the way that those who do such deeds will enjoy the advantage in tax offered by the government. That may very well accounts for why so many rich man in the U.S. prefer make donations to the public cause.
In sum, the way people look, dress, and act sometimes does not reveal their actual attitudes and interests, and it usually serves as the result of interaction between the various interests in a certain community. Moreover, it is just due to this very reason that we could tell much about a society’s ideas and values from the appearance and behavior of its people. |
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