issue208 [dancing in the dark] by lisa

lisa0702UID: 2646704

TOPIC: 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."
WORDS: 681

TIME: 00:69:05

DATE: 2009/7/17 16:34:43

In this era of advanced technology leading to more emphasis on individualism and personality, people are free to choose the way they prefer to dress and behave, which provides a new method to get to know one's attitudes and interest, and in turn, tell something about a society's ideas and values. I strongly agree with the speaker's claim, however, I still maintain that purely relying on one's appearance to know one society is not comprehensive, and sometimes even misleading. In order to truly understand one society, one needs to observe the appearance and behavior of its people, as well as other crucial factors of the society.

Through observing one's appearance and behavior, we can get an initial impression about him or her, and usually, can tell something about his or her attitudes and interests. Especially in this opening environment with little restrictions about people's dress and behavior, most people have the opportunity to choose what they prefer to show their characteristic. For example, teenagers with optimistic and out-minded characteristic, prefer following fashions and wearing popular dresses, and would even behave franticly when they are pursuing their goals. Conversely, sociologists, or professors at a relatively older age tend to wear traditional clothes and behave normally and regularly. Also, in an interview with not enough time to carefully examine every volunteer, the judges would simply judge one by observing his behavior to get a basic impression, and tell whether he is polite, optimistic, etc. Thus, one's the behavior can always reflect something, if not everything, about his characteristic and attitudes toward life.

As every individual is also a part of the group and society, individual's attitudes and interests also reflect the ideas and values shared by the whole society. And if one person wants to integrate into the society and get accepted by others, he has to learn and behave in accordance with the society's values, otherwise, he will be excluded from the surrounding. Thus, by observing individual's behavior, and get to understand his attitudes and interests, we can in turn tell the society's ideas and values to some extent. For example, in some countries in Sahara where women wear clothes cover every inch of their body expect their eyes when they go outside, we can tell that those countries must be traditional or religious ones. Similarly, if everybody in one society behaves politely to others, it is also clear the society place politeness and personal quality at an important status. Accordingly, as discussed above, the values and ideas of one society can be told by the attitudes of its citizens, and the attitudes are reflected by individual's appearance and behavior to certain extent.

Nevertheless, purely relying on people's behavior to judge one society is not sufficient and even misleading sometimes. On the one hand, not everybody can dress according to their own wishes and people's behavior is sometimes restricted by the actual condition and surroundings. Officials wearing uniforms everyday do not mean they are strict people, for they are required to do so, and people in drastic areas usually wear little restricted by the hot weather also cannot show people there are open-minded. On the other hand, even when people are free to choose their appearance and behavior, their behavior does not always parallel with the society's mainstream. For example, we cannot draw conclusion about the social values of U.S. by observing Hippie, adopting an unconventional way of life and style of dress. Therefore, in order to truly understand one society's values and ideas, other crucial factors must also be taken into account, such as the politics, education system, and the hero and heroes admired in that society.

Indeed, people's appearance and behavior are a reflection of their thought and attitudes. And as individual is so much influenced by the society, that individual's attitudes can also reflect some values and ideas the society shared and maintained. However, apart from people's behavior, some other factors must also be considered when judging the values of one society, for observing the appearance or behavior is not comprehensive and may even lead to the wrong results.

gloriaeyeUID: 2549104

看看呗