van Ommeren-Egberts 1 Saskia van Ommeren-Egberts Ms.

Gardner Honors English 1st 31 October 2013 Examining the Shoe Type Friends, teachers and students: together, every day, we witness society forming cliques and social groups. The way that society judges people has become an overwhelming way to categorize who people are and limit them to a specific category. Depicting on what clothes you wear or who you are seen in public with is extremely important in establishing a reputation in our world. How much income your family has, what they do, and how they act, are all influential in creating a cover for who you are. Depending on your own experiences, people judge others off of what they have achieved rather than looking at the situation and understanding it. To what extent does this judging others stop? There is no boundary. This cycle of growing up, being corrupted by other people to judge others, and then passing on the judgmental trait, is never ending. A Native American Proverb says: You dont know a person until you have walked in their shoes. Children learn from their parents to examine the shoe type on what they see rather than see if the shoe is comfortable or not. The form of judging others from the outside rather than what is on the inside all trickles down to how people are raised and what society depicts as being acceptable and what is repugnant. Being raised in an opinionated world, children are taught to glare and avoid thosethat are roughhousing, and to go to those who would set an example of how to act correctly.

van Ommeren-Egberts 2 Teaching children to stay away from people who arent like them is due to parents and the way government, and society, in general, teaches children. Kids look at things open-minded, not understanding differences between races and not seeing what is wrong with someone who is in rags rather than a suit. Growing up, children dont understand why we have to treat people this way. Now, Im asking you the same thing. Society takes away Persephones innocent gift to children and washes away the hopes of a judgmental free world. Dipu says, Naturally, common men looked at the external world and try to judge others. But the exceptional one concentrates on inner self. We shouldnt focus on what others do, rather we should focus on ourselves, and how this person could add to our lives. Everybody contributes to us, and it is whether we are open to receive it or not that prevents the learning process. Every man judges to the scope that is unexceptionally harsh, and that is prevented when the oblivious, non-aware, people accept that nobody is perfect. When aware of who is perfect, the harsh judgmental comments will evaporate and the narrow-minded will be nonexistent. This movement starts with one person, becoming aware of themselves, and accepting that nobody is perfect to end the way society judges people. As society progresses, people judge more and more. Humans have a way to judge others that are acceptable and unacceptable. In fact, it is part of human nature; however, as the generations observe on the behavioral changes, it grows more appalling to witness how easy it is to cross boundaries that are cruel and unnecessary. Human nature doesnt extend to judging peoples home life and family problems. Human nature doesnt extend to judging friends and what they feel and how they act. Human nature does come with understanding, and if not

van Ommeren-Egberts 3 believed that society is judgmental, then at least acknowledge the fact that people should only be perceived through understanding and compassion, not by any other factor. Even with more compassion, our society will become more accepting, and less judgmental. Join me in this movement to ban our society of this harsh perception and teach into our society a new thought process to work with. From the designer clothing to torn rags, from hot baths to gym showers, from $50 an hour to minimum wage, as a group, not only me, but you, we can make people welcomed into our society and not fear whether they wear the right clothes, have the right looks, or be surrounded by the right people. There is no definition of who the right people are and what the right clothing is. There is no social scale, people have the right to be who they want to be. Nobody determines who we are and what we like. With self-awareness the wrong people wont seem so wrong. The focus on them will diminish and make not only you, not only society, but slowly the entire world change, as others welcome each other rather than judge one another. Society takes control of us, and we need to take back societies control. Only then, will we have an environment that truly embraces its people. Word Count 790