Judging People, Classic or Dud?

bit general Dell:

judging ppl in a legal sense - in the role of a judge?

judging ppl on a personal sense based on their appearance, punctuality, trustworhiness, honesty, diligence, sense of humour......

or is the title of Rihanna's latest single?

hein?

I think everybody who does this is an idiot, but not as much of an idiot as people who start our 2 millionth thread on it.

I just posed the question impulsively, based on some recent responses to the "Anita Roddick, C/D" thread, some of which I personally found to be genuinely offensive/disturbing...not to mention the Naomi Klein thread...

I guess people "judging" people on criteria such as appearance, and fuck, whatever, is inevitable, and part of human nature. I am just as, or likely even more guilty of it than anyone else, but it strikes me that in many ways it can be an unhealthy practice which gets carried to bad extremes...and inevitably, the people who judge others most harshly are simultaneously the harshest judges of themselves, even if only on an subconscious level.

I'm also recalling the harsh comments people made about Britney Spears' performance at the VMA's..."omg, she doesn't look perfect, etc..."

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I tried to search for "judging", using the search function, but at any rate, many thanks for your response.

"judging people on their looks" might've been a better title if that's what you were getting at.

http://static.fuse.tv/upload/ftpfiles/tattooinkstop/eric64manprayport.jpg

ok, now I understand. I wish you had put all that in the initial question. It all makes far more sense now.

I think judging ppl on appearance etc is ineviatable, yes.

Ppl are obv not going to be so bothered abt criticizing slebs than ppl they know and in some ways the existance of sleb culture forms a handy outlet for their natural tendency to criticize on these criteria. Time spent criticizing slebs for these things is time that could be spent criticzing friends, relatives and acquaintances for the same sorts of things, which could have undesirable, hurtful consequences for all concerned.

Slebs are straw men and women for this kind of criticism anyhow.

it's not britney's looks so much as her professionalism that people are judging.

isn't it kind of "you could of got a normal job in a shop or office like the rest of us, but no, you didn't, you chose a different route, which means you are plastered on our TV screens and in our papers and on our magazines 24-7 and so now, having chosen that option, you can hardly complain when we subject you to microscopic scrutiny and criticize you to the hilt, speshly since you have so much case to spend and ppl to spend cash *on you* and have the facility to come far closer to perfection than the rest of us"?

just wanted to know if Ilx thought the work of Naomi Klein was worth investigating, more about her work than her as a person, but y know i guess the two are linked.

I'm not sure "she looks like a fat stripper" is judging her professionalism.

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Thoughtful responses, GG. And yeah, I agree, in large part...but that's why celebrity is a weird curse of sorts, in many respects.

...one guy- yeah, but don't you find the harshness of the criticism to be indicative of some deeper pathology running through the stream of the culture?

onimo, yah, thanks.

look, it's not like Britney's going to find out if I call her a fat stripper is it? And even by some freaky unlikely turn of events she did e.g. I tracked her down to wherever in the US she lives and yelled "you fat stripper!" at her, chances are she'd just yell "screw you!" back at me and forget abt it soon after and not go "OMG, Grandpont Genie called me a fat stripper, I hate myself and I want to die and I'm going to abandon this sleb lifestyle and get a job on the check-out at Lidl" is it?

acrobat, yr point is well-taken. I realize that you were not making an ad hominem attack on her. I'm just oversensitive (perhaps) lately to people encountering a phenomenon or person and immediately trying to find a dozen or so things "wrong" with it/them.

judging is fun, being judged isnt, the same goes for punching people in the face, next question please

lately? lately? I hardly think that Anne of Cleeves was called the Flanders Mare lately.

The point isn't whether or not Britney gives a fuck about internet people calling her a fat stripper, it's about whether as a human being it reflects badly on you as a person you use e.g. someone's weight as something they should be judged against.

I'm guilty of it myself and I still think it's dud.

GG, I dunno, things add up, though. I'm sure that some of her breakdown kinda-stuff that was going on w/her was at least in part based on media criticism of her image or self-image or whatever...not to mention the effect that all of this may have on non-celeb people who look to celebs as, erm, role models of sorts. Hello teenage girl anorexia, etc.

hello

wow

is it Onimo? haven't we already established that it is inevitability that we do this? we could keep quiet abt it, but we could keep quiet abt everything and keep all our negative thoughts to ourselves!

far better to express these thoughts abt slebs than abt ppl we know and care abt and quite a lot better to express these thoughts abt slebs than ppl we know and don't care abt. slebs serve this purpose and it's a useful one!

judging is this way could, be to do with the sheer amount of stuff that is thrown at us everyday, we end up making kneejerk reactions about which info is worth keeping and which can be discarded. which "people" as in celebs, journalist etc to put weight behind the words of and whoich to dismiss. trouble comes when reality wanders i. for instance yesterday: "i strongly dislike this journalist" does say our quitney, "this journalist is my friend and an all round good cove" says another poster, "oh" says quitney.

i was going to get deep on that one but let it go.

iow: johann hari remains a warmongering dick.

Hello teenage girl anorexia, etc.

Anorexia has little to do with the media. It can contribute, but anorexia is about self-control. To blame the media is oversimplifying and actually wrong.

iow: johann hari remains a warmongering dick.

Who's he declared war on now?

but anorexia is about self-control

Uh isn't it a disease?

Anorexia has little to do with the media...

I'm sorry, but when seemingly every magazine targeted towards women, as well as every entertainment/celeb-focused television show has an overriding obsession with celebs' appearances based in large part on body image/weight issues, I don't know how you can say that is true.

I recognize the fact that the disease is centered around personal issues concerning control and perfectionism, but I think this has to be examined within the greater cultural context. If I'm wrong in some chicken/egg way, then please expand more on that deal...I'm genuinely curious.

i think hari is gunning for pakistan now. maybe sudan? dunno.

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that's kind of unhelpful, mark. maybe it is a 'disease' in some sense, but in a radically difference sense than, say, cholera.

To add to what I wrote above, from my perspective as a schlubby guy, (who more or less could give a flying fuck concerning my own weight) I've known countless women whom I feel I could reasonably armchair diagnose as having body dysmorphia...and many of these women also have a history of at least some anorexic and/or bulimic behavior. The prevalence of this is such that if it's not due to overemphasis on bodily "ideals" in the media, then I would like to know what the other cultural contributing factors are.

may have come up in other threads.

Aye I'm sure it's been mentioned once or twice.

ok

I think everybody who does this is an idiot

judging is fun, being judged isnt, the same goes for punching people in the face, next question please

i can't even remember whether i was saying that ironically

i mean there's a reflex element to this, and then there's the bit when you catch yourself doing it and remind yourself you should be better than that

Judging people you know well is natural, normal and even essential. What's fairly dud is judging a person prematurely, snap-judging them on almost no evidence apart from appearances, the look of their face, the sound of their voice, or a brief conversation. First impressions are often astute, but full judgment should be held in suspension, pending more complete information.

But most of these generalized C or D type questions beg for platitudes.