Whether it’s an innate trait or something we’ve learned, we can’t deny that we all judge one another. We create an instant opinion of someone just by looking at them. That first impression will determine our thoughts about someone until proven otherwise. It’s not that we’re trying to be judgmental, we’re simply determining if we accept this person. If they will fit into our understanding of the world.
These initial judgments are focused solely on a person’s exterior, and as we know, we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. In today’s world we know how toxic and detrimental certain judgments can be, yet we still make and take them. Whether it’s gender, race, or orientation, many of us live in fear that these external judgments -which have nothing to do with who we truly are inside- will negatively impact or jeopardize our lives.
There’s no immediate fix that will undo all of the stereotypes and oppressive institutions. Sadly they exist on a level much larger than us. Judgement’s been bred into society since its existence because we fear the unknown, thus those that differ from us. But instead of giving our power away and waiting for institutions to fix society, we could just decide to stop judging one another, now. We should attempt to communicate and resolve our differences by asking each other, “Why?”.