True or False: You judge based on looks

January 9th, 7 AM. Wash face; brush teeth; get dressed; eat; put on make up; leave. My morning usually consists of these basic things with little to no thought behind them, but today started a little differently.

As I sat on my floor behind my door, putting on eyeliner, I started thinking about stereotypes. Do I, a girl who gets ready in the morning and puts on makeup, become clumped into the category of a "girly-girl"? A girl who seems to be, at first glance, superficial and only cares about her appearance?

The answer is yes. I've had to deal with peoples preconceived notions about me for years because I care about how I present myself. My family, my peers and even my teachers have deemed me to be something that I'm not.

During the school year, I've become accustomed to hear my teachers tell me that on the first day of school, they thought I was "too concerned about my looks" and nothing else, but they were so surprised when they saw I actually had a brain. I hate that they judge me before they get to know me, but proving them wrong feels pretty great.

But what if your a girl who wakes up in the morning, puts on the first clean shirt she sees and is off? Does that make you less of a girl compared to the made up barbie sitting next to you with their hair done, full face of make up and the newest clothes?

Not at all. Personally, I think these type of girls are respected more by adults and their peers at first glance. Girls like this seem to have a totally different focus than the "girly-girls". Instead of making sure that every hair on their head is in the perfect spot, they tend to participate in various activities, usually assumed to be school related, which leads their teachers to believe that they'll be great students and their classmates assume they always have the right answers.

But this "bookworm" sort of image can also be wrong. Girls can be super dumb and not care about their looks. Either way, both stereotypes are usually false and sometimes end up being pretty hurtful. For example, the "bookworm" may not like the "girly-girl" because she looks dumb or annoying, even though they have never spoken one word to each other. Not very good for the self esteem huh?

Though SOTA isn't full of stereotyped cliques compared to suburban schools, we still pre-judge people no matter how hard we try not to. However, I'm not saying don't judge someone, I'm saying reevaluate your opinions of people because usually, their real personality will be a pleasant surprise.