The Pitfalls of Judging People by Their Appearance

Recently I took my family to a Paralympic session of Athletics in the Olympic Stadium, which had a big impact on me. 

We saw several events, including Shot Put, Discus, Long Jump and the Men’s 5000m.  Absolutely incredible, watching visually impaired runners with their guides who needed to be equally or even fitter than the competitors, runners with one or two blades - how hard must it be to learn to walk again after experiencing the loss of a leg? They’d learned to master that skill and run faster than many able bodied people – it was both inspiring and moving.

While watching the competitors leave the stadium at the end of the evening it hit me really hard, we’d been watching the Discus events all through the evening when the competitors are sitting down to make their throw, but as the athletes with Cerebral Palsy walked out of the stadium some were able to walk unaided; some had supporters to help ensure they didn’t fall over.  If we saw them ‘staggering’ down the High Street, I'm sure we’d ‘write them off’, yet here they were, competing on a level we can only dream about. 

The insight for me came when I moved past this point of embarrassment and accepted that we do judge people on their appearance and always will.  There is too much variety in the world for us to hold everyone in the same space.

At House of Colour we are passionate about Empowering People through finding their own  Colour and Style to make the most of themselves so that the REAL person is seen before whatever masks or disabilities they may have. 

I wonder how my  perception of people might differ from now on?