[knife_fight]

urgeok:

I'll agree with you on several points (the most of anyone so far). I agree that people dress a certain way to portray a certain image. But it doesn't stop there. Since we're talking about music, I will be the first to admit that at one time I listened to music that I honestly didn't like too much, just because it was the cool thing to be listening to. So yes, I think people do pigeonhole themselves and project themselves onto stereotypes. Life imitates art (I think).

What I don't agree with is that you seem to be saying that this makes it ok for us to categorize people. That, since they want to be thought of in a certain way, it's ok to do it. I think a good example of this would be a conversation a friend of mine and I had. He's the manager of a record store in a semi-ghetto area of Dallas. He was talking about how much he hates it that, when he sees a young black dude come in with baggy clothes and some sort of headband, that he thinks they are a drug dealer/"gangsta" and are going to steal something... so he watches them. Now, this young person might be trying to portray that EXACT image, one of a lawless drug dealer/gangster, but it's just morally not right to assume that about him.

Everyone judges everyone else, and if you say you don't, you're lying. Most people I know judge people based on their taste, or lack thereof, in the arts (music especially, but books and film and other stuff too). And since we have established that music often has a heavy influence on fashion, we can assume that most people I know judge others based merely on what they are wearing... and what that says about what they are into.