Today, one of my professors for a class about Miguel de Cervantes was talking about appearances, and how in the time of Cervantes, how you were perceived by society was more important than your character as a human being. "Appearance is the truth," he told us.
Making a modern day connection, he claimed Spain still obsesses over appearance, at least compared to the United States. A Spanish student would never eat in class or get up to use the bathroom, because that tells the rest of his or her peers something about his or her integrity as a human being. An American student, on the other hand, would pull out a full spaghetti meal during a lecture without heed (I am more or less paraphrasing the professor's exact words). I guess in some other ways I have noticed a stronger preoccupation for appearance, although I would say it's more of a European mind frame than a Spanish one. If I go to the grocery store in my pajamas--which I do quite often, thank you very much--I always get noticeable stares, if not outright comments, from strangers. "Acabas de levantarte?!" They're always joking around, but I could do that in San Luis Obispo and not get a second glance.
I just thought it was a really interesting lecture. Maybe it is more polite to save snacks for after class, but if you are really judging a person by their appearance, that's a problem too. Then again, if appearance is the truth, it doesn't really matter how you "actually" are but just how others think you are. It's a classic dilemma: work to impress others around you? Or don't give a shit and live how you want? I try to revolve my life around the latter, but sometimes you just have to listen to what other people think. Not that I would change my personality for anybody, but it's kind of egotistical to not be open to constructive criticism.
Making a modern day connection, he claimed Spain still obsesses over appearance, at least compared to the United States. A Spanish student would never eat in class or get up to use the bathroom, because that tells the rest of his or her peers something about his or her integrity as a human being. An American student, on the other hand, would pull out a full spaghetti meal during a lecture without heed (I am more or less paraphrasing the professor's exact words). I guess in some other ways I have noticed a stronger preoccupation for appearance, although I would say it's more of a European mind frame than a Spanish one. If I go to the grocery store in my pajamas--which I do quite often, thank you very much--I always get noticeable stares, if not outright comments, from strangers. "Acabas de levantarte?!" They're always joking around, but I could do that in San Luis Obispo and not get a second glance.
I just thought it was a really interesting lecture. Maybe it is more polite to save snacks for after class, but if you are really judging a person by their appearance, that's a problem too. Then again, if appearance is the truth, it doesn't really matter how you "actually" are but just how others think you are. It's a classic dilemma: work to impress others around you? Or don't give a shit and live how you want? I try to revolve my life around the latter, but sometimes you just have to listen to what other people think. Not that I would change my personality for anybody, but it's kind of egotistical to not be open to constructive criticism.
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