"Addressed By How You Dress" bla bla bla

Hello!

I won't lie—I don't like the way some stereotypes work. In fact, I don't like them at all because most times, they give us false beliefs or misleading answers. Currently, as it stands, there are some countries that have placed high restrictions on allowing Nigerians into their countries because of how badly they’ve generalized Nigerians. It's so unfortunate because not every Nigerian is bad, but these people and countries have formed their generalizations based on stereotypes—and there's nothing we can do about it.

One stereotype that I have always been subjected to—which is actually true because the trait is in me—is one that I laugh at whenever people say it. It’s the idea that I look like someone who can’t steal. Yes, I frown so much at stealing or cheating, no doubt about that, but people shouldn’t arrive at such a conclusion based on someone’s look, please!

Some days ago, I went to buy a shirt in the market and was supposed to pay via mobile transfer. After I had completed the transfer, I sat down on a bench to wait for the transaction to be confirmed by the receiver. Immediately the guy saw me sit down, he approached me and told me to go, that I shouldn’t bother waiting for confirmation.

“Why?” I asked, expecting him to say that he knows me from church, because a lot of people in the city know me even when I don’t know them—through church.

“Your face doesn’t look like someone that will scam me. You can go. I believe the money will drop in my account,” he replied and went back to attend to other things.

“Oga, don’t take life like that oooh! Looks can deceive you one day oooh!” I said as I continued sitting down to wait for the money to reflect before leaving. Not quite long after, he walked back to where I was seated and said the money had dropped. That was when I left.

This happens to me many times, and with this, if I were actually the type that steals or scams people, I would be able to do so and still appear very innocent.

To be very sincere, I don’t get along easily with most of the stereotypes we have in our environment—especially those related to personal appearance. I strongly believe that the real person is inside the person, not in how they dress, appear, or carry themselves. But it’s so unfortunate that the stereotype of dressing patterns has eaten deeply into our minds. Once we see someone who dresses decently or low-key, we quickly conclude that the person must be innocent, while those who dress "indecently" are seen as assistant devils in the kind of things they do.

Meanwhile, when you get closer to them, you might find that the so-called indecently dressed person is more decent than the one who appears decent. For me, whenever people try to judge me based on my look or appearance, I try to educate them that such stereotypes don’t always hold water.

Thanks for reading

This is my entry to Week 174, Edition 01 of the Weekly Featured contest in Hive Learners Community

The image used is mine