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Originally Posted by powerclown
I think it's a matter of personal preference and taste...I've always enjoyed projecting the appearance of "conservative-ness". There is something intriguing to me about playing to the largest common denominator. When I see someone trying to be "different", my first thought is "This person is simply the same as the others in trying to appear different." For me, I get a thrill in discovering something cool and interesting behind the ordinary and mundane exterior. This goes for other things beside people. Ordinary looking restaurant serving great food, super-comfortable, unremarkable looking shoes, a simple, elegant photograph, a killer old fishing rod. Discovering the wolf in sheep's clothing, so to speak.
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I sort of do the same thing, but not consciously in order to 'project' and thereby influence a first impression. I do get many comments from friends, knowing my avocation and commenting that no one would ever guess what I do by just seeing me in public, but not because I play myself down-more that I play myself UP when engaging in it.
A good example of what we choose to project is what car we choose to drive.
I chose one not even available at dealerships at the time; it had to be ordered and waited on for months. The choice was a mix of pure aesthetics and cost. Only after receiving it did I find it to be totally fun and utilitarian as well. There was little if any advertising for it then. (I found it in an auto guide)
Belonging to a group made up of about 98% bikers has shown me a LOT about appearance vs ingrained, influenced perceptions and how erroneous those perceptions can become. Leather-vested, covered in MC patches, riding huge Harleys in groups of 50 or more gets most people thinking 'outlaw',
people to be 'feared'. Marlon Brando in "The Wild Ones", when asked, "what are you rebelling against?", replying, "What've ya got?" You don't think 'lawyers, accountants, IT guys, cops', but in reality, that's who they are.
I believe it's GMAC that runs print ads that show people in various walks of life dreaming of a car totally unlike their outward appearance; the 'biker dude' wants a minivan, the old lady wants a Corvette, etc.
I think the hardest part of dealing with perception is rejecting what has literally been beaten into our brains by media influence and 'they' continue to do it right down into the news. Would it be as newsworthy if some Godfearing middle Americans took to countering fanatical anti-military protestors or is it more newsworthy because the ones that are doing the countering are leatherclad gruff-looking bikers? Would Paris Hilton be on tv at all if she was a slightly overweight brunette with a Harvard degree?