Carli Arcaro
January 16, 2014
Journalism F
Final
The halls of American high schools are filled with good
and bad kids every day. These teenagers vary from quiet and shy to outgoing and
boisterous. With this being said, teenagers have all different opinions and
ways to express their feelings. Most of them judge. The question is, who judges
who and why? Studies have shown that between both genders in high school,
female teenagers are known to judge more than males. In the teens opinions, the
males and females both voted to agree that they think girls judge more than
boys but boys are not that far behind in the race. In my opinion, I also agree
with the stereotype that girls are more judgmental than boys. Although many
people might assume things about females always behaving this way, I took a
survey of twenty people to grasp their opinions and view on this topic.
In
doing my research on the topic of “How do teenagers feel about being judged?”
and “Who judges more, males or females?” I took a survey of twenty teenagers
from Norton High. Their ages ranged from freshman of fourteen years of age to
seniors with nineteen years of age. There were nine surveys from the males and
eleven surveys from the females. A total of nineteen teens out of twenty wrote
that they would classify teens as judgmental and the last male who didn’t
completely say yes, said that it depends on the person. Eighteen out of the
twenty voted that females judge more than males. Between the other two one of
them said that males judge more and the other said they males and females judge
just about the same. Sixteen out of twenty teenagers said yes absolutely that
teenagers are as judgmental as people make them out to be while two others said
no, one said they think that some are and the last teen said that they’re just
as equal to anyone else but are more open when it is appropriate.
Who doesn’t judge? I bet you have looked at any person
out there on matter where you were and though to yourself, “Oh wow, what is
this guy wearing?” or while you’re on the train and you can’t help but to
think, “man this old guy smells pretty bad…”. For most people it’s a natural
instinct to have an opinion and observation about your surroundings. In most
cases it is not meant in any malicious way, but others tend to take it too far
and their thoughts then become words and then it’s considered bullying. There
is no need in most cases to intentionally hurt any ones feelings
In
the survey that twenty teenagers took, nine males and eleven females voted on a
scale of 1-10, from the male’s point of view, on average the males were voted 6.3
out of 10 on the scale of how judgmental do you think the males in high school
are. The males also voted that they see the females as an average, are
judgmental as 8.4 out of 10. On the other hand, from the eleven female’s
perspectives, they voted that on average, males are 6.4 out of 10 on the scale
of how judgmental are males on a scale of how judgmental are males on a scale
of 1-10. The worst part of the female’s decisions has concluded that most of
society is right that the girls are a whopping judgmental 9 out of 10. Was
society right with the assumptions that females are more judgmental the males
are? As a result in the data I received within the surveys, I have come to
conclusion that they were right and that even both genders agreed on the
females to be more judgmental than the males.
In
high school if a male sees something that he would enjoy possessing, and in
some circumstances will never have, he can be degrading and insulting towards the
person he is envying. With this being said, guys have been known to judge
females, not by what they have but by what they lack. They have also been seen
to judge other males in spite of jealousy out of what their demeanor is or what
their abilities revolve around such as sports or intelligence.
From
the girl’s point of view, ten out of the eleven of them said, “yes” to the
question, “Do you actually think that teenagers are as judgmental as people
make them out to be?” One female left me a note on the bottom of the survey
that said, “I think they’re equal to anyone else they’re just more open even
when it’s completely inappropriate.” In other words this means that they think
out loud mostly when it is unnecessary to even speak. “No, only if they’re
jealous of something or mad at the person” was said by the only female that
disagreed to that teenagers are as judgmental as people make them out to be.
This answer from a female freshman contradicts its self but she is still
fighting on the side that females are more judgmental than males. Males on the
other hand have made it clear that all but one junior boy actually think that
teenagers are as judgmental as people make them out to be. His reasoning was
that “too many people are materialistic.”
A lot goes through a typical females mind. Written on
some of the surveys I took, some girls admitted to saying that the reason they
judge is in spite of jealousy. They described it as the females judge other
females on their flaws just because they’re jealous of the good features that
the girl possesses. No matter how big or little the flaw is they’ll be sure to
point it out just because they wish they had that one good feature.
The last
question that I put on the survey said, “Would you yourself classify teenagers
as judgmental? Why or why not?” From the females I received a one hundred
percent that said yes absolutely I think teenagers are judgmental. One of the
main responses that kept showing up in a lot of surveys was “Yes, teenagers
just want to impress everyone” so they say, “and they’ll do whatever it takes.”
From the males I got another one hundred responses that say they all agree on
that teenagers are all judgmental in their own little way. Some say that it’s
because they “pay too much unnecessary attention to others, some think they do
it for a popularity effect and they said
that the others are just too stuck up and self-centered that they need someone
to pick apart piece by piece.