Diversity in its simplest terms means variety. Diversity is everywhere, in neighborhoods, our workplace, schools, and communities. To address diversity in relation to people would be to say that diversity is a variety of characteristics that make an individual unique. According to the University of Tennessee (2003), these characteristics consist of a person’s age, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, physical traits, language spoken, relationship status, cultural and economical background, level of education, religious beliefs and political affiliation.
People are characterized by many things, more often their appearance; unfortunately, it is my belief that society has placed stigmas on people who do not conform to what is considered the norm. Admittedly so, I judge others by superficial characteristics. For instance, if a person’s clothes look disheveled and their hair unkempt I assume that they are not trustworthy, unclean and probably on drugs. In contrast, when I see a person who is dressed neatly and drives a nice vehicle, I assume they are educated, have a high paying job and own a home.
Week one’s assignment was to view a multimedia analysis and try to match pictures of people based a provided profile. In my opinion, the multimedia analysis confirmed again that people are first characterized by superficial characteristics, Tammy is an example such characterization. Her profile stated she was born in Syracuse, NY on August 7, 1975, and lived in an upscale suburb of Rochester NY during her childhood. She graduated high school at the age of 17, moved to Ohio and attended Miami University of Ohio to study political science, upon her graduation moved to Phoenix AZ where she is now attending the University of Phoenix obtaining her master’s degree in education.
The profile pictures show three different women, the first profile picture is of an attractive woman who is neatly dressed in casual chic clothing, sitting in front of a flowered
References: The University of Tennessee Libraries Diversity Committee (January, 2003). What is Diversity? Retrieved May 3, 2010 from: http://www.lib.utk.edu/diversity/diversity_definition.html