Category: Let's talk
I had an interesting conversation about this topic, so am bringing it here.
I and the person I was talking with think it is a wise and practical thing to wear shades when the appearance of eyes is noticeably not normal.
She doesn’t want people staring at her eyes or concentrating on them instead of her and her complete appearance.
My eyes are said to appear normal, so I don’t wear shades, but would if they didn’t appear regular for the same reasons.
She says many blind persons feel this is vanity, and you shouldn’t wear shades or glasses to hide your eyes in this case.
What do you think?
Dark glasses would be okay if my eyes didn't look normal. I recall having to wear tinted glasses while recovering from my eye-removal operations as the conformer underneath the lid once the stitches were removed was clear, so people could see right through to the surgical site. Not pretty.
Up to the individual. I can understand why some would want to mask disfigured eyes. I know a blind guy though who insists on wearing shades though his eyes look normal. He says it prevents him having to explain even when his cane is not out. I don't much care either way personally. I wear them only if the sun is bothering me as I have light perceptiondd@
For what is worth I agree with a previous poster who made the comment that it was personal choice. My eyes appear norma but I wear shades when I'm outdoors mainly for protection. I can't tell you how many times I caught a little piece of whatever in my eye so the shades help.
Of course it is personal choice. However, let me say that after buying a $120 pair of ray bans. I don't ever wear them because of this very reason. Sure my eyes don't look normal. But if sightlings can't get past the visuals and actually communicate with the person I likely don't want to waste my time with them any how. So the bottom line for me is yes, I've got an expensive pair of shades, but refuse to where them because it gives into the stereotype that blind people should, and do, continue to wear them. Why should I coddle to sighted people, they don't coddle to me.
Kinda like free speech, you don't like what you read or hear, turn the station or quit reading. If you don't like the way my eyes look, then turn away. After all, really getting how shallow the person is out there on the table will solve a lot of problems quickly not to mention save me and them time.
I don't need shades, so I never wear them. I did once for an entire semester as an experiment. I noticed no difference in how people treated me.
I'd like to add this angle to the discussion.
Seems we have two camps. Camp A says wear shades because it looks best. Camp B says, you are vane, and hiding your blindness, so never wear them.
You don't need to pay a bunch of money for shades for this purpose. Cheap shades can, and do fit well, and look fine.
Ray Bans and such are better if you can actually use all the tech in them, meaning, see.
Well, my Ray bans were bought when I could see. Like Poster 7 pointed out, half the time I wear them half the time I don't and I'm treated the same whether I have them on or not.Like I said, I mostly wear them to keep junk form getting my eyes, like a stick or something. Just one mans opinion.
All too often though shit can fly between the frames of the glasses and your face so protection is arguable but is an over all good defense. I don't wear them because I honestly, for me personally, don't really need them. But to be clear, I have decided the main reason I don't wear them is not because I don't need them, but because others seem to expect me to wear them, and I refuse giving them that satisfaction because, you know, they saw it on tv or in a movie. Having sight (trademark) doesn't afford anymore of a valid reason than blind.
Hmmm. I'm familiar with what you call Camp A: wear shades because it looks best. I was raised with this mentality. While growing up, I couldn't even get near the door of my house without my parents demanding that I put my dark glasses on. Or if not put them on immediately, that I show them that I had the shades with me, and that I put them on before I stepped out of the car once we got where we were going. I was told repeatedly that in order to be accepted, I had to look normal. Since my face and eyes do not look normal, I was indoctrinated with the idea that the only way to be accepted by the world was to cover them with dark glasses.
I went through my rebellion in my late teens and through most of my twenties, once I was away from home. I pretty much took the mentality that another poster said: if people couldn't accept me, even with the abnormal eyes, then that was only a demonstration of their shallowness, and I didn't need shallow idiots in my life. People could either accept me or not, it wasn't my problem. In those years, I almost never wore dark glasses anywhere.
Now I'm somewhere in the middle. I think my parents were wrong to have pushed the issue like they did, but I also know that looks are more important than I used to think. Sometimes I wear my shades, sometimes not, depending on where I'm going, and what I'm doing. It's all up to the person, and their comfort level. I would never presume to tell another blind person whether they should or should not wear dark glasses. And speaking of which, I had never heard of what you call Camp B: if you wear dark glasses, you're hiding your blindness. The argument I've heard against wearing them is not this one. It's that by wearing them, we look like society's stereotype of a blind person: bumbling idiot with dark glasses and a cane. But even with that, if someone is most comfortable wearing shades, more power to them. If not, even if their eyes don't look normal, same goes.
Thank you all for the post. It is interesting subject, so I took it to you.
Oh. and we now have camp C. Thanks for that.
Hello, I don't use them unless it's summer and the sun just... well dries up my eyes which have to be lubercated more in the summertime. but yeah, people stare at me and at my eyes if I don't have my glasses on but I don't care. I just let them stare. haha
I will only point out that if you wear them because people expect it, or do not wear them because people expect it and you are rebelling, either way you are allowing others to dictate your behavior. I say just decide if you want to or not, and go with it regardless of the expectations or views of others.
I agree entirely with Pasco. I wear sunglasses, but for the specific purpose that it pleases me and makes me feel more comfortable knowing that others cannot stare directly at my eyes. Since I cannot decide to have eye contact when I wish, then neither can others. I guess that it makes me feel less vulnerable.
eye contact or not, judgement will be past. I just like making the fragile feel uncomfortable.
Pasco, I agree with you in Post 15, and that's what I do now. I wear them when I want to, or don't when I dont' want to. The rebellion thing I spoke of ended about five years ago, once I realized what I was doing...and that yes, my behavior was still being dictated by others, only in reverse.
Yes, you should wear shades. Not for any blind reason, but because it helps
prevent sun damage around your eyes, which can lead to wrinkes and age lines.
Plus, they're a great way to finish off an outfit.
By that logic, Cody, almost everyone should wear shades.
I'm with Alicia and Bill on this one. Wear 'em if you want, don't wear 'em if you don't feel like it, and don't tell anyone else what they should or shouldn't do.
Speaking personally, I don't wear shades, ever, but I won't judge those who do.
I would say yes if eyes look really odd or unusual but if they look ok, so no need
as it has been said wearing shades is a personal choice. since I was a small child I have worn them. my eyes are odd looking. for the comfort of those around me i have chosen this option. actually, i also feel more comfortable wearing them too. it's been 55 years or so that they've been a part of my life.
now, i use them also as self expression. when i wear denim i have indigo ones that match. turquoise, i have ones that have that color frame and orange lenses. also i own, leopard, two pairs of purple, pink plain, pink flowers, black bling, tortoise, and beige butterflies. for the record, target is the best place to get cool, colorful or blinged out ones.
I wore them for a very short time, only because I had a set of hearing aids that were in a glasses frame. Besides the fact that my eyes don't focus, they're actually quite nice looking.
That's a good way to look at it. Wear fashionable types to match your outfit, not the boring type. Most people I know who wear shades wear nice ones.
just-chillin:
If what you're aiming for is to make the fragile feel uncomfortable, you will have to be ready for the fragile's response. That's not just an eyeshades thing, it applies to anything we do or don't. I think it's respectable if someone wants to make the fragile feel uncomfortable, provided they don't get upset at the fragile's response.
Because in society, we go to great lengths to make the fragile feel very comfortable.
When Tommy Lee of Motley Crew got off the airplane flipping off the crowd and yelling "Fuck you!" he didn't have a fit about the prudish types who did their normal prude thing. He just laughed at them. That's actually what made rockers of the 80s what we liked as kids. What you see now, though, is people who say they want to be different, then complain that society doesn't validate their difference.
I have the opposite problem, were people don't believe i'm blind because
my eyes look "normal". It gets frustrating. That being said, I don't think
any blind person should be forced to wear sunglasses if they don't want
to. People are going to ask and assume with or without them. If it's not
about your eyes it might be about your cane or how you dress yourself.
Most people don't run into blind people on a regular bases and are
genuinely curious. That doesn't mean it doesn't get annoying but how
else are people going to learn? Just my two cents.
Amen Leo.
Personally I think you should wear shades if you need them and not if you don't. it's such a stereotypically blindy thing for people who either have no sight at all or so little that shades would make no difference to wear them, no matter where they are.
shades on a cloudy day looks ridiculous and will make people stare.
ditto inside a building.
I wear them when the sun is bright because I need them, and at other times I don't. My eyes don't look normal, but that isn't my issue.
Give me a pair of dark glasses with a built in camera and a peripheral display on the inside and I'd bloody well wear dark glasses....in doors ... at night. Hell, I only see out of one eye, just give me a high-tech eye patch. Awwww yeah!
For the record if anyone cares, (and why would you?) I have very nice, blue eyes which can't stay still long enough for most people to appreciate them.
I am not offended by the response of fragiles, I expect such a response. So should others, for that matter.
there is no should or should not. is what you feel confortable with. In some cases, yes, wearing shades provide extra protection to your eyes, especially those that might have problem with retina detachment or such. I know there are some blind people wear shades to make sure that people are aware that they are blind, because they are not usually been seen as blind or such. and, for me, i wear it because i need it. it helps me to see better and clearer.
I'm referring to situations that are not physiological necessities. In those cases, it's understandable.
Thanks for all the responses on this.
personally, I don't wear shades and I won't for the most part, because my eyes
are weird. If they are freaky looking and it majorly scares people, maybe, but
perhaps not either. I know a former friend who wears them, because his eyes
apparently scares children and he has a deformed face from an accident, which
happened in his 20s and has long lasting effects. I wouldn't make a fuss if
someone did. I think it's too petty of an issue to argue about that stuff. I do
think it's a bit silly but whatever.