Although so many people today need glasses, there’s a good chance that most of these people aren’t wearing glasses. The reasons are widespread: “they’d interfere with my morning routine!” “they cost too much!” “i don’t think anyone looks good in glasses!” “i’m doing just fine without them.” There are affordable glasses, and as styles go, it’s getting much easier to find a pair that will work just right for you.
Really, what it boils down to is that even in 2016, there’s still some sort of weird stigma associated with glasses. Even children with vision problems are opting to wear contacts, and sure, for some of them contacts may work better, but there’s still a big population that would do just fine with glasses. Are glasses still stereo typically nerdy?
For example, there are quite a few celebrities out there who we know have vision problems, yet they only seem to wear glasses in movies. Perhaps it’s the issue of paparazzi pictures that stops them from wearing glasses in everyday life, which makes some sense. It’s a bit strange that even the most stylish celebrities out there feel like they can’t pull glasses off, which brings us back to the original point. Is there still a stigma behind wearing glasses?
Many optometrists are doing their best to break this stigma, if it exists. Several offices have posters in their windows of models wearing glasses, and staff have been trained to direct customers towards the glasses that look best on them. It’s probably more aimed at encouraging their patients to actually wear their glasses as opposed to breaking the stigma, but it’s hard to be sure. Although it’s rare to hear any glasses-related insults like “four-eyes” these days, the stereotypical nerd or geek is almost always seen with a pair of glasses.
So what’s so bad about needing to see? When you think about it, a pair of glasses is actually an accessibility device — people need to see, so they brought something that helps them do just that! And yet, there’s still something weird about glasses. It’s true that for many people, contacts are easier, but some people even refuse to give their contacts a break for just one day.
The next time someone trots out an excuse for glasses — ask them why. Maybe we’ll be able to figure it out eventually.
