Perceptions about eyeglasses have changed since the 1950s and 1960s. Back then, the unworldly, unpopular, and uncool nerd was commonly portrayed by Hollywood as a disheveled person with thick rimmed glasses and thick lenses that distorted the eyes. The person often was typically portrayed as an inventor, scientist, or some misunderstood genius. Often, the person was the target of bullies. Amid the connotations of this stereotype such as frailty, bookishness, and passiveness, is a positive connotation that lasts to this day: intelligence.
Then as now, intelligence is a positive trait that most people value. This is especially true today where intelligent, glasses-wearing people such as Bill Gates have transformed the world. Studies have uncovered
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However, this can't be said of high prescription glasses that distort the eyes and face. Part of the reason for the greater acceptance of glasses is their improved stylishness. But no amount of styling offsets the effect of coke bottle lenses, magnified eyes, and shrunken eyes. This effect often elicits the old negative stereotyping.
Another problem is that these lenses interfere with the non verbal communication that occurs with the eyes. People unconsciously express their attitude and feelings through their eyes. At the same time, people unconsciously pick up on these "eye signals" and interpret them correctly for the most part. This is why the eyes are considered the windows of the soul, and why eye-to-eye contact in social and business situations is important.
Through a lifetime of interpersonal interactions, our brains are trained to interpret the movement of the eyes and the facial muscles around them. When you cover the eyes and the surrounding part of the face with thick distorting lenses and the thick rims required to support them, the brain can't read important unconscious signals. The person communicating with the wearer of thick glasses feels a certain psychological