2,000 years ago, Eskimo hunters used primitive sunglasses to shield their eyes against snow-reflected sunlight. Nowadays, aviators can also complement your hair-do or outfit.
If you’ve worn your shades inside, you must have received a few questioning looks from others. So, why is it rude to wear sunglasses inside? If you’re curious about it, you’re not alone!
Why Is It Rude To Wear Sunglasses Inside?
1. Avoiding Direct Eye-contact
In some Asian countries, making intense eye contact can imply disrespect. However, in American culture, it’s a totally different story.
When making real social interaction, a person should maintain eye contact to show they’re genuinely engaged in the conversation.
Therefore, when one keeps talking with their sunglasses on, this gives the impression they’re not interested in the speaker’s words.
Their eyes might even be wandering around behind their shades. Not taking their sunglasses off would send this message to the other person: “I just want to get this talk over and done with!”
2. Disguising Your Real Self
You’re probably familiar with the old proverb: “Eyes are windows to the soul.” We can tell a genuine smile and a forced one apart through the eyes.
Naturally, when someone tells lies, the eyes will tell the truth. No matter how hard a lover or hater conceals their emotions, their eyes would reveal them all.
Consequently, if you insist on hiding their eyes behind those darkly-tinted glasses, you’ll jeopardize your credibility.
Further, covering the eyes could be interpreted as masking one’s intentions and true colors.
Generally, people feel comfortable talking to a predictable person. So, they’d find it awkward if they can’t guess your next move.
3. Sneaking Twisted Looks
If a person puts on jet-black or mirror sunglasses, they might be perceived as someone who deliberately chooses to cover their eyes.
When talking to a person, they may fear that you’re stealing a few lustful glances. In other words, you could be scanning that unsuspecting person from head to toe behind your shades.
Once this distrust crosses their mind, don’t expect them to listen to a single word. If a person abruptly ends the conversation, they may have qualified the person with the dark sunglasses as being suspicious.
4. Faking Blindness
Did you know that there are blindsimming communities that pretend they’re visually impaired? People with this disorder choose to wear dark glasses and may use a walking cane, too.
Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID) results in a desire to be blind. While that’s not necessarily rude, you’d best avoid being considered as experimenting with blindsimming.
Further, if a person wears black shades at the supermarket, security guards might suspect they’re a shoplifter. Watching out for security cameras behind sunglasses is an old trick.
5. Seeking Special Attention
Wearing Ray-Ban indoors may give young men a mysterious look. Word has it that ladies find a man wearing sunglasses super attractive. A pair of Ray-Ban can bring symmetry to any face.
Additionally, we often see celebrities at night with their shades on, which associates dark sunglasses with being a hotshot.
For these reasons, people may think they’re trying too hard to impress others or simply full of themselves.
6. Playing It Cool
Discussing a delicate topic while wearing dark shades isn’t a good idea. This is because the person interested in your reaction wouldn’t be able to tell whether you’re okay with a specific issue.
For example, one may keep the sunglasses on to conceal their anger or even tears. By doing this, the other person would feel lost trying to figure out your reaction to the discussion.
To avoid these complications, you’d better remove your shades as soon as you’ve said hi.
7. Concealing Personal Insecurities
For some people, the first impression is the last. So, one shouldn’t have a long conversation or an interview with someone with sunglasses.
If you do that, the person you’re talking to may think you feel insecure about your abilities or looks. Otherwise, why would you hide behind that tinted glass?
This may discourage the interviewer or speaker from keeping the conversation going. That’s because it could hint that you don’t have what it takes to get a job or seal a deal.
You’d also make it hard for others to focus on the topic of discussion as they’ll be preoccupied with deciphering your personality.
They may think of a hundred reasons why you’re talking behind those barriers called shades. These doubts can result in miscommunication and misunderstanding.
To learn more, you can also read our posts on why it is rude to wear a hat inside, why celebrities wear sunglasses indoors, and why sighing is rude.
Conclusion
Even though it largely depends on the situation and company, many see it as a sign of disrespect to wear sunglasses inside.
Moreover, others may question the person’s intentions and misinterpret their words. It’s rude to do so as it may suggest disinterest, disrespect, or dishonesty.
Overall, eyes account for one-third of your facial expressions. When this portion is lost, it would be a struggle to get your message across correctly or give a positive impression about yourself.
When you wear sunglasses inside, you’ll risk successful communication with others. Also, you’ll give negative impressions about your personality and appearance.
Finally, unless you’re Rihanna or Tom Cruise, it makes a wise decision to take off your sunglasses indoors.