What aspect of outward appearance are you most aware of?

Toughie--I'd say it's a toss-up between how we're dressed and our opposing genders. Race would be a close second to that tie.

None. I guess I must be dense, but I don't think I'd care enough to feel the need to distinguish any differences between myself and the group. I prefer to find the similarities.

It would either be that they are dressed better than me or race... I don't know which... but I put race.

If they were dressed up...and I was dressed down. That would suck!

Or if they were all male .

Well, since I'm only 19, a whole generation younger than me would definitly be noticable.

I tend not to notice very quickly that I'm the only person of a certain gender or race in a room. I think this has to do with (a) the fact that I'm of the majority race in our society and thus not as attuned to specific situations where I'm in the minority, and (b) the fact that I generally feel comfortable among people of all races and genders.

There are some exceptions, though. If I'm in Harlem, and I'm the only white person on a subway car, I may become a bit hypervigilant. Partly this may be simple racism on my part; partly this may be an awareness that some people are racist against white people and I have no way of knowing who around me is or isn't.

My ex and I once stopped in a town in mid-southern Illinois during a heavy rainstorm in which it had become unsafe to drive. There was a grafitti swastika on a building in the center of town, in big bright orange, that looked like it had been there for some time. Despite this, the rainstorm was so severe that we felt we had to stay. We went to the nearest open restaurant, a pizzeria, which had Jesus references all over the menu. We looked around at the people there, and we felt very different in appearance - slight of stature, dark haired, fair-skinned, and with some features that are common among Jews - among people who were tall, beefy, blond, and had red/tan complexions. We didn't know whether anyone could tell or whether anyone cared that we were Jewish, but we felt really tense. We left before it was safe to drive, finally. Nobody did hassle us, but somehow the torrential downpour seemed a safer bet.

gender would probably grab my attention more than the others

The gender breakdown on this survey is extremely cool.

'The other five members of the group are of a different gender' and have got long l_e_g_s

and I can imagine them being wrapped round me.

OK, so I'm a dirty old man. Doesn't matter so long as I'm a rich dirty old man. Ask Hugh Hefner.

They are in a differnt frame of consciouncess than I.

The other five members of the group belong in the group, they seem content to be here, they're not screaming inside their heads "no, no, no!"

I think different gender is what I would NOTICE first. What would BOTHER me the most is if they were all dressed much more professionally than me.

SueBee: I started out with that being my original focus(the level of discomfort in the situation) and after fifteen failed attempts to wrap the words around and not have it sound like the Sesame Street game "One of these things is not like the other..." gave up and settled for this less than perfect retooling.
Bill: Was that why the little voice in your head was screaming? Or do you have other issues?

yorricks - It's a really good survey. It's pretty much impossible to include all various possibilities. As usual, my answer would also depend on the circumstances. In a work or class setting I would feel differently than in a social setting. It's interesting food for thought.

This is very difficult I'm having trouble coming to a good decision. The one I'm going with is the clothing.

It is not infrequent that I am in meetings of a half-dozen to a dozen people who are strangers to me. I usually notice all of these things if the proportion is that outstanding. If I am the *only* woman, or the only whitey, I'll notice it, but I won't necessarily notice if, out of six, two are men, or four are men (or whatever characteristic). The same goes with most of the rest of the characteristics. I also notice body type (if I am the only person with a double-digit pants size, vs single or triple), and posture (I notice if other people are slouching during a professional meeting when I tend to sit up straight, or if other people are sitting up straight in a more casual situation in which I might tend to slouch).

It's stunning to me that something that can be very visual, such as race, might not be noticed by sighted persons. Race or gender would be very unlikely to *bother* me, but it would be impossible for me _not to notice_! But then again, a great deal of how I deal with the world is through visual data.

topper: but it's also a matter of what you are used to. If you are used to seeing a lot of people of a different race around you then it wouldn't be unusual, so it wouldn't come to your attention.

I'd notice the difference the most with people of a different gender simply b/c i'd be very happy at the nice odds...

It depends a lot on context.