Cool affects everyone differently. The typical answer “oh, cool is being yourself.” Cool could be considered an oxymoron because to be cool is being original or authentic but conforming to the same idea as everyone else. The whole idea that to be cool is to be different but. During informal research for class I discovered that being cool is conforming to the same idea. There were relentless guide to be “Cool” generally saying the same thing. What are people getting out of this whole thing? People are craving significance but for what? It is a strange paradox that cool is. Cool is a lifestyle that people adopt to feel significant. People change their physical and social style to achieve the significance.
Physical appearance: Tattoos/Pierced Body/Hair
Tattoos and pierced body have been an increasing form of identification. Guest speaker John Fanning came in to our school to talk about his tattoos that had spread from one arm across the chest and to the other. There are many elements to the tattoos. His artwork to him was a “Timeline” it first started with the first tattoo that he received. In his American culture there is no right of passage to become a man, so that first one represented to him that he has achieved manhood. Most men feel more significant to the world once the label of a man comes upon them. Piercing and tattoo work is permanent.
Hair may grow back, but it can be the largest part of self. Genetically almost everyone has different hair. Cutting it can change a view of a person. Anthony Synnot wrote The Body Social: Symbolism, Self, and Society. He writes that hair has become a gender issue; men and women have been ruled by society to have different hair in different places, and different lengths. Actress Natalie Portman had shaved her head; speculation from critics said she might be gay. She might have felt different, cool in a way; she is rebelling against social norms. Her significance was displayed all over the news, “Hey a popular girly girl cut her hair, if I do it I might just be cool to.” (Not actual quote)
Social Cues/Cool pose
Walking into a room of familiar faces, people put on a show to relate to the other person. The person must know what to say, the tempo of the speech, and the indication of a handshake. Erving Goffman wrote a book called The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. He has the idea that what we live is a performance, how we act around others is front stage. Goffman feels that we read the situation. Then act to match the other person. Personally I don’t feel that this performance is in bad faith it makes life peaceful.
In a New York Times article A Poverty of Mind by Orlando Patterson talks about the pose. It is being laid back and not worrying about life. An individual can be an African American and have the new hair and clothes, but people lose their social significance without the pose. The pose must look natural, as if it is something that comes out of the womb.
Opposing view:
The careful reporting of FRONTLINE introduced The Merchants of Cool, which is the point of view of the large corporations that sell to the merchants, which are adolescences. Later on in the archive shows a group of teens in Detroit waiting to see their favorite band Insane Clown Posse. The reporter asked who is the middle finger pointed at and one of the teen responds “It’s pointed to the mainstream.” The band is not associated with Mtv or any large financial company. These teens may not be mainstream cool but still have these same characteristics. The small group of teens that have not been fazed by corporations feel cool because they are a part of the minority. The band is a new thing to fallow that is rare. Being part of an original idea let’s these people have a genuine feeling making there own significance.
Self:
I have created significance for myself. I follow the idea of being different and conforming. I pose walking down the street; giving the look that I am confidant. I will comb my hands through my hair to the messy look. Everyday at school I read the social situation, walking down the hall I know who to hand shake, who to hung, the correct conversation. It all depends on my relationship with these people. Also some people give off the sigh that they do not what social reactions. My hair also plays a major role in my life; in 6th grade I let my hair grow out from a buzz cut. Many people liked the hair so I kept it, although it has changed in shape it’s the common length that the opposite sex was attracted to. I previously had a piercing that
Denouement:
People that achieve cool constantly put on new acts to get the feeling of being significant and wanted (cool). Guides tell people that they need a nice car, and a good-looking girlfriend. The only way to be cool is to be socially savvy, people want the acceptance by others and the feeling of being wanted to be around others. Cool is bound to change in the future. It is a fairly new concept. In history people respected leaders, not necessarily cool. It is bound to evolve from where it is now, another prophet of cool will be born some new item will be invented. Although there will always be a pose, some people will always rebel, there will be new form to permanently change the body to give the different and unique factor. Hair might need to glow in the future or maybe it will be metallic.
