Cool isn’t so easy nor is that simple to achieve. There are a lot of different parts to this desire that people have for coolness. One of them being that we are a part of socialization, where our society imposes on us what is or isn’t cool. We in return try to follow and become those things, in order to matter and feel some sense of self. We can’t ignore the norms of society which therefore lead us to create and play different roles in our lives to suit them.
Cool over time
It's no question that what’s "cool" has changed over the years and people have changed with it. What's cool today certainly wasn't cool 20 years ago. Cool is something that is forever changing and evolving. Like the latest trends, what's cool today might not be so cool tomorrow. We as individuals and as a society also change along with it. “ If cool is inherent in people rather than objects ,then what is seen as cool will change from place to place, from time to time, from generation to generation.” (Pountain, Dick, and David Robins. Cool rules: anatomy of an attitude. London : 2000. 12-33. Print. ). For example the different style eras, from the 196o’s, when the whole hippie look and lifestyle was in because at the time there was a drug-induced revolution against traditional American values happening in society. To the 1970’s- 1980’s when the punk look was in to rebel against the other mainstream trends that were out and to go along with the anti-government theme. These style eras are evidence of what’s seen as “cool” changing over a period of time with society and people following it. Every generation has their own idea of cool based on how they were brought up during their time but regardless will need to change to fit into the “new” cool societies and generations.
Others perspective on Cool
There are many different perspectives on what cool is and how it is defined. A major difference between people’s ideas of cool is either being “authentically” cool or being “fake” cool. “Cool is an attitude or personality type that has emerged in many different societies.” (Pountain, Dick, and David Robins. Cool rules: anatomy of an attitude. London: 2000. 12-33. Print.) Cool is a lifestyle and part of people’s culture. It’s a way of dressing, talking and acting. Cool is the individuals’ way of adapting to the ideas of society. The way people have described being authentically cool is “being you" or “being original”. Our identities have many different faces and some of them might be “fake”, being just products of the situation we are in. I don’t believe that anyone can ever be truly authentically cool because people are always going to be inspired by something or someone else around them. Like through the media, the media sells a lifestyle and a culture to societies. We are marketed what cool is through the media. From all the magazines, movies, music videos, etc. being watched and listened to and all the celebrities we look up to. We can’t help but be influenced by all that surrounds us.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
First i noticed that you used andys style of layout which i thought was organized and helpful made it flow better.
ReplyDeleteif it helps a sharper thesis might be- Cool is an idea that constantly transforms
Magazines like teen vogue send out a new issue each month about the new style and trends. Not fallowing the trends can make people uncool. It seems unfair that cool is not about being you it is about what large companies say is cool. it is also a guide how to live your life. Tips to being heathy and skinny (like models) advice sections. In other words how to be cool?
i hope this helps out in any way good luck
I think you have a good thesis and it not too broad but you can stiil tlk bring a lot of ideas and thoughts you have.
ReplyDeleteA topic you can talk about of how we change as a society is the Birth of Cool: Jazz created "cool", these jazz players would talk in voice that was never enthuasitic, more w.e., would talk in slang, would get the ladies, smoked cigarettes, would drink, everything that made what we know today as the "cool attitude." Soon it was adapted by actors and film makers and then by everyone else transcending through to what now has become the norms of our society. But the elements of cool are what change throughout time but this want to be society's cool is is always the same, trying to fit the current cool.
I like the topic of your paper feel like you have great ideas and thoughts to support it. Keep up the good work :)
Larche,
ReplyDelete“The society pressures us into molding ourselves into a different creature, we are all moths that are thinking that this lightbulb is the moon...”
Cool is changing in the speed of light, we can’t be able to keep up with it, yet we force ourselves to do so. There are so many different types of cool as well, each individual has a different definition of cool. None of us know this real meaning of cool yet, but we try so hard to figure it out. We are all masking ourselves into something that we aren’t, we all try so hard to be so artificial. This is what the society teaches all of us to do. When we feel this sense of meaninglessness we have nowhere else to turn to. We just start to follow what everyone else is doing, or do what we are told by society. Getting tattoos, piercings, becoming buff, wearing make up; these are all things we do because we are told to do so.
Personally, I think this is a very strong start for your paper. You have many great things to say but there are a couple more things that you need to tweak or add to make this paper better, since there is always room for improvement...
- Try using a quote from a real person that YOU did an interview with in person, or when Mr. Fanning came into Andy’s class.
- You should use the merchants of cool, or the research we did on cool to show how we are all trying to change ourselves for the “better”.
- Try to expand by adding more paragraphs with more evidence to back up your thesis
- I see you are missing a conclusion, or last paragraph of the essay; restate your thesis and end off with a strong last paragraph to keep the reader wanting more.
- Proof read a couple of times to make sure grammar is correct and you are making sense.
Hopefully this will help :)