HW 34: Race/Religion/Gender's effect on "Cool Pose"

The "Cool Pose" is a way for people to look cool without having to create an elaborate identity, this "pose" changes based on racial, ethnic and religious background as well as gender and physical appearance. Being cool requires someone to fill a pose, being cool as a certain ethnicity requires the person to fill a specific pose that's made to fit that ethnicity. These poses are dictated by society, or the subcultures that reject the standards of society (and substitute their own standards).

This limitation of "poses" we can assume further "boxes" us and traps us in our identities, not only are we viewed as "uncool" if we don't assume the pose, but if we don't assume the correct pose for our ethnicity and religion etc. we're still viewed as uncool. On top of that each group of people has a separate standard for how people should act, for instance, white people think black people should act a certain way to look cool and black people may think they should act another way to be cool. This conundrum further illustrates the idea that we all have to assume different identities to be accepted by different people, for them to accept us we have to fill a mythic role in their life. To fill this role we have to extend the "character" of our base features.

A person's character is pre-determined by their appearance, this character tells them which mythic role to play in the lives of the people around them and assuming that role will lead them to be accepted and feel valued. Someone who is tall and strong will be perceived as a hero, to be accepted that person must fulfill that role completely and must alter their personality to fit their appearance. In this way our physical appearance shapes the identity that we'll have.