Urban dictionary defines swag as appearance, style, or the way he or she represents themselves.
Websters dictionary defines ego as the self especially contrasted with another self or the world.
These are two terms that people use when a person is quote un quote " cool". And in 1990 Micheal Jordan was the start of what people believed was cool. However, with Jordans success he was still facing the issue of being an African American and fighting racism. The only thing Jordan had on his side was the game of basketball. Do all people believe that African Americans carry a cool pose, swag, or a higher ego to fill a void of feel judge for being African American?
The attached picture is from the Minnesota Alumni Association. This picture shows a certain level of " cool pose". However, if another picture was added and a different race was scoring as well and also showed a certain level of " cool pose" what would be different? I feel that any race should be able to show feeling comfortable in their sport and should not have to create a different cool pose, ego, or swag to feel accepted.
I think African-Americans are very soulful people. If you go back in history blacks have been always the ones with very loud personality's. Now fastforward to today's society and look at how hip-hop influences society. Blacks are the pioneers of hip-hop, so the cool pose is a normal thing to most blacks but to other races they see it as arrogance because they dont understand the culture of blacks
ReplyDeleteSo, Josh, did you agree with Richard Majors' in how he articulated the notion of "cool pose?" Also, what did you think about the video we saw in which Harry Edwards and Cheryl Miller spoke about the notion of "cool?"
ReplyDeleteAnother aspect of cool pose that is important from my reading of Majors' article is that it provides a way of expression within a system of constraints.
ReplyDeleteI also wrote a blog about "cool pose" and how it has been shown in athletics. Mine focused on the recent film "The U' shown on ESPN about the 1980s Miami Hurricanes and their swagger and style that lifted them to the top of the college football world. I agree with Dr. Spencer that it is important to note that the cool pose is a way of expression under a system of constraints and that definitely should be addressed when talking about the cool pose. A lot of these athletes came from underprivileged backgrounds and sport is the only way they can express themselves and make themselves visible. So they take advantage of it.
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