Let’s play “Cool / Not Cool.”
Cool: Female
Not Cool: Male
Women are cool because they can do anything a man can do, and do it better.
Men are not cool because they have repressed women for centuries. They are over-sexed buffoons, controlled by their physical urges. It has been a man’s world for too long!
Why can’t we celebrate the fact that women have opportunities they never had before, and work until that job is completed? Why can’t we admit that men have objectified women and have been misogynistic, and keep working until that that is corrected? Why are men been being stereotyped, just like women accused them of doing?
Cool: Young Adults
Not Cool: Seniors
Young adults are hip, sexy, entrepreneurial activists, trying to straighten out the mess made by previous generations.
Seniors are sucking the money out of the Social Security and Medicare funds, putting a heavy burden on younger generations. They are going to leave the world in a terrible mess. They should get out of the way.
Every new generation brings something new and exciting with them. Every new generation shines a light on the abuses and neglect of the previous one. Yet, it seems to me, every generation loses a little of the virtue of the previous generations. Seniors have something no one else has, experience and wisdom. We should be seeking them out, as we try to find our way forward.
Cool: Liberals
Not Cool: Conservatives
Liberals care about the plight of the poor and people of color.
Conservatives only care about their 401k’s and big business. They’re bigots, too.
Oh, how politicos love putting little sticky labels on people. Liberals and conservatives need to start talking to each other (and listening,) because they are both too extreme, and very incomplete in their perspectives.
Cool: People of Color
Not Cool: White People
People of color are awesome because they add diversity to our immigrant nation. They have been oppressed for too long. It’s time to stand up and blame “the man” for everything wrong in their lives.
White People were bigots and oppressors. Now, they try to hide their prejudice with “dog whistle” politics. Dog whistle politics uses code words. So that terms like, “welfare queen” and “food stamp recipients” mean “black”.
Why can’t white people assume responsibility for their shameful role in the history of enslaving and denying rights to black people? Why can’t black people assume responsibility for their own lives and personal decisions? Why can’t we have an honest discussion about both, without being branded a racist?
Cool: People from Anywhere but the South
Not Cool: People from the South (and the Midwest)
Northerners are sophisticated, enlightened, educated, tolerant people.
Southerners don’t have all their teeth and are probably married to their cousin. They are uneducated and don’t know how to talk right.
My experience shows me that Southerners tend to be more congenial and respectful than their northern neighbors. My experience also shows me they are more progressive, but that’s a hard sell, since northerners know they are smarter.
Cool: Celebrities
Not Cool: Regular People
Celeb activists are the coolest of all because they are using their popularity for good, as they indulge in their lavish 1% lifestyle.
Regular people who work hard and avoid the limelight; they’re boring.
Celebs have money and attention. It’s cool if they want to use that for a platform. But is seems like that money and attention often gets them into a lot of trouble. All the while, Regular Joe is busy struggling trying to pay the bills, get his kids through college, and be a decent person in the process.
Un-coolest of All: Ordinary, Older, Conservative, Southern, White Males
They’re dinosaurs, and very angry that their kind have fallen out of favor. They are hateful, repressive hicks, and a real danger to society.
Why can’t we just consider people on an individual basis in seed of stereotyping them? Why don’t we evaluate things based on real values, rather than a “coolness” factor? Are these “cool” stereotypes much better than the old ones they replaced, or are they just a knee jerk swing of the pendulum in the other direction?
