There is a very signifigant difference between plagiarism and ReMix. Plagiarism is the theft of another individual’s work that is passed off as one’s own creation. A ReMix is when an individual builds off a previous piece of work, to create a new piece that the individual could call his own.
Chapter 8 focuses on masculinity’s role in cool, and how African-Americans have been sterotyped in this not always positive manner. Media over time has given this culture a negative stigma regarding African-Americans being angry, or prone to violence. Rice comments on how movies over the years have always portrayed African-Americans as either being ignorant, or playing the role of the angry, black man. The chapter focuses on “gangsta rap” as an example of the way anger can be a trait of cool. Rice examines how society could lead an individual to present himself in this fashion. The chapter also focuses on how cool is usually attributed to males, and ponders on why this is true. He asks the reader why the idea of a woman in power is unsettling, and where we developed these feelings.
I decided to answer the questions regarding the presence of women propagated as “thugs”. There are definately examples of women as thugs in our media. The rapper and rumored mistress of the Notorious B.I.G., Li’l Kim seems to be the prime example of this. Her lyrics are vulgar, which for some reason appears shocking and masculine to the general public. She proclaims to have ties to crime and violence, which is also masculine. Li’l Kim seems to be the perfect representative of the female thug. Record labels have accepted that women can portray the thuglife, DeathRow Records has a number of prominent examples. Movies have also portrayed this idea of the female thug. “Set It Off”, a major motion picture released a few years ago, portrayed several women robbing a bank.
Chapter 9 discusse the “cool pose”, and delves into how individuals portray themselves physically to create a sense of cool. Rice examines how clothing and jewelry can be a form of cool self-expression, and how language is changed for the sake of cool. Body language can also portray cool. Individuals wearing designer clothes might be trying to portray themselves as rich, which could be considered a cool trait in our society. Bandannas or chains could reinforce an individual’s dangerous nature or masculinity. Rice examines the different images that are used by people to convey this feeling of cool.
