How Modern Myths Affect Society

In my opinion, I do not think that it is important to study ancient myth. I feel that it is more so for the sake of entertainment because myth essentially offers explanations for things we already have in society. The stories behind how we have the institutions that we have today are interesting however not vital to further developing our knowledge. Furthermore, I do not think that our modern society can still gain from its study because of the way that we already have these institutions and studying ancient myth would not enable us to make further advances in society.

Chapter one of The Power of Myth articulates the purpose of myths in our world today. Moyers begins with the simple question, “Why myth?” Campbell responds that mythology “catches you” and provides clues to the questions that concern mankind.

Body dysmorphic disorder causes people to obsess over a part of their body that they are not happy with. Take for example Heidi Montag who had 10 plastic surgeries to achieve her “Barbie body” (Hoskins 1). Young girls will see this in the media and think that it is okay to get plastic surgery to achieve the perfect look that they want to achieve.

Often times we hear the word Myth and don’t have a complete understanding of what the word means. Mythology can vary greatly but it is one thing that countries, cultures, and religions have in common. While beliefs, knowledge, mythology and religion may intersect they also can differ greatly from each other. Like other countries myths have come to help sculpt and shape American cultural values and behaviors.

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Dysmorphia is a disorder related to the human body. It is a mental issue or abnormality in which you can’t quit your thinking about one or more perceived defects and flaws of your body. It is an imperfection that, to others, is either minor or not observable. In any case, you may feel so embarrassed and restless that you may avoid many social circumstances.

Body dysmorphic disorder is a psychological disorder in which a person thinks about their flaws and imperfections for hours a day and take extreme measures in order to “perfect their body” so it can finally appeal to them and be the way it is “suppose to be.” Those who suffer from this disorder cannot control there negative thoughts and it can prevent them from doing everyday activities such as attend school and attend work. They are more prone to miss social events than go out to show off their results and are insecure about how they tried to fix there “imperfections.” And are never satisfied with their results as they undergo more drastic measures to reach their end goal such as plastic surgery, continuous self-tanning, hours of laser surgeries

As you’re walking down a street you may notice a young group of girls or women walking and they see a huge billboard of a beautiful model. They might stop and stare at her and then discuss about her perfect her body is. Not knowing in the next five minutes they’ll be comparing their bodies to the model and feeling bad about themselves wishing that they had her body. Not to mention, that the photo may be photoshopped to make it seem as her body is perfect, or she had plastic surgery to fit the idea of having the perfect body. The fact that the media thinks they’re encouraging young girls and women to embrace their beauty, they’re influencing them that they have to have a perfect body in order to get attention. The media has put a lot of pressure on young girls and women to look perfect and second guess their bodies, when plastic surgery is never the answer to build their self-esteem up.

Self-esteem plays a big part of body image. People have to feel good about themselves and be comfortable in their own skin to be happy. In today's world, it feels almost impossible to be happy, this generation is all about the media which makes having self-esteem 10x harder. Millions of pictures are posted of expectations of how women should look. In an article written by Pavica Sheldon, she states that ”The average American woman is 5’4 and 140 pounds, whereas the average female model portrayed in the media is 5’11 and 120 pounds”. Women are placed into a box telling them they have to look a certain way and if they don't they're simply not good enough. Besides being put into a category women numerously get called nasty names like slut or whore if they show too much. Piggy and fatty if they're overweight. Or “stick” if she's too skinny. Nothing is ever good enough is what it feels like. For example, Kylie Jenner, if you grew up watching “Keeping up with the Kardashians” you know how she looked before all the plastic surgery she got done, she now looks completely different. An account wrote, “What are they giving Kylie?” and someone quoted the tweet and said plastic. So even if women try to fix their imperfections they still get shamed down for it by calling them fake.

There are many “myths” in my family that come more in the form of funny stories, almost prank like. One that is most memorable to me is a story that my grandfather told all of his grandchildren. He would tell us that if we were ever having issues going to the bathroom that all we needed was someone to push on our head. This story progressed through his many grandchildren (30+ of us) and has even spread to his great grandchildren (40+ of them). My children know the story and often times I will hear my kids yelling from the bathroom, especially my youngest who is 2 and just became potty trained, asking for help from someone, anyone that will come push on his head! This story to me is a good example of a modern day myth, it is just elaborate

I believe that Greek mythology affects modern society. The impact of Greek mythology in present-day society cannot be understated. Art, culture, modern language, industry, exhibit the impact of greek mythology in today’s society. The earliest greek myth was a part of oral tradition and its plots and themes were deciphered eventually in classical literature. Various expressions like, “caught between a rock and hard place” directly references to the story of soldiers caught between the monster Scylla and Charybdis. Also “Achilles heels”, “opening a pandora’s box” allude to different Greek mythology.

Greek mythologies in modern society are stories with connotations of negativity, skepticism, and even unreliability, but yet saturates modern language and culture. In the Greek world it is intricately woven into the fabric of their existence and becomes the medium through which life, religion, and the existence of a higher power is explained. The English language, which is filled with the influence of Greek mythology and phrases, has approximately 85,000 words that are derived from these myths. Atlas­ a book of maps­ refers to Atlas the Titan who was cursed by Zeus and forced to hold the world up on his shoulders.

Mythic reality is a way of looking at the world through a specific lens that creates a reality that demands absolutes, as compared to a sensory reality which is the world seen as it is, in other words reality. We go back and forth between these worlds throughout life. Mythic reality transforms events such as war into a chain of events directed by a will greater than our own. A fairytale like view is created that has war perceived as a hero and damsel in distress type scenario. Man sees himself as the prince fighting to save the princess from the gruesome, evil dragon by only means of completely killing the dragon. Once the dragon is defeated, the princess is saved and all harmony is restored. This does not happen in real life, but instead war often brings about new points for further conflict rather than harmony. The title of Chris Hedges’ book in itself, War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning demonstrates how a mythical reality type of thinking in war can serve as an intoxicating elixir that lures people in, because it allows them to find purpose, meaning, and a reason to live.

In our day to day lives the use of modern technology is all around us and people are using them a lot throughout their day. As we use this technology we are becoming more and more aware of ourselves- of our appearance, how we feel about ourselves, and how we feel that others may view us as well. This causes us to constantly compare ourselves to others as well as those in the media and is causing negative feelings toward one’s self and body image. This in turns causes us to wish, hope and try to change how we look or see ourselves to mirror those whom we want to look like. We do this by trying to change our looks either through changing our clothing style to changing how our body looks overall.

We see girls in the media who have perfect lives, go to the gym religiously, are always weirdly flawless with a full face of makeup, and we can't help but think to ourselves: “Why can't I be like that?” or, “I wish I was her.” Because we see these women who are beautiful, get all the guys, seem to have their lives figured out, we feel this pressure to look and be like them, and when we don't look like them we tear ourselves down and point out all of our flaws. I have fallen victim to this many times, it’s a vicious cycle that’s hard to stop. I have noticed that Instagram models all have been working for a certain body type and face image that make them all blend in. They all have beautiful full lips, small chiseled faces, small waists, wide hips, and enormous posteriors. Most of the time, for celebrities, these things are achieved by plastic surgeons, which is why it's such a dangerous body type to idolize as a young girl. No matter where I go or what I watch, women with these body types are everywhere. They are sung about, rapped about, and praised everywhere for their body, and it makes me think: Maybe if I looked