How Do Myths Affect Society

Improved Essays
As time progresses, one cannot help but to notice the significant impact myths have had on our everyday lives. The Myth of Money and Success and the Myths of Gender have had an immense influence on the thoughts and actions of Americans. Both of these myths are in the news and affect Americans by shaping and evolving their society. People go through the notions of myths because they have been conditioned and programmed to follow what society has endorsed. These myths provide misconceptions and do not reflect the true image of reality. Now is the time to change the world by altering the Myth of Money and Success and the Myths of Gender. People’s thinking will change, and different actions, behaviors, and outcomes will arise and change our society. …show more content…
No individual is guaranteed success or doomed to failure, however, the odds to succeed are stacked particularly against women, those born in poverty, and racial minorities. These groups lack upward mobility because they start with disadvantages and obstacles that make them have to work exceedingly hard to achieve success. Katheleen R. Arnold, a professor of political science at the University of Texas, states in “From America’s New Working Class," that low income Americans who receive workfare are restricted from their rights of allocation of their wage cite. These people lack equal opportunity and choices that ordinary workers normally have, such as investment on education. Workfare recipients allocate their salary to obtain basic needs and can not invest in an education. These people are not given the opportunity to be successful because they can not fulfil their contentment. Arnold also suggests that: “workfare is not about creating jobs for people that do not have them; it is about creating workers for jobs that nobody wants” (344). Nicolas Farvaque, a doctor of economic sciences, alludes that “being able to get a job is not an individual search issue only: it involves recruiters’ forms of judgment on the candidate’s qualities, and larger constraining structures, such as gender or racial discrimination” (“Mass Democratic Education”). Both Arnold and Farvaque agree that not every American has the same chance to succeed in the workforce because of discrimination based on social class, race, and

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Everywhere the screams for equality echo throughout the United States. The accomplishments of the early 1900’s originally seemed enough to turn America around. Especially when combined with the ratification of the nineteenth amendment. It was hoped women that women would be able to work their way up into an equal position with men. Many people argue the goals of feminism have been met.…

    • 1056 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The society of Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire functions quite differently than that of the United States. The economy in this city focuses on the bluff, which is an attempt to deceive people into thinking that they are modern and successful. In his article, Dr. Sasha Newell explains that “the impossible demands of maintaining a deceptive appearance of success” hinders the economy, and puts extra stress on citizens because of the need to lie and keep up a façade (Newell, 2009: 379). This article is an example of how gender roles take place in societies, and shows the effects, good and bad, that they can have. Dr. Newell uses examples from his time spent living in Abidjan, including stories told by his friends, to support his thesis.…

    • 295 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Introduction The history of Canadian immigrations begins in late 15th century by European explorers (Knowles, 2007). Today, around 250 thousand people from all over the world move to Canada as a refugee or an immigrant each year (Statistics Canada, 2011). Many of these newcomers may feel like strangers in the process of initially settling down in Canada. They may face prejudice and discrimination, language barriers, employment issues regarding to skill discounting and foreign credentials challenges.…

    • 1066 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    This Nation consists of a melting pot of race and culture primarily due to immigration. Many individuals perceive immigration with a negative connotation. However, the problems do not reside with the people who persist on trying to come in to America but the process of doing so. The policies to obtain a visa should be changed because the process last too long. Trying to receive U.S. citizenship holds in a matter of who gets lucky.…

    • 1632 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In Kandice Sumner’s Ted Talk, “How America’s Public Schools Keep Kids in Poverty”, she composes a well-constructed argument, concerning the issue of improperly and unequally distributed funding and resources to schools. Specifically, schools that are in low income and increased “colored” areas. Although I agree with her point of view that there should be a more structured and equally supplied school budget with necessary resources, I do not believe that the inequality is targeted to students of color and poverty –stricken areas. Growing up in a lower-economic and social class area, Ms. Sumner has the experience to speak for her community in saying that, “Because of this lack of wealth, we lived in a neighborhood that lacked wealth, and henceforth…

    • 1631 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Even if the formerly-deemed “unfit” people gained success, they would still be ostracized by eugenists in the Progressive Era, and would stay seen as “unfit.” In a quote on page 214, the economist Edward A. Ross asserted that though Chinese immigrants could not outwork Americans, they were able to “underlive” them. By saying that these immigrants could “underlive” Americans, Ross meant they would work more while accepting less of a wage, as immigrants were primarily hired as cheap unskilled laborers. In essence, Ross claimed that the “unfit” immigrant races were simply inclined to work for lower wages due to their race, but this did not make them a better worker than a person of a native race. At heart, Ross was insisting that under no circumstances…

    • 180 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    The perception of poverty held by many Americans is appeared as weak, flawed, and an unfixed problem in society. But with a change in perspective, there could be a chance that poverty can decrease and we can build a stronger community at the same time. In The Working Poor written by David Shipler, he discusses the barriers that low-income families face but gives reasoning to why our society can promote hope and change. Even though there is a stereotypical opinion of how low-income families don’t want to pursue change, there is a majority who want to get out of the poverty system. For that majority, they are not receiving the same benefits or opportunities that middle class receives.…

    • 2134 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    "Once upon a time, it was a man’s world,” states David Brooks firmly. For centuries it has been understood that men rule over the more important dominant and power positions of the world. From great male pharaohs, to an increasingly systematic view of presidency, men have been able to manipulate genetic gender roles in order to instill the notion that it’s truly a world only able to stand with the leadership of men. However, contrary to the beliefs of the gender based roles of conduct in society, that represent males as supreme in intelligence and in physical dominance, we have evolved into an era where woman carry an equivalent and sometimes ever greater capacity to strive for success than ever before over men. To begin with, no longer…

    • 1168 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Barry R. Chiswick’s assumption of whether or not native born Americans would jump to “pick the lettuce” in a sudden halt to illegal migrant labor is far more complex than the reasoning that there is an existing population of native born Americans capable of executing such jobs. There is no question that Americans are capable of completing the jobs many migrant workers hold. The jobs are not meant to be specialty ones, which essentially allow for any average American to successfully complete them. In the article “The Worker Next Door,” the author’s argument that the halt of migrant labor would not result in a major economic catastrophe is flawed, because there are jobs that American workers will not and do not do.…

    • 882 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Myths have provided an inspiration to writers, artists, and composers. They help you understand art and literature easily. They can inspire people to wonder and think on and make something out of it. They are stories that you can learn from the past that you could relate to and/or compare to with others. Myths have always been in our lives and they will always be in our lives forever.…

    • 357 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Income inequality is the reason for America’s high influx of wealth to the upper percent of our country. Due to a now misrepresented governmental system, Americans wages and way of life has drastically lowered and as a result, has halted America’s once prestigious influence on the world 's economy. With the American dream far from capable in today 's economy, many question America’s opportunities for people of different backgrounds and countries. In our society the greatest achievement anyone can accomplish is getting the American dream, this however, is a struggle in it’s own.…

    • 1232 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Welfare Poor Themes

    • 1023 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The main themes of Siegel and Abbott’s article, The Work Lives of the Low-Income Welfare Poor, are barriers to employment, availability of childcare, workplace conditions, wages and hours of work, job stability, industries of employment, and health benefits. These themes all apply to the reading because they are all issues that low-income workers struggle with when they work at a job. Throughout the reading they make sure to talk about each one of these sections under the category of Employment. The podcast by Diane Rehm discusses the theme of upward mobility in America and how if you are born poor you are likely to stay poor. The guests joining her were David Leonhardt, Richard Reeves, and Scott Winship, who all had their own ideas about opportunity, wealth and mobility.…

    • 1023 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    “The United States has the highest poverty rate of any advance industrial nation” (Elizabetha, 2013). To illustrate, African Americans held the highest percentage rate on the poverty scale for decades. Despite, the government programs created to assist with short-term needs of the lower class. Still, the numbers of participants utilizing such programs remain the same. The inquiry is, why does poverty still exist among African Americans in the United States?…

    • 1174 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Critical Race and Conflict Theory Critical race theory focuses on the fact that racism is a normal part of American society rather than an anomaly (Marx, 2008). It is something so entrenched in society and the institutions that uphold it, that it seems normal to people in the American culture (Harrell & Pezeshkian, 2008). This can be seen in the use of microaggressions. Microaggerssions are brief everyday nonverbal and verbal slights sent to people of color unconsciously by white people, who do not understand the message they are communicating (Harrell & Pezeshkian, 2008).…

    • 1364 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Harvey believes that scholars that adopt a new theory quickly are vulnerable to use the work in an abusive way that will benefit their own thinking. An example of this misinterpretation can be the work of Lawrence Mead who, like Lewis, was concerned with poverty and how it affects society. In his work “The Logic of Workfare; The Underclass and work Policy” Mead examines the lower class in 1989 and focuses heavily on the number of jobs and their availability to the lower class. This writing is used mainly to compare the welfare and workfare systems Welfare is an assistance provided by the city, state, and or national government of a financial support for citizens. Workfare is a system in which the recipients of welfare must obtain or actively seek employment in order to receive financial support from the government.…

    • 1932 Words
    • 8 Pages
    • 3 Works Cited
    Great Essays