RR#1

The reading Thinking Critically, Challenging Cultural Myths is asking readers to think about our nations cultural myths and to rethink what they mean. In the reading the author is trying to have the reader rethink their culture and is attempting to have the reader take in new information and challenge what they currently know. The reading is also demonstrating how powerful a myth can be even if an individual chooses to rebel against the myth.

My thoughts on this reading are that the reading has many fair arguments. Very often Americans don’t realize that we too have our own mythology. We tend to forget that mythology is the stories we tell so we can explain what our values and morals are. Myths are in every culture, yet I have never heard much about American Mythology. But we do have our myths, the myth of the perfect family, of the perfect children, the perfect life. Though our society often doesn’t realize that we have myths because of how we think of them. When we think of a myth we think of a fairy tale, or fictional characters that go off and do something amazing.

But at the same time the article is questioning our cultural myths. It questions the ideas and values that we as a county believe are important and fundamental for our country’s moral compass. While not all of our morals are perfect it’s safe to say that most of our myths have good intentions. We as a country want married people to live together and be happy. We want these happy married people to then have happy children and then grow up in a safe and happy community. While it’s important that we reevaluate our myths and morals it’s important that we see what those myths where trying to have us see.

Then again it’s important to remember that many of our myths have hurt our own people. It wasn’t to long ago that the myth of gender roles kept our society from growing. As the reading describes “As children we get gender role models from our families, our schools, our churches, and other important institutions.” (page 4) If no one ever questioned the ancient gender roles women would have never moved up the social latter and all across America women would still be at home even if they didn’t like it.

Over all our myths will change over time just as they have though our country’s history, but the important thing is while we are reevaluating that we don’t forget that many of these myths are no meant to handicap our nation. Their intention was to try and have a strong moral fabric that the entire country could follow; and while our myths do need to be relooked and rethought we have to see that the entire myth was not so very wrong.

"Thinking Critically, Challenging Culture Myths." Rereading America 8th Ed from Inquiry to Academic Writing Brief Edition. 8th ed. N.p.: Bedford/st Martins, 2010. 4. Print.