Myths About Women
Many myths are circling around communities of America today. Myths surrounding race,
gender, and even sexual identification. One set of myths that I think are important are the myths
about women. Women get labeled with so many different things, just because of their gender.
Some important misunderstandings would be that women are over emotional, they all want to
reproduce, women depend on men, and mothers don’t make good employees.
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Myth #1: Women are overly emotional
This myth mostly comes from men’s lack of knowledge with the menstrual cycle. They
automatically think women are over sensitive and emotional during this week. The fact of the
matter is, the estrogen hormone in women drastically drops during the period (Jio). When
estrogen drops, this can cause women’s emotions to fluctuate, but not label them crazy. The
menstrual cycle is also complicated because it varies for different women. Some women may
not have it very heavy, while others have to start taking medicine a couple days before it starts
and even sometimes have to take a sick day to deal with the pain. This is misunderstood by
many because they don’t have the personal experience to have the right judgement.
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Myth #2: Women have a maternal instinct
The meaning of maternal is to be like a mother. Instinct, on the other hand, means “behavior that is mediated by reactions below the conscious level” (Instinct). This phrase is implying that inside all females is the natural desire to want to have children. This myth comes from the woman being the natural nurturer, but that isn’t always the case. While in nature, animals need to reproduce to keep the population going, they don’t have the subconscious decision-making skills to decide if they want to do that or not. For humans, that decision is up to the female. Some women don’t even want to be near children, while others can’t wait to have one of their own.
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Myth #3: Women depend on men
It is not logical that women should have to depend on men. Every species is set up in a way to where each gender has their own qualities for survival. There is no reason the female gender should have to depend on the male for survival. That is how some species continue to thrive. On a more emotional level for humans, it is okay for men to want to take care of women, but it shouldn’t be to the extreme that they take away their independence. Every person is entitled to their own decisions and they have the right to do what they want and how. Women have the same opportunities as men do and they can achieve their goals all by themselves.
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Myth #4: Women do not make good employees
Finding a good employee these days is relatively hard. But just because a woman has a child, that doesn’t mean her work ethic declines. In Kentucky, there is no specific law saying that the employers must give maternity leave (although all places do), but they do have to treat workers that are pregnant as an employee with a disability, giving lenience for missed days and cannot be discriminatory towards pregnant women (Kentucky). Maternity leave is necessary for the newborns development, both physically and mentally, for the child to be with his/her mother. The father could also take a few days off as well. It would be absurd for an employer expect a new mother to come straight back to work after childbirth and expect somebody else to take care of the child. Now after the child has grown up, the responsibilities may include taking off some days to tend to the needs of their child, but this in no way effects the way they perform at work and these missed days could also include the fathers having to take care of these duties, not just the mother.
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As you can tell, there are many myths that are put on many groups of people, not just women. In my opinion, everybody should be treated the exact same and not base our opinions on anything else besides the fact that we are all humans. I think that supporting the differences that people have and praising those, would really take those judgements away. More programs should be put in place like we have here at Campbellsville, such as the different clubs that support different groups of people, like the BCM organization. Making people feel more comfortable with themselves regardless of race, gender, etc. and educating people would help with all these false accusations.
Works Cited:
“Instinct.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, 2017, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/instinct. Accessed 16 Sept. 2017.
“Kentucky Maternity and Pregnancy: What You Need to Know.” Kentucky Maternity and Pregnancy Laws & Compensation Compliance Analysis, BLR, 2017, www.blr.com/Compensation/Discrimination/Maternity-and-Pregnancy-in-Kentucky#. Accessed 25 Sept. 2017.
Jio, Sarah. “A Month in the Life of Your Hormones.” Woman's Day, 3 Mar. 2015, www.womansday.com/health-fitness/womens-health/a1605/a-month-in-the-life-of-your- hormones-107587/. Accessed 16 Sept. 2017.
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Myths About Generation Z
Generation Z, also to some known as the post-millennials or Gen. Z, are individuals born
between 1996 and 2010. The oldest person in this age group would be 22, and the youngest being
seven. This age group raises a lot of questions to the older generations. Many misunderstandings also
circulate Generation Z because we have access to many different things growing up that other
generations did not have. Some myths include Generation Z revolving around technology, not being
goal oriented, and being diverse than the older generations.
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Myth #1: Gen. Z revolves around technology.
While most older generation people have access to technology now, Generation Z members have
grown up around technology. Hence, most people think that they are always in front of a screen of
some sort. While this may be true to some extent, other generations highly believe this because they
did not have the opportunity to grow up with this access. For example, if somebody goes out in
public, they will most likely see a young kid with a phone screen in front of them. While some may
think that this would be a bad thing and that this would be ‘ruining’ kids, parents are just simply using their resources to help their children behave. Adults are also worried that teenagers these days will not be able to have efficient face-to-face skills because they’re addicted to this technology. This could affect teenager’s futures for many reasons, including getting a good job. But in reality, even if teenagers have cell phones, they are still communicating face to face with other people quite often. Also, technology can help teenagers do more than just text and browse through social media. In fact, “76% of Generation Z agree that their experience with technology will help them reach their goals.” (Jenkins, Ryan). This means that with the help of technology, teenagers feel more able to do what they want to do with their future.
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Myth #2: Gen. Z is not goal oriented.
This myth is originated from the perception that Generation Z does not want to continue their education past high school or get a professional job later in life. In fact, “In October 2016, 69.7 percent of 2016 high school graduates were enrolled in colleges or universities.” (“College Enrollment”). This is more than half of the graduates, and has increased .5% just since 2015. Having kids know what they want to do from a young age is very important now so as they get older, they are having a goal to work towards throughout their school career. Going into college is not the only goal that students these days have. Knowing what career pathway you are going to pursue after high school, is also a very good goal to reach for. Most teenagers these days want to have high paying jobs. They realize that having a high paying job is going to include getting a degree (or two) and/or working their way to the top of the company. With this being said, Generation Z members do make very good workers. No matter what job, whether it is the first job or not, they have a very good work ethic.
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Myth #3: Gen. Z is much different than the older generations.
Most older generations think that Generation Z is very different from them. This is because most of the older generation members, such as Generation X, don’t necessarily understand how Generation Z has grown up. They think that Gen. Z is going to be completely different than their parents and grandparents. While this may be true to some extent, when Gen. X members were the same age as Gen. Z members, there are many similarities that can be observed, especially during the teenage years. Some of these similarities are under different circumstances, but are still alike. There were many new advancements during those generations as well. It was not exactly cell phones, but it would include CD players, cable TV, cellphones, and computer games becoming a very common thing. The main difference that people can observe is the style of parenting. This paranoia can include the thought that their children are always in danger. When Gen. X members were kids, they could go out riding their bike for 2 hours and their parents weren’t worried that they got kidnapped. Now, if Gen. Z members go out with their friends for even an hour, they have to check in with their parents, so they know everything is okay.
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In conclusion, there are many myths that are put on generation Z. This generation is highly talked about because it is the most recent one that is of a significant age. The solution to bust these myths and stop further myths from forming, would be for the older generations to drop the idea of the “good ol’ days” and focus on what is happening right now in today’s world.
Works Cited:
“College Enrollment and Work Activity of 2016 High School Graduates.” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 27 Apr. 2017, www.bls.gov/news.release/hsgec.nr0.htm. Accessed 9 Oct. 2017.
Jenkins, Ryan. “12 STRIKING STATISTICS ABOUT HOW GENERATION Z IS USING TECHNOLOGY.” Ryan Jenkins Next Generation Catalyst, Speaker & Blogger, blog.ryan-jenkins.com/2016/03/03/12- striking-statistics-about-how-generation-z-is-using-technology. Accessed 20 Oct. 2017.
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Myths About LGBTQ Community
LGBTQ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning. This group of
people consists of approximately 9 million people (3.5%) of the United States (Gates). Many
myths surrounding this group of people originate from the old school, judgmental state of mind
that some people still have today. There are many organizations that support this group of people,
such as Miley Cyrus’, Happy Hippie Foundation. There are also many groups that are against
them, such as the American Family Association. Most people today are becoming more accepting
to the LGBTQ community, mainly because the younger generations are growing up accepting them. On the other hand, the organizations and people that are against this community can get violent sometimes. This is why these issues and myths are important to address and debunk. Some of these myths include that same sex marriages can harm children, the Bible blatantly disapproves homosexuality, and that having LGBTQ people in the army will degrade it.
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Myth #1: Same sex marriages can harm children
This is one of the myths that the anti-homosexual community tries to use as their ‘evidence’ when asked to argue their point of view. They try to get the sympathy of using children as focus. Having parents that are the same sex has no effect on the children emotionally, physically, or mentally. What does effect children is when their parents get divorced or aren’t even together at all growing up. Approximately 40-50% of marriages get divorces (“Marriage”). Children having to watch their parents get divorced is confusing and it can be very hard for them to feel like they’re in the middle of it all. Trying to distract people from this fact and twist it for their own purpose, many anti-homosexual organizations try to make fake studies that shows that there is actually an effect on the children of same-sex marriages. These studies can be discredited because of the way they conducted the study, the way they interpreted their information, and just complete bias on the situation (Schlatter and Steinback). If a child grows up in a loving, caring home, it doesn’t matter if their parents are heterosexual or homosexual. According to the American Psychological Association, “…there is no scientific evidence that parenting effectiveness is related to parental sexual orientation” (APA).
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Myth #2: The Bible blatantly disapproves homosexuality.
While this is most Christians’ anti-homosexual slogan, there is nowhere in the Bible where it directly says that God disapproved of homosexuality. The scriptures that people are misreading are saying that sexual nature in general is violent and that Godly people shouldn’t take part of it, whether it be between a man and woman or the same gender. This is said because being involved in being sexual activities is portrayed as worshiping something above God. 1 Corinthians 6:17-20 says, “Flee from sexual immorality… whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you?” (Cor. 6:17-20). This verse is saying that sexual action in any way is committing a sin against God and your own body. The reason all the Bible verses talk about relationships being strictly between a man and a woman was because the Bible was written in a very different culture than what we live in today. When the Bible was written, marriage was between a man and woman, but that was because the woman was owned by the man as property. If Christians practiced word by word of what the Bible said, that would mean men treating women like they’re property, men abusing their wives psychically and sexually, and that would make people more angry than same sex relationships. The principle of marriage was basically a job arrangement. This is very different than today’s view of marriage. Marriage today should include “love, respect, mutuality, and commitment” (Creech). Today, the main reason for two individuals getting married is because they are in a serious, loving relationship, not specifically because of their gender. In fact, in the United States and Australia, same-sex marriage is legal. So, it doesn’t matter what gender the 2 individuals are, as long as the marriage is based on the quality of the relationship, anyone and everyone can go get a marriage license.
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Myth #3: Having the LGBTQ people in the army will degrade it.
This myth is generated just because of personal views of the LGBTQ community, not fact. People that are against homosexuals think it will degrade the military’s morality and integrity. There is no study that can prove that having homosexuals or transgenders in the armed forces will damage the quality and efficiency of the organization. Homosexuals and transgenders have been able to serve in the military, just under the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, that states they can’t openly say or practice their sexuality in the military. Actually, 15,500 transgenders are currently serving in the military and 134,300 are veterans of the military (Palma). In Britain and Canada, homosexuals and transgenders have been openly serving in the military and those countries have said that there has been no negative outcome of having them openly serve (Schlatter and Steinback.) A person’s sexual orientation or identification doesn’t affect they way they will serve and protect their county. If somebody wants to protect their country with the cost of their life on the line, that obviously shows that they have enough integrity and they should have the highest respect from the people they are protecting.
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Unfortunately, there are still many myths that are being generated everyday about the LGBTQ community, just because people aren’t willing to accept something that’s different than what they believe in. I think in order for this problem to decrease, anti-LGBTQ people should open their minds and realize that this community consists of actual humans, just like them. This is exactly what the ‘golden rule’ says. Treat others the way you want to be treated. For a prime example, Christians don’t want to be discriminated against because of their religion. The LGBTQ community needs to be treated as humans and they need just as many rights. Maybe this will help people conclude that the LGBTQ community deserve to be treated like anybody would want to be treated, which is with respect. Hopefully with this method, the myths that same sex marriages can harm children, the Bible blatantly disapproves homosexuality, and that HIV is a ‘gay’ disease, will disappear and everyone could live in peace without violence.
Works Cited:
“APA on Children Raised by Gay and Lesbian Parents.” American Psychological Association, APA, 11 June 2012, www.apa.org/news/press/response/gay-parents.aspx.
Creech, Jimmy. “What Does the Bible Say About Homosexuality?” Human Rights Campaign,
www.hrc.org/resources/what-does-the-bible-say-about-homosexuality. Accessed 16 Nov. 2017.
Gates, Gary J. “How Many People Are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender?” Williams Institute, Apr.
Holy Bible, The NIV. Zondervan, 2011.
“Marriage and Divorce .” American Psychological Association, 2017, www.apa.org/topics/divorce/.
Accessed 16 Nov. 2017.
Palma, Bethania. “How Many Transgender People Currently Serve in the U.S. Military?” Snopes.com, 27
July 2017, www.snopes.com/2017/07/27/how-many-transgender-people-currently-serve-in-the-u-s-military/. Accessed 16 Nov. 2017.
Schlatter, Evelyn, and Robert Steinback. “10 Anti-Gay Myths Debunked.” Southern Poverty Law Center,
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