Myth USA
This post will ultimately be about cultural myths, but I must give you some background information.
I like discussion. I like thinking about things and mulling them over. I like “arguing” for the sake of arguing. (”Arguing” as in discussing.) Sometimes in a discussion, I’ll play devil’s advocate, or just keep asking questions until I’m surprised when the person I’m talking to hasn’t ripped off my arms and beaten me about the head and shoulders with my own limbs. My best friend and I had a discussion like that not too long ago. Let me just say, Rachel and I have had some great discussions, and she possesses the lost art of being able to discuss issues of differing views and still remain friendly afterwards. (It seems like so many people today get offended if the person with whom they are discussing has a different viewpoint. It’s frustrating because it’s just DISCUSSION, not war. But I suppose when people don’t want to learn, it’s easier to write someone off than listen to a different opinion.)
Anyhoo, Rachel and I were watching “Big Medicine,” a show where the makeover-ees were getting gastric bypass surgery. A conversation occurred between her and I that went something like this:
Rachel: I feel like so many people have this surgery without giving healthier, non-surgical options a try. Surgery should be a last resort.
Me: The word “should” implies ethical or moral obligation. Do you think that this is a moral/ethical issue?
R: Well, yeah.
Me: Why? Why isn’t it just a situation where you have option A, B, and C, and any of those decisions are fine?
R: I just think it’s the “easy” way out.
Me: What’s wrong with something being easy?
R: I guess I just think people should work harder to lose weight than jump to surgery as a first option.
Me: Do you think it’s wrong to have a dishwasher? It’s easier than washing dishes by hand, but I wouldn’t say it’s a moral issue.
R: It’s just healthier to try other methods first before the surgery. When you have the surgery, you have all that excess skin, and you still have a high body mass index.
Me: That would be a “con” of having the surgery, and maybe not as healthy, but does that make it technically “wrong”?
R: I don’t know, I just think they should put effort into other methods first.
The conversation went on for quite awhile, and about other aspects such as insurance, and it made me think about some things. (And what I’m about to discuss doesn’t necessarily reflect Rachel’s feelings on the subject, the conversation was just an opener to this broader subject.) The issue of something being desirable because it takes more work stuck out to me. It’s a popular principal in this culture. It seems like each culture has “myths”. Not “myths” as in flying lion-birds or stories that are false, but myths like this definition from Merriam Webster Online: “a popular belief or tradition that has grown up around something or someone; especially: one embodying the ideals and institutions of a society or segment of society”.
To find some of the myths of our culture, you have only to look at books, TV, movies and music. Here are a few that I can think of:
- Underestimated people can do big things (a la “Happy Feet”, “Lord of the Rings”, and a certain VegiTales episode)
- Power brings responsibility (a la Spiderman)
- Lying always brings more trouble (a la any episode of I Love Lucy or Saved By The Bell)
A lot of these things are principles that we don’t even have to think about anymore. They’re just ingrained. That was what was so interesting about the part of our conversation about working hard being better than an “easy” way out. In our American culture, which grew up around pioneers, cowboys, and farmers, we have the mentality that hard work is the right way to do things. We think it’s the “noblest” option. I’m not saying it’s not, but it’s funny how these myths affect us. With the gastric bypass surgery, I bet many people feel that other options should be tried first. But if we examine that notion, why should they try other things first? Yes, diet and exercise is healthier. I’m not arguing that. But does that make it a moral issue, or just another option that has more cons than others? For example, when I’m thirsty, I can drink water or pop. Water is healthier, hands down. But I many times choose pop. Is that ethically or morally wrong? I don’t think so. If I’m willing to take responsibility for the results, good and bad, why should I be looked down upon by the culture?
If we truly believe, per our example, that hard work is the right way to do things, and that taking the “easy” way out is wrong or less desirable, why DO we have dishwashers and cars and plumbing? Does making something harder make it better? Are we making something a moral issue just because we don’t like it? Do we give up thinking critically and openly about something because the general principal has been ingrained in us since childhood?
See, these are the things I think about when I’m not napping.
I know I’ve been all over the board with this, but here are my main points:
1. Rachel is a good person to have discussions with.
2. This post is not about the merits of surgery vs. diets.
3. This post IS about things we believe, why we believe them, and the cultural influences that make us think how we think.
4. I think way too much.
5. It’s good to have friends with cable.
To continue this line of thought, can you think of any cultural myths that we’ve grown up with that may not be entirely true, or may hinder critical thinking?
Darryl Silver responds:
Posted: June 2nd, 2007 at 11:10 am →
Thanks for watching and thanks for blogging the show we are real proud of the job we did. We look forward to hearing your weekly comments.
Regards,
Darryl Silver
Executive Producer
Big Medicine
Rachel responds:
Posted: June 2nd, 2007 at 11:59 am →
Wow…look at that! You got a bigwig commenting on your blog. That discussion lasted a long time and I think you got the synopsis of it pretty accurately.
Here is a myth that I think is pretty ingrained in American Culture. The myth that if you don’t get a good education that you won’t ever make anything of yourself or that you aren’t qualified for a position.
If you look back in history some of the most famous and intelligent people never finished school.
Leigh responds:
Posted: June 2nd, 2007 at 12:20 pm →
I thought this was a really cool post and got me thinking.
First, I would not argue that chosing surgery over other options is wrong, although I agree that surgery should be a last resort. I wouldn’t even argue that it’s the easy way out because there are a lot of drawbacks. I wouldn’t argue that a dishwasher is the easy way out either but, rather, an intelligent use of time management and efficiency.
On the myth about hard work, I think that many things in life can be done either an easy way or a hard way. I think some things it is good to have to work for them-take the hard way. It seems that when we struggle and even fail a few times we also have the ability to learn the most and appreciate the accomplishments when they happen. But if we are just given everything, it becomes more difficult to learn a lesson of value. (Looking at Rachel’s recent HDH-think about Ivanka Trump VS Paris Hilton) So (some of) these myths do have a basis in moral debate. If everything is done the easy way, what are you really learning? If everything is done the hard way, at what point do you become beaten down and give up? How do you balance having enough hard work to appreciate your accomplishments, but enough easy things to not feel you are cursed?
I think current cultural influences are significantly changing our moral center. Many of these influences scare me-the prevelance of violence in music and television, the exploitation of sex, the lack of God in everyday media, the idea that wealth and external beauty are truly important.
It scares me to think about how I am going to raise my children to put God, family, friends, and community first when they will be pumped full of sex, violence, drugs, commercialism, wealth seeking, beauty altering, idealism far from the base I give nearly everywhere else they may turn.
I think the bottom line is, what are these cultural myths really teaching us and how do they affect the person we become. I wish I could have been there for the discussion.
Andy responds:
Posted: June 3rd, 2007 at 11:12 pm →
Just for the gastro debate, it’s not so much moral as having the bypass IS a surgery and carries the many hazards of allowing someone (hoever well trained) to take a sharpened metal object and cut holes in you. I’d recommend trying methods that avoid that extreme, mainly because I don’t like having sharp objects come in contact with my internals.
I’m not sure if this qualifies in your true topic, but here goes.
Someone from a different philosophy (i.e. cultural background or religion) means you should ignore their advice.
Nowhere more prevalent than our current situation in the Middle East. The words heathen, terrorist, infidel, and the like are thrown around like candy at a parade while neither side is checking to see if anyone is actually making any sense.
laughingattheslut responds:
Posted: June 5th, 2007 at 2:04 pm →
All that stuff you talked about is a moral issue for the Amish and some other people.
But I’m not Amish. I just think a dishwasher is a bit of a waste unless you have a big family. In my case it would be a very very expensive project, and I would never even consider it. My mom has talked for years about moving to the place I live now, and now that she’s by herself and can do that, she won’t. One of the things that she mentioned was that she’d miss her dishwasher.
I’m not sure about the morals of getting weight-loss surgery without really trying other stuff first. Some people might be so far gone that is the best thing for them in the doctor’s opinion.
A friend of mine had a surgery like that, but I don’t know which one. And I don’t know what else he tried first and I don’t know if he did this after his doctor advised it or what. But right about the time that he was starting to look good, he found out that he had stomach cancer. Now he’s dying. I’m having trouble believing that just happened and the two are not connected.