Debunking Common Social Myths

There's a lot to talk about out in the world, but I thought I'd take this week to debunk some common myths that we all surely face, in one form or another. So bare with me as we travel through some of my favorite myths and uncover the truth that they work so hard to obscure.

Barack Obama is God.

Barack Obama is, in fact, NOT God. It took much investigating and fact-checking and further investigating and confirming, but this is what the facts turned up: Barack Obama is from Hawaii. His mom is from Kansas, his dad from Kenya. He served three terms in the Illinois Senate, and is now the 44th President of the United States.

After President Bush left office, America suffered from post traumatic stress disorder. A failing economy, war, and Bushisms preyed on our mindset and kept us from sleeping at night. Then President Obama, his winning smile and eloquent speech, his promises for a brighter future and his message of change won us over. He lit up every stage he spoke on and after a few speeches, the American people began to see light shining from a mysterious place somewhere behind him. Unfortunately, these were just stage lights. Obama is not God, a messiah, or any atheistic representation of the perfect living, human life on earth.

This is not to say that Obama is not the change we have in fact been waiting for. He's what this country needed in a time of severe national turmoil and will hopefully do what he can to save us (save us, not give birth to us again in Christ's name, that is). Given the first few months of his presidency, it is clear Obama is doing everything he can to correct the ills of the past administration.

But there is also a lot of pressure put on him. He's dealing with numerous issues, almost too many to count. The war in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan, nuclear proliferation, stem cell research, immigrant rights, education, health care, pirates, (yes, pirates), and not to mention the economy, there is a lot on his plate. We must not expect things to sail by smoothly. Fixing these problems will take a long time, and though Obama is handling the pressure impressively, we should understand that he is only human. Never has a presidency experienced so much scrutiny, and so I say lighten up! He's working hard to solve our problems, but this water will not be turned into wine quite so easily.

Mexicans make wonderful gardeners.

This is not a myth as much as a stereotype. Sure, generally, we may make good gardeners, but we also make good engineers, good teachers, good architects, good managers, good accountants, good doctors, and good lawyers, just to name a few. Martha Stewart is not Mexican, and she's a wonderful gardener. Joe Lamp'l is not Mexican, and he is a good gardener as well. I challenge you to name a prominent mainstream gardener who is Mexican. No? This is because there aren't any.

Society rarely lets minorities rise to fame (or power, or success) because it is a threat to the "mainstream." We don't want them taking our jobs after all, right? And Martha Stewart isn't willing to work in my backyard, is she? At least not for what I'm willing to pay... And so it is this thought process that limits us to menial jobs: gardener, janitor, construction worker.

There are so many more of us out there, actual successful Latinos that are never heard of. It takes a lot of work to get out of the inner city and still, many people I know have only had contact with the cleaning ladies that clean the halls of my dorm. Associations are then made between these Mexican women (as well as the Mexican gardeners who keep the lawns looking so nice) and the entire Mexican-American population.

The problem obviously goes deeper than this however. Housing segregation and discrimination keeps us in "bad" neighborhoods. These neighborhoods have poor public educational systems, which keep us from getting a good education. Because the people in these neighborhoods don't get the proper education, they never advance. Because these people never advance, the communities continue to receive little funding. This little funding keeps our educational system in terrible condition, keeping this never-ending cycle going.

So although we may make good gardeners, the picture, I'm afraid, is a little larger than that.

Being thin is hot.

In my personal opinion, that's just a total myth.

But looking at our history, being skinny (or "thin," which seems to carry a completely different connotation) has always been a bad thing.

Before the turn of the 19th century, bigger women were seen as healthy and fertile, which was a more than desirable trait. It was in fact necessary to keep the population alive and to combat the sicknesses that were prevalent during the time. Soon, however, women began wearing corsets, and becoming frail and sickly. The reason behind this? Political. The new skinny ideal became the norm in order to support and justify slavery in the 1800's. Skinny women were easier to control.

Why this turned into the "it" thing is beyond me. Models gracing the covers of fashion magazines and ruling the runways today are not only thin, but often anorexic.

In different cultures, such as the African-American or Latino cultures, being skinny is not ideal. Thick bodies are a sign of strength, confidence, and beauty. I am not suggesting obesity is the way to go. A size 8 model, far from obese mind you, is considered plus-size, and in the beauty industry this is not a good thing.

It is time to dispel this myth and learn that skinny is out.

Flip-flops can be worn anytime, even in the winter./Uggs can be worn anytime, even in the summer.

Well, now I'm just being picky...

"Don't call him gay, or you might turn him."

A phrase often heralded by my family, it assumes that homosexuality can be turned on and off by the mere mention of the word "gay." Call someone gay long enough and they just might become gay.

Not too long ago, this was a hot button issue with the discovery of the "gay gene." The "gay gene," however, doesn't exist. A researcher testified in court that he was "99.5% certain that homosexuality [was] genetic," which was widely misunderstood as homosexuality itself being 99.5% genetic. The media went wild, declaring homosexuality genetic, and thus created the "gay gene." None of this was backed up by any scientific research.

And so, this led to the idea that homosexuality could be prevented; just as one can map out the odds of a child having a genetic disease, one could map out the probability of their son or daughter being gay.

I don't mean to argue the causes of homosexuality, if indeed there even are any. What I know for certain is that there is no gay switch. Someone cannot choose their sexual preference. They cannot turn it on and off like a light in a dark room. One cannot help being gay as much as one cannot help being straight. Loving and cruel parents alike cannot prevent it. Gay parents often raise straight children, and vice versa.

Whatever causes (or does not cause) homosexuality, calling someone gay certainly makes no difference.


These widely accepted myths are anything but true. Common sense is often the only thing needed to tell a myth apart from the truth, although I know that is sometimes hard to come by. Hopefully this short list has enlightened all of your minds. Spread the word.



Obama vows to fight Piracy
Seriously.

A history of Gardening

The Psychology of the Ideal Body Image

Ideal Weight Varies Across Cultures

The Gay Gene?