Allison Gandlin Pd. 7, Modern Mythology 2023

 Modern Mythology 2023- Socio-political Consciousness

I consider myself a product of liberal culture. The kind that is floating around, attempting

to prey on young impressionable minds that have been raised on morals like the Golden Rule

and cartoons advocating for boys and girls to be kind and make them believe everyone

deserves the benefit of the doubt and everyone deserves to be treated equally. As much as I

say I believe in this, it is also dangerous. It is unsafe to disagree. It is unsafe to have exceptions.

Some call this ‘cancel culture’ but I prefer to label it as strict conformity to one’s beliefs, a type of

stubbornness that stems from the defensiveness of all who follow, scared to be embarrassed on

an everlasting online platform. So they outwardly return the ‘attacks’ they feel are pointed at

them and what they claim to support. Everything is on the record and everything is

remembered. In my opinion, there are exceptions to equity and hierarchy and power. I have not

a thought and an emotion but many feelings and emotions towards all three.

Before I begin to state my critiques I must acknowledge my own biases, I am a white

teenage female. I have grown up in America, given the opportunity to play sports, choose what I

want to do with my time and my life. I have parents who have been able to give me comfort and,

for the most part, in a healthy way. I have a home and my own room and go to a public high

school where I have friends and can wear what I want. Frankly, what I ‘want to wear’ adheres to

what most patriarchal systems have deemed ‘appropriate dressing’ so I have been able to

choose what I want to wear, while others may not have been able to do so in the same

community. My family emigrated from Russia so I consider myself as accepting of many

cultures since I have seen firsthand what unacceptance and judgment looks like. I am average

weight for my average height and may or may not have “blonde privilege” depending on your

thoughts on “pretty privilege” and whatnot. More likely than not, I will comment on gender

studies as that is the part of me that is the minority and I apologize for the possible lack of

acknowledgement of other situations that I may take for granted.

First, inequity. In order to criticize it we must ask the question: What does it mean? The

Oxford definition of inequity is as follows: “lack of fairness or justice.” Immediately, there is a

negative connotation. “Fairness” or “justice” refers to something that adheres to society's rules

or standards. Societies standards have been heavily influenced by social media and people that

have power over what others may deem artistic influence. This may include the movie industry,

the fashion industry and overall, people who are in a position of power and influence like

celebrities. Everything we know and believe and have created opinions on has been created in

our own subconscious based on outside stimuli that have evoked either positive or negative

emotions. Therefore, things that are deemed ‘inequitable behavior’ or unjust situations stem

from outward appearances/ behaviors. For instance, race, gender, disability/ neurodivergence,

or beauty. Each can be approached in a different manner. When it comes to race it is the most

clear and obvious issue we claim to experience in America, I am unsure of cultures in other

areas of the world so I shall comment on what I know. We develop stereotypes of the different

types of people we meet. Let’s backtrack for a second. Rewind to the root of power. America,

as everyone always says, was built on a variety of people from everywhere, essentially. This

means even people that are born in America who are considered citizens of America, have an

outward appearance that can pinpoint them to some other culture that isn’t associated with the

founders of America, aka white studious men. Right then, our values and standards have been

created. Education is a value, hard work, determination, growth, and justice is necessary to live

in an efficient society.... for white men. Because surely they have been capable and will

continue to be!

Obviously this has proven to be bogus but it really says a lot about human nature and

brings up a lot of questions. First, how have white men proven to be capable over other

humans? We can attribute this to location, religion, and other things. There is a whole book

about this thing and the question of how certain cultures ‘developed faster’, it’s called Guns,

Germs, and Steel, great read. I highly recommend. We can’t exactly get into that right now but

obviously we look back on these assumptions and morally reject them. Other races can be just

as capable! They just never had opportunities; they were always limited. Women can obviously

do what men can do!

Yet...I find myself sometimes doubting this belief system we have created. I have a very

scientific mind. Trying to always make sense of everything. And believe me I had a difficult time

processing the concept of God. But I also understand or actually, I believe, that in order for there

to be an outcome, there must be a cause. To apply this, in order for someone to simply think

something, anything, something else has to have happened to trigger that thought. This could

be an action, reaction, another thought or dream, event, colors, noises, temperature, anything.

In this case, I ask, what happened to make people think that certain races or genders are

inferior to others? Does oppression and percieved superiority stem from threat? Does the one

who has control feel insecure and threatened by differences? If someone is performing well and

is different from me, do I feel that I am not performing as well because I am not the same as

them? OR is it because I, a woman, who is cursed with more variety in hormones that distract

and dictate my emotions, am weaker and less focused. Less logical than a man who simply

wakes up and expects his hormones to fluctuate the same every day? OR flip it, does having

more variety in emotions and my body give me an advantage. Do I learn to take control of my

emotions at an early age and therefore, can focus much better than a man who is more

impulsive with his actions? Too many questions and too many unknowns. While this is more

psychological than anything else, that is where all of these concepts come from, our minds. And

that is the smallest thing that we have no clue how to handle or learn about.

WARNING: EXTRA BIAS

As a woman, or budding woman, I am terrified of this concept of is it me or is it them

because I know I will have to compete for my respect with a bunch of egos and insecurities of

men who have accepted their capabilities while I doubt mine. ESPECIALLY in a male-dominated

career field like STEM, engineering, and architecture. Luckily I have had a lot of practice in

another male-dominated field, athletics. ESPECIALLY football. I have to physically compete with

my peers who have the advantage in size and strength and building strength while I have the

advantage of experience and domain-specific skills and knowledge. But still I doubt which

overpowers the other. Have you ever heard the question, which matters more in a fight, strength

or intelligence? Many have answered intelligence, in favor of the ninjas who have mastered the

art of using your surroundings and size against you. But when will it be the latter? I would love

to know before I am faced with a situation where I doubt the preparation of my physique (aka

power in general) when my mind has been shined and polished over and over again.

I believe I self criticize very well, I love to think and thinking eventually reflects on

yourself and who you are as a person. It is evident that I have taken into account multiple

perspectives, however I am unable to go in depth with every single one. I am still human and

will ultimately look through a lens that I can relate to. It is funny, I have fallen victim to the

stubbornness I somewhat referenced earlier where I am not able to relate and so I disregard

and don’t attempt to think and possibly learn about different struggles. The only difference is I

am not assuming one struggle or one situation is better than the other. I recognize my privilege

that society’s values have given me.