Myths In Human Civilization

Term Paper Title	Myths In Human Civilization
# of Words	904
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	3.62

Myths In Human Civilization

Throughout the history of human civilization, myths have been an integral part
of human society.  Myths have no cultural boundaries as they can be found in all
cultural societies.  The word myth can be referred to the classical Greek and
Roman mythology or a contemporary myth.  Regardless of the type of myth, they
are stories used to give meaning to a phenomenon or symbolic manner to the
natural cycles that surround humankind.  Myths are used to explain and
understand our existence in our world whether it is something that we can
tangibly see or not.  The saga of a myth is past down from one generation to the
next.  For the purpose of this assignment, I will be analyzing three articles
that deal with a myth.  With each of these articles, I will attempt to explain
how the author uses the term within the context of the article.  Finally, I will
be concluding the analysis of the articles with reference to class notes on what
we have learned to date.

The first article is "Phyllis Burke:  Exploding Myths of Male and Female." which
is a book review.  The author of the book, Phyllis Burke, writes of Gender
Identity Disorder or GIS that effects both male and female children.  A child
labeled with GIS occurs when the child is not confirming to appropriate gender
behaviour.  For example, if a boy wants to play with dolls and dress up as the
opposite sex.  Burke reveals that at a young age all children in the gender
socialization process are encouraged to play with gender appropriate toys and
roles.  If the child does not conform to these roles laid out by our gender
conscious society, they are forbidden and discouraged to continue with their
behaviour.  Burke continues to write that GIS children may find themselves in
play therapy or even in psychiatric hospitals.  In analyzing the way in which
myth is used in this article, it is found in the way our society has created
gender roles for children, teenagers and even adults.  There is no biological
evidence that girls can not play rough with other girls and boys.  It is the
gender appropriate behaviour that has stereotyped our thinking that this
activity is not appropriate.  Most would rather see girls playing with dolls and
boys being the ones who play rough.   Burke analyzed GIS cases from the 1930s
through to the early 1990s and found no biological evidence to support GIS.  The
behaviour that is deemed inappropriate is suppressed not by the child themselves
but by others around them.  In relation to this myth as being scientific or
journalistic, I would have to say it is a bit of both.  Through the media,
gender roles are reinforced.  For example, this can be found in television
commercials of toys, where boys are depicted playing with trucks while girls are
shown playing with dolls.

In a recent article from the Toronto...

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