Rescuing Women From American Mythology

This book explores American mythology through the lens of comic books and superheroes, specifically exploring the subject from an historical perspective in order to capture the origins of sexism and misogyny, as found in the comic book stories that have shaped so many young people and their attitudes. It provides a detailed analysis of America’s inextricable relationship with sexist institutions, specific historical events, and cultural attitudes, all of which are captured by, and perpetuated, in comic books, TV, film, and advertising. The implicit argument this book makes is that sexism and misogyny are not the product of nefarious individuals with overt agendas; instead, sexism and misogyny are products of our mythology and the associated archetypal components that shape a fabricated design of the world, a design shaped by men and unwittingly agreed to by women, thus, perpetuating a male-dominated mythological, religious, and historical social structure.

In this major reconceptualization of the history of U.S. foreign policy, Walter Hixson engages with the entire sweep of that history, from its Puritan beginnings to the twenty-first century’s war on terror. He contends that a mythical national identity, which includes the notion of American moral superiority and the duty to protect all of humanity, has had remarkable continuity through the centuries, repeatedly propelling America into war against an endless series of external enemies. As this myth has supported violence, violence in turn has supported the myth. The Myth of American Diplomacy shows the deep connections between American foreign policy and the domestic culture from which it springs. Hixson investigates the national narratives that help to explain ethnic cleansing of Indians, nineteenth-century imperial thrusts in Mexico and the Philippines, the two World Wars, the Cold War, the Iraq War, and today’s war on terror. He examines the discourses within America that have continuously inspired what he calls our “pathologically violent foreign policy.” The presumption that, as an exceptionally virtuous nation, the United States possesses a special right to exert power only encourages violence, Hixson concludes, and he suggests some fruitful ways to redirect foreign policy toward a more just and peaceful world.

This book explores American mythology through the lens of comic books and superheroes, specifically exploring the subject from an historical perspective in order to capture the origins of sexism and misogyny, as found in the comic book stories that have shaped so many young people and their attitudes. It provides a detailed analysis of Americaâ (TM)s inextricable relationship with sexist institutions, specific historical events, and cultural attitudes, all of which are captured by, and perpetuated, in comic books, TV, film, and advertising. The implicit argument this book makes is that sexism and misogyny are not the product of nefarious individuals with overt agendas; instead, sexism and misogyny are products of our mythology and the associated archetypal components that shape a fabricated design of the world, a design shaped by men and unwittingly agreed to by women, thus, perpetuating a male-dominated mythological, religious, and historical social structure.

This study presents the myths, beliefs and customs of the indigenous peoples in North America. This collection is comprised of many bodies of traditional narratives associated with religion from a mythographical perspective. Contents: The Myths of the North American Indians Myths of the Cherokee Myths of the Iroquois A Study of Siouan Cults Outlines of Zuñi Creation Myths The Mountain Chant - A Navajo Ceremony

Parallel Lines describes how post-9/11 cinema, from Spike Lee's 25th Hour (2002) to Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty (2012), relates to different, and competing, versions of US national identity in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks. The book combines readings of individual films (World Trade Center, United 93, Fahrenheit 9/11, Loose Change) and cycles of films (depicting revenge, conspiracy, torture and war) with extended commentary on recurring themes, including the relationship between the US and the rest of the world, narratives of therapeutic recovery, questions of ethical obligation. The volume argues that post-9/11 cinema is varied and dynamic, registering shock and upheaval in the immediate aftermath of the attacks, displaying capacity for critique following the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal mid-decade, and seeking to reestablish consensus during Obama's troubled second term of office.

Winner of the 2021 CLA Book Award presented by the College Language Association Black Cultural Mythology retrieves the concept of "mythology" from its Black Arts Movement origins and broadens its scope to illuminate the relationship between legacies of heroic survival, cultural memory, and creative production in the African diaspora. Christel N. Temple comprehensively surveys more than two hundred years of figures, moments, ideas, and canonical works by such visionaries as Maria Stewart, Richard Wright, Colson Whitehead, and Edwidge Danticat to map an expansive yet broadly overlooked intellectual tradition of Black cultural mythology and to provide a new conceptual framework for analyzing this tradition. In so doing, she at once reorients and stabilizes the emergent field of Africana cultural memory studies, while also staging a much broader intervention by challenging scholars across disciplines—from literary and cultural studies, history, sociology, and beyond—to embrace a more organic vocabulary to articulate the vitality of the inheritance of survival.

Real war is a cruel theater of death, yet it is also an exciting narrative exploited for national, political and commercial purposes and turned into numerous films, television shows, computer games, news stories and reenactment plays. These essays examine the relationship between war, visual media and entertainment from a number of academic perspectives. Key topics include how war is used as an imaginary site to stage dramas; how boundaries between war, media, and entertainment dissolve as new media alters the formal qualities of representation; how entertainment is used to engage audiences; and what effect products of war and entertainment have on consumers of popular culture.