Roland Barthes is a 20th century French philosopher and semiotician. In his book Mythologies, Barthes attempts to explain what a myth is and how it is created, followed by some articles containing examples of modern myths. By reading two of these stories, The Blue Guide and Toys, we will understand that a myth is a widely accepted belief within a culture. This essay will use the example of feminine beauty presented by fashion magazines to describe a myth close to that of Barthes. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayBarthes uses concepts developed by Ferdinand de Saussure to describe what a myth is. Saussure establishes that a signifier, a sound or an image, and a signified, the concept linked to the signifier, produce a sign. Barthes takes this concept further by saying that a sign is the first level of signification, denotation. Associations linked to denotation constitute the second level of meaning, connotation. It becomes a myth when a connotation is naturalized in a culture and widely accepted. The ideology of a culture at a given time and the way it makes sense of the world becomes apparent through myths. It is the way to spread middle-class norms and values. Toys draws our attention to this point by showing how French toys impose myths on adult life. They ensure that children accept this life by making them passive and not wanting to create anything else. However, myths do not show the whole reality; instead, they only show stereotypes and an overly simplistic version of things. This is visible in The Blue Guide, where the travel guide “reduces geography to the description of an uninhabited world of monuments. “Our modern culture perpetuates the myth of feminine beauty. Casually browsing a fashion magazine like Vogue, we see models advertising clothes, perfumes and jewelry. This is the denotation. Eventually, we begin to associate these images with something else: excellent examples of feminine beauty. The women seen in the magazine are considered the epitome of beauty. Women should be slim and tall, have good skin and hair, wear nice clothes and makeup. We start to think that this is what it means to be beautiful. The connotation of these images is so normalized in our culture that they have become a myth. Photos of these models reveal a cultural norm, making women believe that they must look like these models to be considered beautiful. This shows that myths only present essences and not reality. Of course, you can still look beautiful even if your appearance doesn't look like what's featured in fashion magazines. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay To conclude, a myth is a normalized belief within a culture. The Blue Guide and Toys show that these beliefs are very simplistic and allow middle-class adults to spread their norms and values. An example of this is the myth of female beauty presented by fashion magazines. They present an image of beauty that other women in culture must respect. This myth, however, shows a simplified and unrealistic standard..