October Blog Post

In class we talked about the critical looks at families and culture. Based on the book, "The Way We Never Were" explained how the cultural exceptions of a 1950's stereotypical family does not exist. The traditional family that people would categorize as a stereotypical family is generally a dad who works and makes most of the money as the mom stays at home to take care of the kids and house. Then, there is usually the older brother to protect the younger sister who is the baby of the family. However, that is not the case in today’s world as there are single parents, step families, gay parents, big families or even both working parents. The stereotypical 1950 American family is evolving and becoming rarer in America. 

As the stereotypical family becomes rarer it shines a light on how did America go from perfect families to families are the worst thing in America? The lecture said that Ronald Regan said, "Strong families equal foundation of society." However, Family is not the only foundation that makes up Americas society. Family definitions are different in every culture. Only in America do we emphasis on nuclear family which is the two parents and the two dependent children they have. The Cheyenne Indians make it normal in families to have strained mothers and daughters. In Zinacantepec (located in Mexico) their social norm for family is those who are their neighbors. So, people they live by are considered family. This is an example, that families have different norms in every culture, however, America's is changing as society changes. 

Difficulty assessing direction of family change have different meanings. Fictive/voluntary kin is an example of having gays as parents or people who adopt. Those families are not based on blood but based on performance. Another is, childfree couples who choose not to have kids or can't have kids. Some people would say the couple is still considered a family and some may think that a couple is not a family. In America there is older expectations. In some country’s elders are praised for their wisdom, however, in America elders are thrown into nursing homes when not able to take care of themselves. 

Overall, in America we have grown up to always see the normal family is the middle-class stereotypical dad and stay at home mom with two kids. However, society is changing as gays are becoming more normalized, single parents are becoming independent, big and step families are becoming more accepted, and Both parents are contributing to income. With all of the change in American families I believe that is change for the better and all families should be expected. There are no rules to what is a family and what isn't. In fact, in the lecture, 54% of kids see their parents every day, 64% talk on the phone daily and 78% of kids say they're close with their grandparents. Families in America are doing just fine without the stereotype family from 1950's.