Essay Question 1:
Western researchers and academics like to believe that there is a mostly consistent definition of the roles of mother and father within societies. This gives an easy set of touchstones for them to draw comparisons when they are studying different cultures’ ways of parenting, or when they are studying different social and cultural effects that they believe can be tied to alternative parenting roles. While it may be an accurate assumption that cultures have a mostly-consistent set of roles for mother and father, the degree of consistency of that role among individual parents has weakened over the past few decades. In some cases, different cultures have entirely different concepts of these roles and they exist within a cultural framework of the family that is unique to that culture. What are some of those different mother/father roles that exist in western cultures and non-western cultures, and what are the reasons for these alternate definitions of these roles? Without going to extreme examples of remote tribal villages where some demand for boys over girls is so great that there a few motherly influences or some Amazonian-like culture that is largely an aberration, this essay will try to examine real alternate roles within larger functioning societies.
In “Beyond Gender Roles?” by MW Warner, RM Al-Hassan and JG Kydd, the authors identify parental status as a legitimate social and cultural distinction worthy of elevated status. This is because the society values the role of parents in a functional way, not merely as gender-driven. Parental status is like age and seniority – there is an inherent value in people with those roles for the stabilization and productiveness of a culture’s own health and well-being ...
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... you’re neglecting your family. There are many families where both parents work or one parent works but the parents pay more attention to the children than some families where neither parent works. However, it is up to everyone’s personal decision as to how they want to live their life and raise their children and if they believe that they can be both a successful working person and a great parent and spouse then it is their prerogative to do it.
Bibliography
Hinako. (2013, April 18). What Children Think About Working Parents. Retrieved from She Knows Parenting: http://www.sheknows.com/parenting/articles/2838/what-children-think-about-working-parents
How Do Kids Fare When Both Parents Work. (2013, November 1). Retrieved from Healthychildren.org: http://www.healthychildren.org/English/family-life/work-play/pages/How-do-the-Kids-Fare-When-Both-Parents-Work.aspx
Read, Katy. "Regrets of a stay-at-home mom." Real Families. Salon, 05 Jan 2011. Web. 4 Apr. 2014.
In the article “Helicopter Parents Now Hover at the Office,” The Wall Street Journal columnist Sue Shellenbarger reveals that some parents have begun to involve themselves into their adult children’s job search. Shellenbarger explains that many parent have a hard time watching their child struggle since they have taken part in their daily lives for so long. She then describes that some children do not appreciate the hovering of their parents because the hovering prevents them from developing self independence.
In both cultures, grandparents and elders are highly respected, the father holds most of the power and is the decision maker of the household, the mother is the caretaker of the household, and the children’s only responsibility is to go to school and receive an education. This is the case in almost every Hispanic family because they tend to keep traditional values. This hierarchy also occurs in traditional American families. It was always thought that the “absence of a father is destructive to children, particularly boys, because it means that children will lack the economic resources, role model, discipline, structure, and guidance that a father provides.” (Biblarz & Raftery, 1999) However, this is no longer the case. The differences between American family structures can be most clearly seen when separated by socioeconomic class. Now, studies have shown that “children from single-mother families do approximately as well as children from two-biological-parent families.” (Biblarz & Raftery, 1999) This encourages mothers to believe that a single-mother household is still successful. Therefore, the mother becomes the decision maker and caretaker. This concept also applies for opposite genders. In single-father households, the father is not only the decision maker but the caretaker as well. These family structural differences make way for another similarity in Hispanic and American cultures. Faith
Over long periods of time change is often inevitable. One such instance of change throughout history is that of family members and their role in not only the family, but also in society as a whole. Although changes can be seen in the roles of every family member, it can be argued that the role of women in the family, especially that of mothers, changed the most. Between the sixteenth century and the twentieth century, the role that mothers played in the family and in society changed greatly.
Alana, "The Kids Are More Than Alright.", New York Times article, entry Feb 10, 2012,
Family structure and stability have constantly evolved and been researched in aspects of sociology. Following World War II, the family ideology in the 1950’s was brought to the attention of Talcott Parsons and Robert Bales (1955) whom demonstrated how transitioning from an agricultural society to that of an industrialization one played an important role in altering family life and structure. Parsons and Bales further expressed how gender role specialization was vital in the continuous of family solidarity. The “instrumental” male father role as the leader of the family responsible for providing the income and support as the “expressive” role which is that of the female mother delivers her contribution to the family through house work and nurture
The Pressure from Parents. Psychology Today. Reviewed on January 24, 2007. http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200405/the-pressure-parents.
There is much debate on what constitutes as a family today. However, Ball (2002) states, “The concept of the traditional family…is not an immutable one. It is a social construct that varies from culture to culture and, over time, the definition changes within a culture” (pp. 68). There is a growing diversity of families today including the commonality of sole-parenting. In order to explore aspects of sole-parenthood objectively, I need to reflect and put aside my personal experience of growing up in sole-parent household. Furthermore, this essay will explore the historical origins, cultural aspects discussing the influences and implications of gender identity, and social structures of sole-parent families, as well as consider the implications in midwifery by applying the sociological imagination. Mills (2000/1959) describes the sociological imagination as “…a quality of mind that seems most dramatically to promise an understanding of the intimate realities of ourselves in connection with larger social realities” (pp.15). In other words, the sociological imagination involves the ability to consider the relationships between personal experiences and those within society as a whole.
Jayson, Sharon. "'Helicopter' Parents Appear to Defy Socioeconomic Pegging." USA Today 4 Apr. 2007: 5. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 13 Dec. 2013.
Wang, Wendy, Kim Parker, and Paul Taylor. "Breadwinner Moms." Pew Research Centers Social Demographic Trends Project RSS. Pew Research. Social & Demographic Trends, 29 May 2009. Web. 18 Apr. 2014. .
Since the beginning of time, fathers have had a profound effect on their child’s development. Over the years, the norm for traditional family dynamics of having a father figure in the household has changed drastically, and so did the roles of the parents. It is not as common as it used to be to have a father or father figure in the home. In this day and age, women are more likely to raise children on their own and gain independence without the male assistance due to various reasons. The most significant learning experience and development of a person’s life takes place in their earlier years when they were children. There are many advantages when there is a mother and father combined in a
STRINGER, H. (2015). How to Raise Kids Who Will Love Their Work. Working Mother, 38(4), 92-95.
When someone thinks about the definition of a father, he or she thinks about the support, care, love, and knowledge a father gives to his offspring. Most people automatically believe that biological fathers, along with the mothers, raise their children. However, that is not always the case. There are many children across the world who are raised without their father. These children lack a father figure. People do not realize how detrimental the lack of a father figure can be to the child, both mentally and emotionally. Enrolling boys between the ages of 5 to 16 without father figures in programs, such as Big Brothers Big Sisters, that involve building a relationship with someone who can serve as a role model is essential to prevent males from depression, difficulty in expressing emotions, and other consequences of having an absent father figure.
middle of paper ... ... In the traditional society, the father’s only focus is on earning an income for the family which has a direct impact on the family members due to the lack of time spent bonding with his children and wife. The responsibility of the children falls on both parents’ shoulders, not just on the mothers. However, this is also an issue in modern society, if mothers rely too much on day-care and do not spend enough time with their children, then the same thing that happens to the father happens to the mother.
Gender roles are extremely important to the functioning of families. The family is one of the most important institutions. It can be nurturing, empowering, and strong. Some families are still very traditional. The woman or mother of the family stays at home to take care of the children and household duties. The man or father figure goes to work so that he can provide for his family. Many people believe that this is the way that things should be. Gender determines the expectations for the family. This review will explain those expectations and how it affects the family.