In Robert Kuttner’s article “The Politics of Family” he broadly examines the wide scope of family from an outside perspective. Kuttner frequently uses the words “most Americans” throughout his essay, looking at both the right and left wing element of politics on the issue. In Susan Dominus’s article, ”Growing up with Mom and Mom” Dominus navigates through this topic with the foundation being an interview with Ry Russo-Young who is born and raised by a lesbian couple through artificial insemination. Although both articles may vary in perspective, the two writers agree that there is still much controversy on the issues of marriage, family and social politics.
Family is a touchy subject for most people; everyone has an opinion how to raise your family and what is best. As Kuttner states “few people care (married or single) unless kids are involved.” (Kuttner, 2002) Even if that is so, it is agreed that children benefit from being raised by a loving family with a strong support network, especially by a married couple. Love may not cure a lot of things but love within a family and the community such as social supports is defiantly agreed to prove most beneficial for children and family in general. Although some believe there may be opposing views on what makes a family and what is best for children, love and support is something everyone seems to agree upon. It makes one wonder why with this agreement, why there is such a push for welfare mothers to back to work if welfare is actually needed, and with the possible sacrifice of the children’s welfare. Family which has been continuously redefined, is moving away from the aura where woman didn’t have rights or were confined to the household, into an aura where gay couples can ...
... middle of paper ...
...uch as Ry to be open about their parents. Social politics and the changes of social politics will
Both writers address shifts in attitudes on the issues of marriage, family, social politics. They both have different perspectives, one from a generalized view and one from a more intimate interview with one case. Even so, both Kuttner and Dominus demonstrate that there is still much debates around these issues and there is much to be done, what needs to be done depends on what side of the argument you are on. Our society is changing, and in despite the debates it’s just a matter of time before everyone has equal rights, and equal opportunity to be married and have a family.
Works Cited
The Politics of Family, Robert Kuttner, from the American Prospect, April 8, 2002
Growing up with Mom and Mom, Susan Dominus, New York Times Magazine, October 24, 2004
One definition is “a significant social group in society typically consisting of one or two parents and their children.” While such definition is a good starting point, some modern family structures are excluded by such definition. In her essay, “Family: Idea, Institution, and Controversy,” Betty Farrell apparently assumes that the traditional family has dramatically changed, and the dynamics of change—altered the definition of a “family.” A family is no longer a picture of a particular image of the mythic past, referring to the golden days of the “1950s.” It is no longer a father, mother and their biological children living together under one roof (and certainly not with the a breadwinner father and a stay-at-home mother). In today 's modern society, it is now common to see women raising their children by themselves without their husbands’ help; unmarried couples living together; and gay and lesbian couples—while far from being universally accepted—adopting and raising children to complete their families. Therefore, despite the children living in one-parent households, or they do not live with their “married-heterosexual-biological-parents” under the same roof—does not necessarily mean they are not families. Farrell states that “a family is defined not so much by a particular set of people as by the quality of relationships that bind them together.” In other words, Farrell believes that a “family” is more than just a collection
In his 1943 work, “Sex Roles in the American Kinship System,” Talcott Parsons addresses his beliefs that the individual gendered roles in the nuclear family are essential to creating a functioning family dynamic. During this time period, the United States was in between wars and working to recover from the Great Depression. These significant events greatly shaped society not only at the time, but for future generations as well. It is almost impossible for a theorist of this time, such as Parsons, not to be influenced by such drastic social conditions and changes.
DeVault, C., Cohen, T., & Strong, B. (2011). The marriage and family experience: Intimate relationships in a changing society. (11th ed., pgs. 400-426). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth cengage learning.
Many couples in the United States idealize the myth of a “tradition family”. The idea that a woman can spend quality time with her child while maintaining an effective sexual life with her partner seemed to have caused a lot of stress during the 1950s. Coontz’s says “this hybrid idea drove thousands of women to therapists, tranquilizers, or alcohol when they tried to live up to it.” (Coontz, 569). Which explains that it is merely impossible to try to mold a family to be “ideal.” Many families still strive for a traditional life, which they define as life “back in the day.” They need to forget the past and start living in the 21st century. “Two-thirds of respondents to one national poll said they wanted more traditional standards of family life.”(Coontz, 582). Which goes to show that many families want to change to what once used to be perceived as an “ideal family” but “the same percentage of people rejected the idea that women should return to their traditional role.”(Coontz, 582). Families want to take bits and pieces from what used to be “traditional families” over time and create their own i...
The concerned camp believes that families are in decline due to the rapid changes that have happened in the past 25 years. Unprecedented levels of divorce, people having babies while not married, and also teenagers having babies have hurt families and quite possibly led into hunger. The concerned camp also believes that families have the most influence on the character and competence of children and adults (Bronfenbrenner, 1986). The concerned camp values parental commitment, marital fidelity, individual responsibility, and civic participation. They also believe that individualism overshadows or threatens these values. The concerned camp believes happiness is due to relatedness to others, investments in family, and commitments to the community. Evidence that supports the concerned camp is that many Americans are very concerned about the state of families and the well-being of children. They also believe that it is very important to be concerned about how the next generation is raised because they will be the future parents, workers, and citizens. They believe that our prosperity depends on investing in childrearing. In addition, the concerned camp...
Over the past three decades these ideals, although they are still recognizable, have been drastically modified across all social classes. Women have joined the paid labor force in great numbers stimulated both by economic need and a new belief in their capabilities and right to pursue opportunities. Americans in 1992 are far more likely than in earlier times to postpone marriage. Single parent families--typically consisting of a mother with no adult male and very often no other adult person present-have become common. Today at least half of all marriages end in divorce (Gembrowski 3). Most adults no longer believe that couples should stay married because divorce might harm their children. Of course, these contemporary realities have great consequential impact on mother-ch...
Not so long ago in United States family was defined as; a couple, a man and a woman with children. Times have changed. Today, people are moving away from this definition and now going for a modern description of what family refers to. From divorced parents, single par-ents, no children families, and gay parents they are all now included to this new definition. Ac-cording to the national census bureau “A family consists of two or more people (one of whom is the householder) related by birth, marriage, or adoption residing in the same housing unit” (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). Like everything in life family is changing. The percentage of non-traditional family is growing more and more. As mention before homosexual families are big parts of this evolution. But many wonder; what is parenthood? How are homosexual families different from traditional families? And how different countries look at homosexual families?
People used to hide a lot of things from the society during the beginning of this century because they followed and valued the traditional norm. During today’s generation, people speak out the truth because they don’t believe or follow the traditional values. When Coontz said we have higher expectations of parenting and marriage, she means parents were expected to raise their children properly without hurting their kids and providing financial support and as well as family support. When children need to talk to a parent, they should have that support. Since modern families are changing, Coontz is worried about whether or not it will harm children's lifestyle.
Conceiving of gender as a social construction rather than a biologically assigned identity helps explain historical fluctuations in men’s and women’s practices and in culturally bound definitions of appropriate male and female behavior. Hansen argues that an individual’s gendered behavior is influenced by culturally constructed notions of what is appropriate for good mothers or good fathers or good people to do when caring for children (Hansen 7). The perception of American families as “small, self-reliant units headed by a breadwinning father and cared for by a stay-at-home mother” (1) has considerable influence over family life. This cultural construction affects everything from childrearing to networking to the workplace and individuals must consciously strive to break away from these roles. Both clinging too and attempting to break from these roles can have significant effects on one’s family experience.
Dr. Hicks (2008), a scholar at the University of Salford, stated profoundly that “instead of asking whether gay parenting is bad for kids, we should ask how contemporary discourses of sexuality maintain the very idea that lesbian and gay families are essentially different and, indeed, deficient.” By viewing same-sex parenting as an equal means of bringing up a child, research could move on to deeper studies that incorporate this family structure into analyses of children, marriages, and families.
The family is the main agent of socialisation and an institution. (Giddens, 2013:339). As children, we rely on our family to fulfil basic needs. We all need guidance, and more importantly we also require nurturing to become healthy adults. The definition of family varies across cultures. However, the family is sensitive to change and, therefore, not static. The structure of the family has changed, and culture and society are now more accepting of the fact that people now choose to cohabit, rather than marry. (Haralambos & Holborn 2009:3). In 2013, there were nearly 1.9 million lone parent households with dependent children in the United Kingdom; a figure which has steadily increased over the years (Office of National Statistics 2013). The rise in lone parents has brought about greater acceptance of pregnancies that do not have to involve marriage although acceptance is not the concern. A study suggests that….
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, a family is "a group of two or more people who reside together and who are related by birth, marriage, or adoption.” (Eutk). In the beginning, family was considered to be all of the individuals who contributed to the household as far as bringing in money; including servants and non-parental adults, who are also considered part of the family if they play a large role in the upbringing or care-taking of children other than their own. But in fact, over the last few centuries until present day, the institution of the family has completely changed. In the late-18th Century, marriage was considered just a union based on love, but as time passed, there were other financial, social, and political shifts in the United States and in other countries. Throughout our course readings in Gender Studies, we see the ideas of continuity and change in regards to the American family unit. There were multiple factors that influenced the institution of the family unit, including the argument that marriage was seen as a contract of survival, the privatization of marriage, as well as the idea that traditional families never existed.
There is no true definition in what makes the family. Constant changes happen since the society in which we live in is evolving at a constant rate. This evolvement that is taking place has changed the idea of an ideal family. Many years back family meant a married heterosexual couple with 1.5 kids. Truth is that this is not ideal for everyone. After challenging this ideal family structure it has been concluded that family forms and functions are different. Therefore this paper will address some changes in the family such as divorce, step parenting, and immigration, how these new changes play a significant role in family diversity.
Planning a family celebration would prove rather difficult for me since the majority of the members of my family in my genogram have passed away. However, for the sake of this assignment I am going to pretend that is not the case. Family dynamics can have many sources of tension relating to many causes. According to my genogram and homogamy analysis, we are pretty similar, we are all Caucasian, and lower to upper middle class, however one big difference is our religious beliefs. The majority of our family tensions are not due to the analysis of our homogamy, but to social issues. Knowing my family dynamics, I can foresee three potential sources of tension that may occur at my family celebration, the difference in religious beliefs between family members, the shattered relationship between my mother and father, and my grandmothers mental disorder.
Marriage naturally creates families; it provides the conditions for a healthy environment that is beneficial to the upbringing of children. Opponents of same-sex marriage often ground their arguments on parental and religious concerns. Many argue that sa...