American Family and Traditions

There are many ways that the idea of the “traditional” family has changed over the past several centuries. For instance prior to the 19th century family was often considered anyone who lived within a household whether related by blood or not. This included employees and extended family. Per Coontz (2010) “The biological family was less sacrosanct, and less sentimentalized, than it would become in the nineteenth century.”(p. 35) In society at the time it was socially unacceptable to be separate or not included as part of a family household. Over time, the term family came to encompass the immediate family, a husband, wife and their children. During the late 1800’s through the mid 1900’s there were emerging ideas of family that were not widely accepted as traditional or normal, these included single parent homes with only a Mom or Dad, Stepfamilies and same sex couple and parent households. Today, American ideas of what constitutes a family have drastically expanded to include these formerly “non-traditional” families

Though it is a very long nonfiction book, I found myself unable to put it down. I cried a lot and literally laughed out loud while reading this book, and found myself extremely emotionally connected to Kunte Kinte. This book did meet and exceed my expectations. It was vey painful for me to read, yet I am beyond grateful that I was recommended to read it. The story-telling was so descriptive, it put a weight on my heart and made me think and contemplate about the book even when I was not reading it. I think the author did everything perfectly, and I have no critiques. I would like to thank the author for such an amazing historical account and piece of literature.

On the fourth Thursday of every November, families gather together to spend a day filled with food and laughter. Thanksgiving celebrates the day the settlers and the Native Americans enjoyed their first meal together. However, my parents were both raised in Mexico and never had a typical yearly Thanksgiving celebration. Despite my parents home being Mexico, they started a family in America and decided to teach their children about both of the places they come from. A compromise between American and Mexican traditions formed and served as a family tradition until last year. A year ago, my family ate a Thanksgiving meal at my sister's parent-in-laws house.

In the documentary, American Experience: A Family Gathering, directed by Lise Yasui and Ann Tegnell, explores three generations of the Yasui family immigration to Oregon in the early 1900s, and through their imprisonment in internment camps during World War Two as Japanese-Americans. I found this documentary heart-warming, eye-opening and emotional to what the Japanese immigrants had to deal with when immigrating to the United States and different insights to what went through their minds before, during and after World War Two. From watching the documentary, I can’t even fathom how a civil and nothing but perfect Japanese family like the Yasui family, could immigrate to the United States, establish themselves with work, a home and the start a family, could be seen as enemies of the country and lose everything for just looking or sounding Japanese. I mean, when I was growing up and I read books about Pearl Harbor or looked at pictures, videos and the film about Pearl Harbor, I right away got mad and emotional about those attacks and got a sense of anger from those attacks and found myself thinking that the Japanese deserved what they got and brought it upon themselves, which is harsh. Now, I was just a young child and to get those feelings years later, should show to a degree on how easy it was for Americans to be upset, angered and thought of the Japanese-Americans as evil people at the time. The Pearl Harbor attacks were one of the hardest attacks on U.S. soil from a

I have found the sweet sixteen party is quite similar to a Quinceañero birthday party. Probably the most distinct similarities are that they are both an event that celebrates a girl’s transition from childhood to womanhood. They are both an important part of the culture, as well as are quite elaborate and usually expensive, depending on the type of party the parents want. They celebrate when a girl becomes a woman, which is a major stage in life because adults have more privileges and responsibilities. This is a big part of their culture because it is celebrated by almost all Spanish girls when they become women. Most of the time, these parties are elaborate, as they only happen to a person once in their entire

The one topic that I found the most interesting was Wegscheider-Cruse’s and Blacks family roles. I really enjoyed this section because it got me thinking about which role I best fit and all of the various ways that my family members and I adapted to the substance abuse issues that occurred in our household. After lots of thought, I came to conclusion that I took on the role as the hero/responsible child. I always did really well in school and in the sports that I played. I always felt bad about for my family and what everyone had to go through and sacrifice so I found myself trying to succeed and bring a more positive light into the family. I never wanted to cause any issues with anyone or be difficult because I never wanted to add to all of the stress. Growing up I was by far, more responsible than my older brother. Although the oldest child normally takes on the role of the hero, this role fit me best. I would like to think that I have really good organization skills and have set reasonable goals throughout life that I have been able to achieve. It was very clear to me that I could not rely on my father growing up because of his substance abuse issues. This pushed me to be very independent knowing that my mother already had a lot on her plate.

The change tearing through America in the 1950’s persists to this day. 2010 has brought a busier, more materialistic, culture than ever before. The trends of women working outside of the home and increasing teenage autonomy persists. American teenagers are given more discretionary time than ever before in history. Reed Larson studied this continuing trend and explains, “If we look back over the past 200 years, the most striking historic change in young people’s use of time is that youths spend much less time on labor activities today than they did in America’s agrarian past” (160). Some teenagers use

My day just started and I’m already beyond stressed; I had to wake up, fix my hair, put on makeup, find my suit, and then bring myself here, ugh. As a high school student, I go through a good bit of stress trying to juggle advanced placement classes, clubs, a social life, a job, and writing this oratory; it seems like I never get a break. According to the American Psychological Association, high school students score a 5.8 on a ten point scale of stress during the school year, whereas adults score a 5.1. To put those scores in context, the APA suggests that the healthy level for a high school student is a score of 3.9. Clearly, teens are inundated with high levels of stress, and to make matters worse, the adults around them often refuse

n the upcoming page’s I will answer the following questions. Why is family the most important agent of socialization? What caused the dramatic changes to the American family? What are the changes? I will discuss the differences in marriage and family, I will discuss how they are linked to class, race, gender, and personal choices. The purpose of this study is to explore the many different family functions and the paths that people are now choosing. I will give my opinion on whether these changes have had a positive or negative affect. I will finally discuss the trend of the modern family, back to pre-World War II family structure, how would that effect the strides that have been made in the progression of women rights.

This paper examines American traditions, how they are established and preserved. Specifically, I discuss traditional gatherings known as family, class, and school reunions and review ways in which they are augmented by social networks. I remind the reader of the role reunions play in the perpetuation of memories and transference of collective knowledge. It is believed that attendance at family reunions had dwindled in the 90’s but is experiencing resurgence (Baxter, 2005); this is due in part, I believe, to social network sites like Facebook and MySpace. People are reencountering their past and making connections, both old and new.

In the three cultures discussed above, while there are different variations of strictness, the partners were able to choose who they desired to court and in turn marry. This is not the case for Grecian courtships where “virtually all marriages are arranged” (Campbell, 1964, p. 124). The idea of marrying for love, while not a foreign concept in the culture, is often rejected and condemned. Often the only question asked during the courtship is “’will you marry this boy or girl?’” (p. 124). This being said, ““It is almost impossible for a girl to refuse the bridegroom of her family's choice if they insist upon it, although it is believed that a good father or brother ought not to force her into a marriage against her will” (p. 124).

Family has always been one of the cornerstones of society that allow it to thrive overall through the communities in which they share commonalities whether it is goals, activities, or caring about one another. In contemporary sociology, the term “family” represents a social group in which the members are connected by some type of tie, whether it is legal, biological, or emotional circumstances, or even a blend of the three. Although it’s been shown by sociological research that family isn’t considered to be the center of many American’s lives, Americans still believe family is very significant. “Song Cry” showcases how family has a major influence on the music artist, albeit not in the way we would expect it to be.

When the idea of a family life first began, the man was supposed to be the sole breadwinner while the wife stayed home to cook or clean or take care of the children. A traditional American family used to be a mom and a dad, with a few kids. However, that white picket fence lifestyle has become almost abnormal now. Ever since the choices of divorce, homosexuality, even role reversal have been offered to families things have never been quite the same. In the early days, divorce was an extremely shameful thing. The concept of for better or worse truly held it's meaning. A man and a woman would almost never split up, no matter how bad things got. Today, divorce papers can be mailed and signed with virtually no hassle, making the ending of a marriage

I come from a large Caribbean family. My family hails from the beautiful island of Jamaica. Some people always ask why they would leave such a beautiful island but they don’t know it’s not all sandy beaches, clear blue water, and palm trees. For those who live and work on the island, they know the struggle of trying to survive. Inflation occurs and then it becomes hard to buy food and other necessities. The violence between gangs and the police invade the streets and homes. But these few problems do not characterize the island. The strong bonds between family and friends counteract the violence. The fruitful lands allow the islanders to grow their own food and raise their own cattle. Growing up I heard stories about how my many family members

The ideal American family was transformed in the 19th century in large part due to the great changes taking place in the American society. Many family groups fit this changing mold while some did not. In this essay I will show how this concept of the ideal American family changed. I will also try to explain which groups of Americans followed this concept and why.