The Traditional Role Of Parenthood In The United States

I recently attended your talk in Boston and, while I was interested in much of what you had to say, I do have some notable points of disagreement. In your paper, which you co-wrote with Robert Bales (who was nowhere to be found at the talk) in 1955, you argue that the family is at a point of stability in the 1950s that you say will last. In doing so, you credit what you deem to be the new structure of family: with specific roles including a male breadwinner, along with a wife who stays at home and cares for the children. This claim, however, is questionable. By looking at the demographic composition of different familial combinations, one can see

My family immigrated to the United States in the late 1970s, as Hmong refugees after the secret war with the Pathet Laos. My family originally settled in San Diego, California for several years before they decided to move to Fresno, California. When my parents came to Fresno they were receiving welfare and attending adult school. My father noticed that their friends and relatives were earning more money working in the fields than going to school. My parents dropped out of adult school and started farming to support themselves and my five siblings. My parents felt they couldn’t stop farming because this was now their only way of earning an income to support the family. Growing up, my parents would emphasize the importance of school and getting a bachelor degree.

Stephanie Coontz in “The Way We Weren’t: The Myth and Reality of the Traditional Family” emphasizes that the traditional and ideal nuclear family widespread in media and textbooks are false and far from reality. In fact, it is common to see more similarities to the traditional family consistent of “male breadwinner and nurturing mother” (1) today than in the past.

Families, as units, are extremely complex and vary drastically from one another. A person might be under the impression that his or her own family is nothing special, especially if they are accustomed to their family’s routines. After analyzing my own family through the sociological lenses of an assortment of scholars, it is now clear that it is not as simple as it seems. Sociologically analyzing my family through the divorces that have occurred in my life makes it clear that divorce can have an impact on a variety of family dynamics, such as my parents and their jobs and domestic duties, the amount of involvement they have with their friends and family, as well as my financial dependence on my parents.

In the past thirty years the number of incarcerated women in the United States increased by 646%, it is estimated that 6-10% of these women were pregnant at intake. “An Examination of Care Practices of Pregnant Women Incarcerated in Jail Facilities in the United States,” is a study that examined the pregnancy related accommodation and health care provided for regional jail populations. Prior to this study no other study examined regional jail populations, they strictly focused on prison populations. This study is a quantitative survey of common practices and policies implemented across 53 jail facilities in the United States as a function of geographic region. This survey was administered through phone or email to employees

Republican Motherhood is a term used to describe women’s attitudes and roles before, during, and after the American Revolution. These republican mothers, daughters of patriots, were raised with the ideals of republicanism, and were expected to pass on these ideals to the next generation. Republican Motherhood enforced the concept that a domestic women’s domain of life should be kept somewhat separate from men, and that their role was extremely important in raising the next generation. Republican Motherhood also encouraged that women should be educated, which added a sense of importance and dignity that had been absent from previous conceptions of women’s work. John Adams and his wife, Abigail are exemplary of Republican Motherhood. Abigail Smith was born in 1744 in Massachusetts, into a well-known and respected family. On her mother’s side were descendants of a family of great prestige, and her father was a Congregational minister, who was the leader in a society. Like other women of her time, Smith lacked education, but she was a curious and intelligent person and she read enthusiastically the books that she could get access to. Reading led her to meeting John Adams, and they got married in 1764. John Adams’ career was in politics, so Abigail was kept away from her husband for long periods of time as he served the country. Abigail Adams died in 1818, after 17 years of peaceful retirement with her husband in Quincy, Massachusetts. I truly believe that Abigail and

Family needs have changed since the 1950s and women's work in the ideal nuclear family has been historically constructed and reproduced by culture and patriarchal heteronormative society. An ideal nuclear family is a group consisting of two parents and their children. This family includes both sexes, who maintain a sexual relationship and one or more children. Within this family, everyone had roles; the father worked whereas the mother maintained the household and cared for the offspring. The children were to model and study their parents to become them, so they could later take their place in society when the parents are too old to perform their duties. The nuclear family is no longer the American dream and soon society began to notice that many Americans were not living the ideal nuclear lifestyle. With the world adjusting and adapting there are new definitions for what consists of a family. We are shifting from a heteronormative society to an inclusive society.

What do individuals think of when they hear the term First Family? Normally people think of the President, his wife, and their children, but it can be much more extensive. In the book First Family by David Baldacci, Pam Dutton, sister of the First Lady, is murdered. Pam’s daughter, Willa, is kidnapped during the attack on the Dutton family. Tuck, father of the Dutton family, is badly injured in the attack. The Secret Service provides little protection to relatives to the President, so the Dutton family is an open target. Two detectives who arrive at the crime scene while the crime is taking place take upon the investigation. Sean King and Michelle Maxwell are appointed to investigate the crime under the orders of the First Lady. The title is

In addition, in the traditional families the mother usually bore the sole responsibility of the child caring. Modern parents now share this responsibility together because of social and work constraints. However, holidays which are not common in the traditional family, allow them to spend quality time with their children. Moreover in many modern families the father becomes a house worker, to provide for the needs of his children. As the statistics shown in the United Kingdom in 2001, 155 000 fathers were stay home husbands. All in all, the emphasis on nurturing children can be seen in traditional and modern families, alike.

In a sociological perspective, family is interpreted as a social group whose members are bound by legal, biological, or emotional ties or a combination of all three. The sociological theories the connect to this concept are functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionalism. First, functionalism states that the family socializes children, it provides emotional and practical support for its members, and it provides its members with a social identity. Secondly, conflict theory states that members create disagreements, and create emotional support and comfort. Finally, symbolic interactionism claims family members and intimate couples interact on a daily basis. "Families are defined as a relationship by blood, marriage, or affection" (Seccombe 5).

In her book The Unfinished Revolution, Kathleen Gerson argues that today, family pathways are more important than family structure. In this context, family structure refers to the organization of a family, and the way that it has been changing as a result of the gender revolution. For example, some nontraditional family structures that are explored in the book include double parent families with both parents earning, single parent families (mostly single mothers), and families with same-sex parents. Gerson argues that while family structures are not negligible, it is family pathways that are more important for the children of the gender revolution. That is to say, the children value the dynamics of their family more than the structure. They are more concerned about how well their parents are able to provide them with the necessary emotional and financial support than they are about how well their families follow a norm. For them, it is more about feeling like they’re part of a family rather than just physically being in one. Gerson emphasizes this when she explains that the people she interviewed “focused on the long-term consequences of parental choices, not on the specific form or type of home these choices produced at any one moment in time.” One important implication of this argument is the way in which the children of the gender revolution imagine their own romantic relationships unfolding. Even there, they prioritize a feeling rather than a format. For example, one

Family structure in the United States has undergone a dramatic change since the 1960's. The percentage of female-headed households increased while the percentage of married couple households declined. This paper uses data from the Urban Underclass Database to explain the roles the transforming economy (from manufacturing to service) and the subsequent employment dislocation play in the family structure change. Results for the largest 100 cities in the United States find support for a relationship between changes in the economy, subsequent male unemployment, and family

Gender roles, the public image of being a particular gender that a person presents to others (gender roles, n.d.), have seen many changes through the years, especially in families. The changes can be seen in many aspects, including television shows, from the traditional family in the I Love Lucy sitcom of the 1950s to the plethora of shows about women and men who balance working and family life of the 2000s. A traditional family can be defined as “… the ‘natural reproductive unit’ of mom, pop, and the children all living under one roof… (Ball, 2002).” The 1940s, a period dominated by this type of family, were primarily a time of single-income families where the father was the ‘breadwinner’ and the mother the ‘homemaker (Hayghe, H.V., 1990).’

The purpose of this paper is to explore patriarchal values that reinforce violence towards women in intimate partner relationships. This paper argues that patriarchy and the social construction of masculinity reproduce male violence against women. The following sub-issues that that will be discussed are patriarchy, capitalism, the religion of Islam, and the construction of masculinity and femininity. All the sub-issues encompass patriarchy values which allows inmate partner violence.

The family structure determines where you derive from and provides a sense of who you are. The typical family structure is perceived as a father and a mother, two children, one boy and one girl, and a pet. The typical family description described above is still promoted and expected to be the “dream family.” Author Meyerhoff, “While the nuclear family with Dad, Mom, and offspring happily coexisting beneath one roof-remains the ideal, variations in family structure are plentiful and often successful” (Meyerhoff). Meaning that a lot of families are remarried spouses with prior children and more common in the last decade same sex marriages. So, do these nontraditional families have the same qualities? Personally, I would think so. After