Nuclear Family In Kurt Vonnegut's The Herbert Foster Portfolio

After stating the inequity that our parents have given us , we sense that our complaints and such have been brushed to the side and pretended to not exist. For that reason , we decided there was no other option but to isolate ourselves from our families and homes so that we can become independent. This will give us the opportunity to demonstrate our parents that we don’t necessarily need to depend on them any longer.

My mother worked day and night so I had to care for my sister and cousins. On some occasions I had to help my mom clean houses to earn money. At the age of thirteen up until I was sixteen I was cleaning houses for the people we longed to be. I got a glimpse of a life I have never known. For the most part my mom’s boss was nice, but her family was ignorant at times. They would ask me where I have traveled and if I’ve been to all these kinds of expensive places. When I answered no they asked why not. I guess they didn’t comprehend the fact that my mom and I were cleaning their dishes and making their beds for less than the minimum wage to be able to barely afford the rent of the small room we all

In today’s society, family is often attempted to be organized within a social structure. Within this structure family typically is consisted of mom, dad, daughter, and son. However, many families do not fit into this configuration. These families may include same sex couples, separated or divorced families, extended families, or even blended families. Even though these families may be happy and healthy, to many they are not considered real families. Going along with the topic of imperfect families, both Barbara Kingsolver and Richard Rodriguez try to break down the traditional family structure through their writing. While Kingsolver’s “Stone Soup” and Rodriguez’s “Family Values” explore the ideas of different family structures and traditional American values, “Stone Soup” breaks down what an actual family is like while “Family Values” expresses the value of family in different cultures.

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.

Enrolling in a class formulated around families and their dynamics within Canadian society, initially seemed as though it would be quite monotone. The prior knowledge I held, led myself to believe there was not much more one could learn about such an area; families are diverse and all strive off of one another to survive in their home and surrounding environments. Throughout this short term my thoughts have altered in understanding the complexity and diversity within families. Every individual is part of a family yet, whom one considers “family” can arise from many areas: full sibling, step sibling, adopted, close friend, foster child amongst other areas which many will speak to under their own terms. Every family has faced challenges

I was always a precocious child, yet argumentative and rebellious. I did not want to accomplish anything following a pattern set for me. I wanted to forge my own way. This determination set me at odds with my mother, and has defined our relationship all these years. It has surely led me down my own irregular path in life, and placed me in position to be the family’s black sheep.

Until quite recently, the traditional view of family that has predominated society has been comprised of gender roles. The “ideal” family in the past has consisted of a white, middle-class, heterosexual couple with about 2.5 children. In this heteronormative nuclear family, the father is the head of the household and the breadwinner of the family, while the mother is the one who cares for the children and completes household duties. Of course, most families do not fit into this mould and those who do not fit have been repeatedly marginalized due to their differences. It is no question that race, class, sexuality, ability, and many other identity markers intersect in how forms of family may vary. As explained by the concept of intersectionality, gender must be analyzed through a lens that includes various identity markers which contribute to how an individual experiences oppression. It is through the use of intersectionality, the discussion of patriarchy, and the deconstruction of “family” that bell hooks (1990) and Michelle K. Owen (2001) paint family as a site of belonging and contestation.

Today, non-traditional families dominate the scene. The “normal” family is now uncommon in our society (Shields 562). Teachers have to be cautious when assuming every child has a mommy or daddy. Social workers must no longer be surprised when their clients are actually grandparents taking care of their grandchildren. Some children may have two daddies, or some only have a mommy. The list goes on. The culprit creating these unusual families is not always divorce and can include the death of a parent, unwed mothers, or single-sex parents (Shields 562). New families are not required to be biologically related. In an article about her non-traditional family, “Why Do We Marry?” Jane Smiley points out that people with numerous marriages or partners extend the definition of family (564). She writes, family dinners consisted of “me, my boyfriend, his daughter and son by his second wife, my daughters by my second husband, and my seven-year-old son by my third husband” (563, 564). Relationships begin to resemble several broken, rerouted, and

A family is something that comforts and includes others. It is an environment where people can feel like they belong. Although in societies eyes the family is much more. We depict who is fit enough to support a family and question if the family is functioning properly. In both articles, Homeplace: A site of Resistance by Bell Hooks and “Family” as a Site of Contestation: Queering the Normal or Normalizing the Queer? By Michelle K. Owen, both authors have distinct understandings of the concept of family and question the societal norm of how a family should behave. Family is a site of belonging and contestation. Both authors describe that there are many forms of family that contrast the typical nuclear model family. Also it is demonstrated that families supply a place of belonging and nourishment. Although society has placed values on families, distinguishing what families are most fit and functioning. Using an intersectional lens it is demonstrated in these two articles that many families reject the nuclear family model, and families are given a value and are placed within a social hierarchy.

Times have changed; the nuclear family is no longer the American ideal because family needs have changed since the 1950's. This American convention of a mother and father and their two children, were a template of films and early television as a depiction of the American family life. Now seen as archaic and cliché by today’s standards, but the idea is common throughout many of the first world nations in the world. This ideal was a vast departure from the past agrarian and pre industrial families, and was modeled and structured as the ‘American dream’ father working, mother maintaining the household and children molded to be simulacra of the parents. This portrayal was not the standard; many communities throughout America had a different

She told me I needed to be the man of the house despite the fact, I was the second oldest. My older brother continued to struggle and get in trouble as he wrestled with his own demons. I didn’t have the luxury of doing what I wanted. I dropped many extra-curricular activities so I could be home to help my siblings with homework and dinner. Even to the extent that my going away to college was simply to encourage them to do the same when they finished high school.

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, a nuclear family can be described as a group of people who are united by ties of partnership and parenthood, consisting of a pair of adults and their socially recognized children (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2015). Because most children are most exposed to their parents in this manner, the nuclear family is regarded as the basic social unit where a child learns adult conduct. Based on Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, the way an adult perceives life is determined by the experiences the person had as a child (Moynihan, 1965). Consequently, the stability of a child’s nuclear family can have a large impact on their subsequent behavior as they age.

In this paper, I will use the sociological imagination to connect my personal experiences of growing up in a nuclear family to comparison of growing up in a divorced family. I’m from a nuclear family and my best friend is from a divorced family. “Some people still think the average American family consists of a husband who works in paid employment and a wife who looks after the home, living together with their children” according to Giddens, Anthony pg. 447. That’s not the case in many households. There are many differences, from values, financial issues, and how having one parent opposed to, two parents growing up. Growing up in a nuclear family household has given me the opportunity to have both parents supporting me and always being there, having both parents at special events, giving me the guidance from both perspectives man, and women, love, and financial aid. My best friends parents have been divorced for over 19 years, her living style is much different. She has to make certain days available to visit her father, and her mother has financial difficulties.

Here we are, 40 years later, in the midst of social turmoil, where the values and principles such as the family unit that were once our

My family history is rather unclear and unexplored. I do know that my maternal grandmother was adopted. My paternal side is said to be Italian. I come from an English speaking family. The geographic range is also unexplored and limited to western Pennsylvania. I grew up in the small town of Nolo, Pennsylvania. I can recall moving from one house to another but within the same county. I did change school districts one time. I would consider this to be very stable. Currently, I reside in Indiana county where I grew up. I have been married for six years and have a two year old son that will soon be a big brother. My wife and I built a home within the same geographical location as our parents. My spouse was also raised in a stable nuclear style family structure.