Research Question:
What role does technology play on kinship ties in postmodern North American society?
Thesis Statement:
In the postmodern era technologies of social saturation render the ties of kinship less significant than they were in the postmodern era.
Summary:
The modernization of North America has changed the make of family lessening the significance of the ties of kinship. According to Zeitlin, the theory of the postmodern family is based on the concept of changing gender roles as there is no longer a need for a distinction between the genders. Men are no longer hunters, women are no longer dedicated to domestic labour and childbearing. It is because of technological advancements the differences between the genders are less
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It is the departure from modernism, and is distinctly the attitude defined by a distrust to higher power and the movement past the progression into modernization. This change occurred mid to late twentieth century. It a common opinion amongst anthropologists and sociologists at the beginning of the nineteenth century, that non-nuclear families such as single-parent, surrogate mother, gay and lesbian families, are negative results of postmodernism. This postmodern family is called pluralistic or permeable by anthropologists.(Zeitlin: 1995: 10) The postmodern world is shaped by new freedoms and the creation of larger social circles through newfound forms of communication. Newfound technologies caused indirect social contact to be intensive which caused family disorder and turmoil. These technologies make physical togetherness less important for family members. The home has become a warzone, because people of different generations have vastly different ideologies, especially children born into a world where all these technologies were always present. Postmodern children have a lot of exposure to adult themes at a young age through TV and the internet, which in the past never existed and is difficult to control. This is causing social issues in these children, especially since child rearing is split into two different environments. Children from a young age are taught self-centred …show more content…
The telephone completely alters the the nature of social interactions. It can be described as a lifeline to the outside world or a device that can cause isolation. The placement of information and technological devices within the home alters the domestic environment. The interaction between these devices and the inhabitants show that having these devices causes an impact on the people within the home, influencing their habits and values. These devices become important to the daily lives of the inhabitants, and cause new social networks which form relationships outside the family. It is difficult to maintain both external and internal relations so families struggle to make time for each other, and when they do spend time together it may involve use of these devices which isn’t really a social connection at all. In communities with little chance of casual encounters providing people with this technology causes isolation from society outside of screens. This is directly related to the belief that humans are becoming more antisocial which as a family would have a negative effect on interpersonal interactions. (Strathern 2005:
This essay, The Myth of the Model American Family, is a discussion of the concept of an ideal family in the different perspective specifically social, cultural and economic. This is also an attempt to identify the structural changes in relation to the global development and the international economic crisis that immensely created impact on their lives. However, the discussion will limit itself on the different identifiable and observable transformations as manifested in the lifestyles, interrelationships and views of family members and will not seek to provide an assessment of their psycho-social and individual perceptions.
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.
Throughout human history individuals around the world, of various ethnic, racial, cultural backgrounds have linked together to form what people call today families. A lot of questions come to mind when contemplating the complex relationship people have. Since families have a direct bearing on society now and on future generations it is essential to take seriously what is happening to the family. Is the American family in decline, and if so what should be done about it? “Traditionally, family has been defined as a unit made up of two or more people who are related by blood, marriage, or adoption: live together; form an economic unit, and bear and raise children (Benokraitis, 3).” The definition of decline is to “fail in strength, vigor, character, value, deteriorate, slant downward.” The traditional nuclear family consists of a father provider, mother-homemaker, and at least one child (Brym and Lie, 252).” The nuclear family is a distinct and universal family form because it performs five important functions in society:sexual regulation, economic cooperation, reproduction, socialization, and emotional support. Research from the 1950 's to the present will emphasize what trends are taking place among American families. Family trends might not have expected???
Talcott Parsons’ (1956, pg. 309) believed that “the nuclear family is a social system” which consists of a straight married couple and around two to five children, “can be distinguished, and does function as a significant group” (1956, pg.308). Parsons believed that the family benefitted society in ways such as the teachings of gender roles and the overall structure of society: the male going to work and being the breadwinner, while the wife stays at home and cooks and nurtures the children. After the Second World War, the nuclear family was the most common type of family making the structure easily “distinguishable”. However, when we look at the postmodern society, we can see that there are many different types of families nowadays such
In this paper, I will compare two artworks that share a similar theme of the portrayal of family meals. Also, I will evaluate a contemporary issue shown in artwork that relates to the theme of family meals. The first work of art, The Merry Family was painted by Jan Steen in 1668 and in this painting, it depicts the theme of the portrayal of a family meal in a joyous and amusing setting, but Steen was known for integrating subtle hints into his work. These hints warned the viewer about what is depicted in the painting. The second work of art, The Potato Eaters was painted by Vincent van Gogh in 1885 and it depicts the portrayal of a family meal but in a more straightforward and somber setting. Van Gogh wanted to truthfully depict the people and their lives. My comparison of the two, chosen artwork will show how they may share a similar theme of the “portrayal of family meals” but differ in the meaning, tone and emotion being projected by the artists. I will also explore how this theme is expressed in modern artwork, particularly Eric McCandless’s What ‘Modern Family’ Says About Modern Families.
The vast majority of individuals have acquired their own unique and ornate proposals surrounding what the social structure of a family is. Yet, whilst each individual in a given society has experienced family life in a multitude of ways, we as people cannot fathom how our experiences have come to be, without obtaining a broad understanding of how our personal relationships built within social structures integrate into a more prodigious social context. Present day Americans endure a society that is a composite of a multitude of family types (e.g. nuclear two-parent, extended, stepfamilies, multigenerational, family of orientation and procreation, the economic unit, cohabitors, single-parent, childless, same-sex, and so forth). Aside from singular
Depictions of families in the 1950s were extreme in a myriad of ways. The notion of a “nuclear family,” in which a husband, wife and their children were considered the smallest unit of our society, became incredibly popular. Husbands and wives each seemed to have particular roles and duties from which they couldn’t stray. The husband, of course, was a working man responsible for bringing money to the household. His wife worked on something else: their household itself. She cleaned, cooked, and decorated. She bought groceries and clothing for everybody. She watched their children, fed them, and took care of them. In the 1950s, advertising advocated these roles and these roles alone: straying from them was rather unthinkable. The “nuclear
The families in America are steadily changing. While they remain our most valued and consistent source of strength and comfort, some families are becoming increasingly unstructured. In the past, the typical family consists of a working father, a stay at home mother and, of course, well-rounded children. Today, less than 20 percent of American families fit nicely into this cookie cutter image. American households have never been more diverse. Natalie Angier takes stock of the changing definition of family in an article for the New York Times.
The ABC news documentary “2010's American Family Defined”, talks about the definition of today’s modern family. This information is based on a research that explains how people have changed their ideology of what makes a family. It points out that the traditional family consists of a father, a mother with children’s have changed into a modern family that consist of what a person considers a family should be. The modern family can be a blended family, same sex family, single parent, and so on.
The idea of family diversity suggests that there is no dominate type of family, therefore none can be considered as the norm. However there are studies to suggest that in historical periods of Britain like when it was industrializing there is dominating types, in this period it was considered to be the nuclear family.
Although each culture views families and how they treat each other differently than other cultures, but when it comes to the traditional two-parent, nuclear family type, the relationship ties can be strained. Since the father would typically be out for the day working and the mother at home with the children, the mother spends the most time with the kids forming a stronger bond than the father might. Leading into the next function, economic cooperation, in which the work done at home is often not paid for resulting in the mother losing say or power over what occurs within their family. In addition, it compiles more tension and stress onto women due to 1950’s TV shows of how a family should be. In the article, “In Search Of A Golden Age,” Stephanie
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 will discuss the differences between families from the 1960’s and the families of today. There are many differences between the different times. I have focused on the parentage portion of the families. I explained what the ideal family is and how it is different today. I’ve also included ways that will help these families of today become stronger as a family.
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
There are varieties of families in the world. People develop different personalities and mind sets because they have their own experience and knowledge gain from their individual families. In this essay, I will contrast and summarize each of nuclear, which is traditional, family and non-traditional families and also compare each of the families and examine how changing in non-traditional and nuclear families will affect people’s behaviors and minds in the view of sociologist and psychologist in order to argue how changing family affect individuals and the society.