The Nuclear Family : America 's Ideal Misery Essay

The concept of family has changed in many perspectives throughout the years. Nuclear families started back in the 1950s also known as ‘ideal families’. Today family comes in many varieties whether it 's nuclear, accordion, or extended families and even same sex marriage. One thing that is undoubtedly true is that family will always be the one that you have an unbreakable bond with. American families have evolved in many ways leading us away from what was known as nuclear families.

No matter what background you come from or how you were raised, family is extremely important. According to Malinowski, “Family is a necessary institution for fulfilling the task of child rearing in society”(Conley, 2013). Society has come a long way when it comes to family and it is much different than it was in the 1950’s. Not all families are nuclear families. A nuclear family is having a mother, father, and children that are all biological (Conley, 2013). This kind of family is what some would call more “traditional.” Today in the twenty first century it is getting harder and harder to find families that have actually stayed together. There are so many different kinds of families in today’s society, and more and more families are becoming blended families. A blended family is when two families come together (Conley, 2013). Many families today have single mons, single, dads, and even same sex parents. Family is not always the people that live in the same house as you, family also consists of extended family. An extended family is a network that goes beyond the main “nuclear” family (Conley,

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.

In 1970, 40% of couples were married with children. 2013 marked a new low as only 19% of household were married with children. A nuclear family is usually described as a heterosexual marriage with the average of 2.5 children, became synonymous with the American dream philosophy in the mid-1940s. The nuclear family standard is rapidly on the decline in the United States. These declining number have a range of causes. The causes of the decline of the nuclear family are cohabitation, childfree couples, high divorces rates, and the introduction of LGBTQ families. The effects are increased self-fulfillment, serial monogamy, childhood psychological trauma and family diversity. Gay and lesbian marriages

The article Family and Social Memory: Why History Matters mentioned the concept of the nuclear family. The ideal white-picket fenced family, with a mother, father and children who happily live together in privacy. It was during the postwar era when technological discoveries were rapid and mind-blowing, an era where hope was renewed and the ideal family was remodeled. It involved a father being the head of the house, and the mother being the primary caretaker. It was this notion that reigned as the ideal family for a long period of time. However, I find this stereotype to be rather poisonous because, as the article also mentioned, soon the media uncovered the dark realities behind the nuclear family. During the post-war era, abuse and sexism

A nuclear family is universal and is defined as a two generational grouping; consisting of a father, mother and their children, all living in the same household. The idea of the nuclear family was first noticed in Western Europe in 17th century. The concept that narrowly defines a nuclear family is essential to the stability in modern society and has been promoted by modern social conservatives in the United States and has been challenged inadequate to describe the complexity of actual family relations. In this essay, I shall be assessing the views that the nuclear family functions to benefit all its members and society as a whole, from a

September. 1945. World War II has just ended and the men are coming back from overseas. The influx of soldiers, sailors, and airmen cause most of the women to leave their jobs because the men are back. Husbands and boyfriends are returning to their women, thus prompting the start of the “Baby Boomers” generation. Seeing as many of the women no longer need to hold up jobs, some quit to raise children and care for their husbands. Before the war, there was an image in the United States of a Nuclear Family; a husband, a wife, and a couple of children. The war had caused an interruption of this seemingly perfect picture, but with the end of conflict, Nuclear Families were able to sprout up and continue growing. Men were once again the

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

The nuclear family is defined by Conley as a “familial form consisting of a father, a mother, and their children” (Conley, 2015). I believe that this is still the traditional family form in the United States, though there are many variations possible and frequently occur. Nuclear families have always existed from antiquity, but there also have often been variations since antiquity. The most frequent variation would be a single parent family due to death or divorce. There also have been many children adopted or cared for by family members due to death or abandonment, such as when a grandparent assumes care for and guardianship of their grandchildren, or when orphaned children go live with their aunt and uncle.

A brief view of the 4 decades within the periods of 1950 to 1990 would show us a significant shift from the conventional nuclear family to the non-conventional modern family. Starting from the 1950s, the families were nuclear, where members worked together, understood their roles, and did what was expected of them; by the 1960s, there were a few sitcoms that began to undermine the television parent’s authority by privileging the independence of nearly adult or adult children; by the 1970s, the authoritative father began to disappear as they were no longer

Over the years the American nuclear family has not always been the norm, many young men have been brought up by single mothers and they realize the hardships that their mothers have gone through to manage the a work- life balance to provide for them and so they seek to do the same for their families (Slaughter,

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).

The family system can be explained as a group of individuals whom interact socially based upon their personal, shared, and cultural beliefs that are related by blood or intention. The ideal family is constantly changing by the ideologies and discourses that society has bestowed historically over a period of time. In Western societies, there are currently a diversity of ways that people live together. The nuclear family is not as prevalent as it once was decades ago but it still is modeled after in recent times. Popular culture whether it be magazines, television, and films have influenced what is desirable and acceptable to our society norms. The popular images and stereotypes in pop culture have put more emphasis on embracing not only the

The family form I am going to be defining is the nuclear and with reference to the historical perspective I will attempt to explain why this definition is problematic. Within this discussion I will also explore whether the nuclear family is a natural family form or whether it is a socially constructed one. According to Munice et al (1995; 10) the nuclear family is a “small unit produced from the conjugal heterosexual couple and their biological children. The nuclear family unit share a common residence and are united by their ties of affection, common identity and support.”

Over the past few decades social scientists have been engaged debates about family change and influences in modern society, with one of the main themes being the strength and relevance of the nuclear family. Those who believe that the nuclear family unit is breaking down often site the fact that social structures holding up the nuclear family, such as marriage, are collapsing ‘The chances in some societies are now less that 50-50… that a child will live continuously to adult-hood with both natural parents’ (Popenoe 1999). Those on the opposite side believe that the concept of a nuclear family is a traditional and naturally occurring phenomenon that passes from generation to generation. Evidence exists on both sides of the debate leading to conclusion that while the nuclear family is not as prevailing in modern society as it was in the past but still holds a certain level of relevance.