What Modern Family Says About Modern Families

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

In Barbara Kingsolver’s story “Stone Soup,” Kingsolver explains that in modern society, there is no such thing as a true traditional family, but rather many different types of families that may be considered “broken” or “failed.” Kingsolver is trying to show the reader the idea that there are only a few "perfect" families. She feels that today that divorce is too common, there is often too little compassion, and also that there is too much "contempt [for] the straw-broken home"(Kingsolver 140). Reflecting on her past, Kingsolver often thought about the “family of dolls,” which is to her the

In Dorothy Allison’s essay, “Panacea,” she effectively conveys the importance of preparing a gravy, which ensures the dominant impression of safety and comfort necessary for mothers to display to their children.

Dorothy Allison’s essay, Panacea, recalls the fond childhood memories about her favorite dish, gravy. Allison uses vivid imagery to cook up a warm feeling about family meals to those who may be a poor family or a young mother. Appeal to the senses shows this warm feeling, along with a peaceful diction.

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 Jessica Harris’s “The Culinary Season of my Childhood” she peels away at the layers of how food and a food based atmosphere affected her life in a positive way. Food to her represented an extension of culture along with gatherings of family which built the basis for her cultural identity throughout her life. Harris shares various anecdotes that exemplify how certain memories regarding food as well as the varied characteristics of her cultures’ cuisine left a lasting imprint on how she began to view food and continued to proceeding forward. she stats “My family, like many others long separated from the south, raised me in ways that continued their eating traditions, so now I can head south and sop biscuits in gravy, suck chewy bits of fat from a pigs foot spattered with hot sauce, and yes’m and no’m with the best of ‘em,.” (Pg. 109 Para). Similarly, since I am Jamaican, food remains something that holds high importance in my life due to how my family prepared, flavored, and built a food-based atmosphere. They extended the same traditions from their country of origin within the new society they were thrusted into. The impact of food and how it has factors to comfort, heal, and bring people together holds high relevance in how my self-identity was shaped regarding food.

"Mealtime had always been the center of our family scene. In camp, and afterward, I world often recall with deep yearning the old round wooden table in our dining room in Ocean Park... large enough to

Families are different today than they were fifty years ago. Not just regarding the social changes with gay couples, divorced couples, and single parents, but other changes around us have caused the family to evolve. The invention of the television, the internet, and even freezers and microwaves have changed how the family functions. Compounding changes in the world around us, the treatment of women as equals has also adjusted the dynamic in households. In the novel Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by Barbara Kingsolver, the author pins the changing of our family culture, with regards specifically to mealtime, on the women’s liberation movement from the sixties. (126) Family mealtime has changed over the years, but there are multiple reasons for its perceived demise. The women’s liberation movement gave women the chance to leave the kitchen and enter the workforce, but changes to the family meal began before women started taking up careers alongside men. Food processing, personal electronics, and the way our society raises children, have all changed how we eat together.

This week materials are mainly focusing on food. The readings are about how food, especially dinner, has an important role in the family, how the way we live affects the way we eat and the regional of our food. As in Michael Pollan’s book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, he was explaining how corn is in all of our diets. How it moved from the farm to the feeding lot, to the food lab and into our food. Further analysis of food, and of the sources that describes the food we eat, suggests that it requires a lot of work in the agriculture farm before our ingredients can come together and that mealtime is a great time for a family bonding but the bonding varies with each family due to the different in every families’ culture.

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.

An example of commensality which the majority of people experience first happens within the household among immediate family. Sitting around one table at dinner time as a family became a societal norm during the 1800s. Since then everyday commensality among families has continued to be portrayed as an ideology, especially through the media (Lupton 1996). Such implication influences the attitudes of those in society. This is reflected in a study conducted in Scotland. Findings were that there was a general agreement in that a good meal was prepared by parents, served to children and eaten together around one table (Blaxter M & Paterson E 1983). Although family commensality may be enacted as an obligation to fulfil society’s expectations, its experiencers still have much to gain from it. The effects in which these gains have on a person’s life means that family commensality is a happening of great significance.

While culture is prevalent in everyone 's lives, the way that culture is interpreted can drastically vary depending upon the generation a person grew up in. In both Madeleine Thien 's “Simple Recipes” and Kazuo Ishiguro 's “A Family Supper” the way in which the children view culture is significantly different from their parents views. While the children in each story grew up in different countries, the similarities between the children and their families are strikingly similar. The cultural views of the father and son in each story leads them in separate ways, which ultimately causes major rifts within the families and creates significant tension between father and son. The fathers in each story are authority figures to their children. Although the level of authority each father has over their children is drastically different due to the age of their children, it is clear both fathers demand a certain level of respect from them. The suppers in each story, while seemingly insignificant at first, actually carry a much deeper meaning. The suppers play a large role in how each story plays out. Although there are differences in regards to how each story conveys the message of cultural divide, the point remains the same. Culture is always evolving, and while this is generally viewed as a success for society, if those involved do not have a firm grasp on what is changing, it can lead to disagreements within society and in some cases disagreements within

Both Merry Family and Potato Eaters displays a realistic representation of everyday life between families as they gather around the dinner table presumably eating dinner. Also, both artworks have very different purposes, and these different purposes are made evident through a variety of symbols, as well as differences in color and use of lines, which also have symbolic meaning. While Merry Family contradicts the everyday life of a chaotic family by illustrating the old saying that bad examples are quickly followed, Potato Eaters shows a powerful yet realistic painting of how poverty has overtaken this family in this specific time period (Google Arts and Culture). The differences shown in Potato Eaters and Merry Family is that Merry Family

We see that both Merry Family and Potato Eaters show two different socioeconomic statuses and this is important because each artist can portray how each family can bring food to provide food for the family. If we were to compare the food eaten in these two specific time period, we see would a difference. For Example, a family with a similar socioeconomic status of Potato Eaters would eat food such as basic food crops like rice, beans, potatoes, and corn (New Netherlands Institute). It is obvious why these people would eat this food because they make a little money, but they do what can provide for their family. However, this family may not have had much to celebrate as we see in Merry Family but they have each other. Furthermore, all the adults

Today society displays greater diversity within households. Most American households are now non-traditional or unconventional. Non-traditional or unconventional families include; single parenthood, singlehood and LGBT relationships. Modern family is a comedy exploring the different “modern” families. This show explores a huge unconventional family through a gay couple, made up of Mitchell and Cameron, and their adopted daughter Lily; a straight couple comprised of Phil and Clare, and their three children, Luke, Alex and Hayley; and a multicultural family which is comprised of Jay and his much younger wife Gloria and their son Manny. Modern family explores how the present day family is defined and , modern America means for family members. Despite Modern family’s groundbreaking success in representing non traditional families, the show continues to reinforce heteronormative values through stereotypes of queer identity in regards, gender roles within the relationship, gay adoptive parents and gay marriage.