Chapter 1: The Changing Family

1.) Summary

This chapter is about what defines a family. It determines what type of family it is by the different aspects of it. The main type is the nuclear family that is composed of a husband, wife, and children. This definition does not go over well with everyone though because there are families that are single parents, child-free couples, foster parents, and siblings sharing a home. It also went to go on to talk about that the family fulfills certain functions such as bearing and socializing children, providing family members with all sorts of support, and placing family members in society, etc. Then the chapter goes on to talk about the kinds of marriages such as monogamous or polygamous. It also goes into the myths about the family including the family as a safe haven from the outside world and the smoothness of marriage. There is also a debate of whether the family is changing in a positive way or if it is going to become an unhealthy institution. These levels of change are recognized on the micro and macro level. This is dependent on whether the behavior between the group members in the family is interpersonal or on a large scale.

2.) My Opinions

I personally do not think the structure of the family is going to totally disintegrate. It is like any other thing that changes in trends. The structure of the family over the centuries has never been the exact same depending on the ethnicity, race, or time period that group was apart. For example some Native Americans lived in giant longhouses together and everyone who lived in the one was all considered family. While the families of the 1950’s were primarily made up of a mother, father, a boy, and a girl child such as leave it to beaver. You can also see this change when you look at how the family is portrayed throughout the media throughout time.

1960’s- Leave it to Beaver

1970’s- The Brady Bunch

1980’s- The Cosby Show

1990’s- Roseanne

2000’s- Modern Family

You can see just from these examples that yes the family goes through periods of change where different things are considered family but it does not change that this institution is still prevalent today.

3.) Questions

As I was reading the chapter I thought not so much that the family was changing but what was causing the change? Was it because women now do not have to be the stay at home moms and only cook and clean for their families? Or are they just different because of the cultures? I know that some in Thailand that if a mom needs to leave her family and work in another country to provide her family money she will do that and the children will have to fend for themselves which changes all of the roles within the family. Also I thought a lot about gender roles because I feel like that even though women’s roles have changed men’s roles have not. The reason that I say this is because now men are able to clean and cook without being harassed, but women will still never take out the trash or do any repairs around the house because that is man’s work. Why is acceptable for men to be able to take on more tasks but women it is almost like they are incapable of doing such a task?