Summary
Chapter one examines all aspects of the family, past and present, across different cultures, and inspects some common myths about the family. The chapter begins by defining family which is a somewhat difficult task because the meaning differs from person to person and has changed significantly over time. Because there is no universal definition of the family, Benokraitis discusses traditional definitions as well as current definitions. Essentially, a family is a group of people that live together, care for each other, share activities, and have emotional ties. In addition to these qualities, Benokraitis explains other ways that families are similar across different societies and cultures. Several examples of similar principles among all families include procreation, socialization, financial security, and marriage. Among these similarities are also differences, such as the structure of a family, who holds the authority, where people choose to live, and values that they place on marriage. Following this section, Benokraitis discusses common myths about marriage and how they can be dysfunctional or functional to families. The last part of the chapter explains how and why the family has been changing and transforming over the years.
What I Learned
I found that section on myths about the family interesting, particularly myths about the perfect marriage and the perfect family. I think a majority of people, especially girls, begin picturing their future marriage and family quite young. I have always thought about what I would like my life to be like and have placed a high value on marriage and starting a family of my own. Ideally, I would like my marriage, family, life in general, to be perfect. However, this article has made me realize that no one really has the perfect life and every family has their ups and downs. I enjoyed John Gillis’ theory that “we all have two families: one that we live with and another we live by”.
Question/Concern
I had a lot of questions concerning the section on family values and the three perspectives on the changing family. For example, I think it’s difficult to choose just one perspective that would describe the changing family. No family is alike, so how can we treat it as something that can be grouped into one, or even three, categories?
I completely agree with your statement about making this standard that only applies to basically the minority of what families are setup like. Why would you treat everything equal when there is no way to almost umbrella all over the different kinds of family. I feel like that the definition of what a family contains should be broadened and made to be more applicable to the majority of families.
ReplyDelete