Chapter 3

Chapter 3 begins by pointing out that when academics evaluate the past, they find that the good old days really never existed. Interesting statistics located in the data digest bar suggest that the past is not as perfect in issues involving the family as one might guess. The first period of the family to come under Benokraitis’ microscope is the colonial family.  According to the chapter, the typical colonial family was nuclear in structure. Most couples began by having 6-7 children but since infant mortality rates were so steep, often times the families ended up with less children with larger age gaps in between each child. During the colonial period survival outside the family was nearly impossible and the chapter lists several important functions that the family encompassed. These structures included: a self-sufficient business, a school, a vocational institute, a miniature church, a house of corrections, and a welfare institute. Sexual Relations within the colonial family were also discussed. Because of the population of Puritans in New England, premarital intercourse was condemned. As for husbands and wives, women were subordinate to men and men were expected to be in charge of the economic activities. According to the text, life for children during this time was very precarious and between 10% and 30% of children died before their first birthday. On top of that, there seemed to be a great emphasis on the child being obedient and well-behaved and these children were often put to work for their families.  However the book makes the point that regional and social class provided for different experiences for different families.

            The next section of the chapter delves into early American families who were of non-European cultures. These included the American Indian who were mostly matrilineal. Indian women arguably had more power than the white woman. In one tribe if a woman was tired of her husband she would simply move out and they would no longer be married. Indian families were typically small due to infant mortality rates. Unlike the colonial family, childhood was a generally happy time and children behaved because of tales which told of children who disobeyed and had bad things done to them as a consequence. The next families to be explored were the African American families who because of their enslavement had a very different family experience than white families.  In slave families most women were the head of the household because their significant other was sold to another owner or was dead. It was also difficult for slaves to even find a mate due to plantation size and restriction. Finally the last family discussed was the Mexican Americans who were typically employed in unskilled labor. Something important to Mexican Americans were God Parents similar to fictive kin, which provided extra support and discipline to their children.

            The next section of the chapter described the family from 1820 to 1930, which included industrialization, urbanization, and European immigration. One of the more notable changes was the establishment of the “cult of domesticity” which was an ideology that exalted womens’ domestic role. This was seen as the beginning of the role of the male as breadwinner and female as homemaker. In addition, parents began to have less control over their parents’ choices. The chapter continues to point out ways that immigration and Urbanization affected the family. Factors like immigrant’s health and housing and the prejudice and discrimination that each individual had to face had profound effects on the family.

            The Great Depression also is noted to have had a great impact on the family at that time (ex. gender roles were forced to become more flexible). Other important eras discussed were World War II and The Golden Fifties. Most notably, the Golden Fifties brought families into the suburbs.  The chapter ends by giving information about the family since the 1960’s.  Benokraitis concludes by emphasizing that the norm for family has been change rather than stability and that both micro and macro level factors have had an effect on the family across time.

 Something new/ Interesting

  Something new and very interesting that I learned was about the false traditional portrayal of African American male slaves as poor husbands and fathers. The book points out that quite often, white male historians have misrepresented the male slave in their academic work. This portrayal negatively showed the black husband and father as powerless. Instead, the chapter showed how slave husbands and fathers actually served as important role models and surrogate fathers to many children. They hunted for food for their families and contributed other ways to the well being of their family’s lives. This alternative view of the black male slave is something I’ve never heard.

 Discussion Point

  Something that I wanted to further discuss was the section on the characteristics of “True Womanhood” in the 19^th century. The box pointed out that expectations for the upper-class women (and middle-class who tried to emulate the upper-class) were very different than those for lower-class women. Lower-class women didn’t wear corsets, were dirty, had their hair all over the place etc… but upper-class women were expected to be proper and hold fast to the virtues of piety, purity, submission and domesticity. Even though these were the characteristics of the perfect woman in the 19^th century, imagine a woman who works in a factory 6 days a week and a woman on The Real Housewives of New Jersey.

Do you think the expectations for women still vary by social class? 

Ali Mosser