Chapter 3

Summary:
Chapter 3 gives a history of the family dating all the way back to the colonial times.  It discusses gender roles, family structures, and differences between races.
The chapter begins discussing colonial times and the first Britons and Europeans to come to America.  The family was very much in the structural function category, meaning that they were very traditional.  Husbands were the breadwinners and heads of the household.  Women’s social status depended completely upon their fathers and husbands.  Families were difficult to keep together because of the threat of disease. Men could have many children to their wives but only a few would survive.  Children were not treated well and had to adhere to very strict rules. They were expected to show respect to their parents and other adults at all times. If they did not do work in their own home, they were sent to be servants or slaves at other homes.
American Indians had a very different family structure from the Brits and Europeans who were just coming to their country.  Some Indian families were actually matriarchal, meaning that the family name came from the mother’s side instead of the fathers.  Women were well respected and often had leadership roles within the tribes.  Children were treated especially well and had close relationships with not only their parents but also with their extended family. There were special ceremonies when girls and boys went through puberty to celebrate their ascent into adulthood.
African American’s had a very difficult family life when they were first brought to America as slaves.  It was difficult to start a family because of slave trade and selling.  Families were often torn apart, children taken from their mothers.  Many women were mother figures to both the children of the family she worked for and an actual mother to her own children, making her life extra difficult.  Women were not exempt from punishment even if they were pregnant. They had special places for women to lay down with her stomach to be whipped.
Mexican Americans were similar to American Indians in that they very much valued family life.  The book uses the term “familism,” to describe their relationship.  Familism means that they put their interfamily relations above their own well being.  The children benefitted from parents, grandparents, and godparents that all took care of them.
Between the years 1820 and 1930, American industries were booming and the family was changing.  Immigrants were arriving and America was becoming the melting pot that it is today.  Immigrant families had a difficult time becoming successful. It was so important that they learned English. They had difficulty finding jobs and providing for their families.  Original American families were more in the structural function perspective than ever before. Wives were expected to be homemakers. Children’s roles began to change as well. They were allowed more “play time” instead of having to work all of the time.
The Great Depression also brought change to the family.  Fathers who lost their jobs also lost status within their family, as they were not longer that sole provider.  With the onset of World War II brought changes in the family once again.  Fathers, husbands, brothers, and sons were sent off to fight, leaving the women in America to fend for their families.  They picked up factory jobs and became the breadwinners of the families. 
After the war was over, families returned to their previous states, fathers were the head of the household, demoting the mothers. However, the ‘50s were a time of happiness, low divorce rates and high birth rates. That soon changed in the upcoming decades as divorce rates rose.  Since then, gender roles have been changing and women are gaining more power in the families.

What I learned:
I found this chapter really interesting and teeming with information that I was not aware of.  I found the first section about colonial families particularly interesting. I had no idea they way that they treated their children was so terrible.  It seemed like the Indians had it right as they saw their children as something really special that was to be celebrated.  I liked how much the Indians valued not just their immediate family but also their extended family.  I found the juxtaposition of the colonial view on women and the Indian view on women very interesting.  The Indians saw women as important members of society while the colonialists had them at the bottom of society.  Colonialists controlled everything that the women did and the women only gained respect from the men that she was either born into or married.  However, in the Indian societies women could move up and become tribe leaders and medicine women.

For your consideration:
As I was reading the section on American Indians, I had to wondering what happened to their families as the colonialists pushed them more and more away from their homes.  Did their families stay together? Like African Americans, were children separated from their families? And what is the Indian family structure like today? Is it similar to what is was back then? It seems like tradition is something so sacred to them so I have to wonder if they have kept that tradition of their ancestors alive through the ceremonies that they held for children.

Gina Zidek