Summary:

Chapter 3 covers broadly the types of families seen from the mid 1600’s to today. It begins with the colonial families, which served as many things like a school, church, and business, as well as a family. In relationships, there was a double standard. Children of the colonial era did not usually live long. The families of American Indians varied from tribe to tribe, though women generally had a good amount of power and the marrying age was consistent. After Indians, African Americans are discussed. Because they were slaves, African families were crippled. Many were separated and wives were overworked, though black families were very resilient. Next come Mexican Americans. Mexicans focused on familism and compadrazgo. Mexican women made sure traditions were passed down and the children did gender specific tasks. The boys had much more freedom than girls. In the Industrial Revolution, families strongly followed the structure of the father as the breadwinner and the mother as the housekeeper/child rearer. Children were seen as individuals and less as “miniature adults.” Immigrants and women were employed very young and for low wages. In the early 1900’s, the “companionate family” emerged. During the Great Depression, because many men lost their jobs and women were semi-easy to employ for domestic jobs, fathers lost their high familial status. In WWII, women were publicly praised for having jobs. At this time, 1 in 4 marriages ended in divorce, partly because of female independence and partly because of veteran’s alcohol drinking. In the fifties, women were right back to being discouraged from working. The traditional family model was sought once again.

Interesting Material:

I didn’t realize that 25% of American Indian households were matrilineal and that women had so much say in their tribe. They could become chiefs, medicine women, influence different aspects of wars and war parties, own property, fight in battles, have a strong say in politics, and initiate divorces.

Question:

I would have liked to read more about how adults viewed children before the industrialization period. It’s briefly mentioned that adults viewed them as small adults and that industrialization brought a new view of adolescence that realized how different children are from adults. A deeper discussion of this would have suited me because all the other sections addressing kids focused on gender roles and job/chore distribution.