Family, Marriage, And Gender Roles :: Sociology, Family Values

Family, Marriage, and Gender RolesAt the core of American identities and American dreams lies a family.Throughout time, families serve as a connection between the person and theoutside world. The individuals identity, his or her dreams, in large partdepend on the family of origin or a family of choice. The individual is shapedthrough beliefs, values, and assumptions that the family holds about the worldand that are based on family members experiences and collective memory. Thefamily itself, in turn derives its values from the social, cultural, political,and philosophical assumptions and beliefs of the larger, and more dominantculture.In todays modern society, assumptions regarding a family can be verywidespread. Ranging from the conservative viewpoint to the more liberal view.The conservative is the more traditional view of the twain. Believing that the scarcely true family is the joint relationship of a husband, wife, and children is athing of the past. Recently an alarming number of unfavorable situations havearisen. These situations range from one-parent families to the inexplicablesituation of two partners of the same sex. What happens to a society where thenuclear family is no longer the dominant configuration? Only time will tell.Being brought up in a traditional environment, I have very conservativeviews on the concept of a family. When I was young, my Mother did not work.She would stay at home with me until I was about thirteen years old. I feelthat, if possible, a mother should stay home with her children. In my eyes, themain responsibility of a Mother is to generate her children with as muchattention as possible. Without the necessary attention the child will grow upstriving for attention, and will do everything in his or her power to receive it.In the model nuclear family, the beat is the individual who is responsiblefor earning a substantial living. Providing for the family a home, food, and asense of security the Father is an important factor i n the up bringing of afamily. Unfortunately, many families do not have the luxury of a nuclear family.They must persist on their perseverance, along with a little bit of luck alongthe way.In our textbook, Moser and Waters accurately depict the essentials offamily values. The one essay that seems to support my declare set of values isthe one entitled Reserve Marriage for Heterosexuals. I feel that a family hasnothing to gain by allowing homosexuals to adopt children and start their declarefamilies. The essay depicts that children that are raised without a Mother and