Family Structures and Dynamics - Essay Example

On the other hand, how might gender construction in the family help to encounter or weaken the effects of gender discrimination in outside institutions, such as school or workplace? Use examples from text and personal experience to illustrate your points. As Ulkuer (2006) mentioned, “early gender socialization starts at birth and involves learning cultural roles according to one’s sex. From the start, boys and girls are treated differently by people in their own environment (for example, parents, siblings and caregivers), and thus learn the difference between boys and girls, women and men.

Differing parental and societal expectations of boys and girls, and giving children gender-specific toys or gender-based assignments seem to define the process”. Therefore, it is safe to say, in my opinion, that despite all the efforts exhausted to eliminate society’s consciousness towards gender roles, these social arrangements will forever be instilled in our culture, more so because we were “trained” to behave according to society’s expectations. It is also because of this that women, especially as they have grown up and realized how discriminating society has been, has began fighting for their rights—to be treated as men’s equal.

But because, gender socialization begins at home, the unconscious distinctions parents make between their boys and girls indeed helped in maintaining these social arrangements. . 2. Is the American family today a weak or strong institution? Is it a bulwark against potentially destructive forces in the outside society, or is it overwhelmed by its forces? Base your response on a careful analysis of the interaction between American families and at least three of the following six social forces: Racial and Ethnic Identity, Social Class, Romantic Love, Contemporary Sexuality, Economic Change Since the 1970s, and Individualism. 2a. American families and Social class.

Dictionary.com defines social class as “a broad group in society having economic, cultural, or political status”. An individual’s income being different than another individual’s income is an example of economic social class. Cultural social class is the difference between the majority and minority of ethnicities in one’s community, region, or country. And finally, political social class is the difference between an individual’s political views in comparison to another individual’s political views (Schmeckpeper, 2009).

Simply put, a family’s social class is defined mainly by their financial status. And let’s face it, when money talks, “everyone” just “listens”. And when it comes to societal standards, an American family can either be a strong or a weak institution, depending on what class the family belongs—the Upper, the Middle, the Working, and the Under classes (Cody, 2002). The privileged, almost always, have the world around their fingers. They get what they want. Every opportunity seems to go their way.

Ergo, being born into a well-off family is an advantage. No forces outside the society, no matter how destructive, can bring them down. Money makes the world go round, they say. On the other hand, to be born poor can even