The Role of Family - Essay Example

Lecturer: Comparative analysis The family fabric has faced many challenges that have threatened to tear it apart, with numerous challenges that facing the ideal family setup. From the great recession of the 1930s and 40s when families were being torn apart by the stinging effects of the serious economic hardships, to the 1950s and 70s when the ideal family as perceived was threatened by single parenting and increased divorce rates, the family has undergone many challenges and changes. This trend further accelerated in the modern American society where since the 1950s, people have increasingly agitated for their rights to form families according to their sexual orientations, leading to same sex marriages due to increased numbers of gays and lesbians. Though there is a difference between the settings in these periods, the issue that is evident from all the readings is that the family fabric has been torn apart as individuals claim to seek freedom from the chains of certain ideologies in the society; exercising their individual rights in establishing families, respecting their sexual orientation and seeking options to improve their economic status in gainful employment. Coontz (34) elaborates that though the World War 1 marked the beginning of the economic recovery and increased interests in people regarding families, the rising interests were just a short lived comfort as racial tensions, labor strife and the radical movement of the 1930s resulted to more instabilities in families. Women due to improved labor laws insisted on venturing in gainful employment while many men perished during the war. These were some of the challenges facing the family of the day. Due to improved labor laws and a campaign by women to venture in gainful employment, at least one in every three marriages were ending in a divorce by 1946 (Coontz, 35). The housing crisis that followed this period according to Coontz forced families to double up with relatives or friends in a move that brought families together while at the same time breaking others. However, the booming economy of the 1950s led many who were interested in venturing gainful employment to escape from their in-laws, aunts or parents, who were too adamant on how to rear kids or look after families (Coontz, 36). Therefore, Children were left with barely enough care as parents were immersed in wealth making. The increased demand for gainful employment resulted to family break ups with children being left without proper family care, a contradiction of the ideal family as portrayed by Rockwell (22-24). Rockwell (22-24) through pictorial graphics presented a representation of what may be regarded as an ideal family. The graphics portray a nuclear family that has a father, a mother and children, all strongly bonded in love. In addition, Rockwell presents the nuclear family as being part of a larger setting, which is interconnected in strong bonds that portray a sense of togetherness and compactness in the society. This ideal family as Rockwell demonstrates has been the socially accepted family setting in the society, and is viewed as the only norm in many societies. Deviating from such a family setting has been responsible for the massive increase in single parenthood and gays and lesbians; since some in the society view founding a family as an individual’s choice where the society has no voice. However, this perceived ‘right’ has been responsible for hatred and alienations among many families and victimization by the society. This explains the sudden change of a family’s attitude towards one victim as Sullivan (105) elaborates. Though the victim enjoyed a proper family bond since childhood, expressing their desire to establish a family with a member of the same sex was enough to break this long lasting bond, leading to ridicule and alienation by the same family. Sullivan (103) elaborates that the ruling by the Californian court that, “ an individual citizen is defined as an individual even before their sexual orientation,” explains that sexuality cannot be used as a reason to segregate individuals; those with different sexual orientations in the society have to be treated like other members of the same society . Therefore, according to the ruling, the Californian court did not establish new rights, but only acknowledged “an emergent cultural consent” (Sullivan, 104). Sullivan further explains how one victim though having been in a good family setting bonded together in love since childhood experienced a sudden fateful family -unity end full of emotional displacement. The marriage was viewed by the society as being against the very norms that have defined the community. After the marriage the same family members started to ridicule the victim as a result of not being ‘straight’ and marrying a partner of their own sex (Sullivan, 105). This resulted to alienation, as the victim was branded a renegade in a family that accepts and talks well of straight marriages. Therefore, by exercising their rights to establish a family of their own choice, the victim broke the family bond that had existed since childhood. Considering Rockwell paintings of an ideal family and the family tree (Rockwell, 22-24), the family tree portrays an extended family that is united in strong bonds and might be said to share similar ideologies. According to these graphics, Rockwell portrays an ideal family as being constituted of a man, woman and children (Rockwell, 24) who take effective care of their siblings in the larger communal setting. This is the family ideology that some have defied in forming same sex marriages and single parenthood. While Coontz explains the effects of economic boom and recession as being responsible for tearing families apart, Sullivan explores how exercising the right to choose among marriage partners has led to victimization, ridicule, and violent threats from society members. Therefore, the ideal family as portrayed by Rockwell has faced many challenges as individuals exercise their rights to choose how best to spend their lives, in determining the type of family to establish and their daily occupation. The ideal family though thought to be a setting where members are well bonded in love and having a sense of belonging to the wider society, has been threatened by numerous challenges most of which involve individuals advocating for what they term as their ‘rights.’ Since the improvement of the labor laws after the 1930s, to the economic boom of the 1950s, and the most current debate involving the rights of gays and lesbians, the family fabric has been exposed to numerous tensions that have led to many changes in what might be explained to be an ideal family as presented by Rockwell. The alienation and ridicule of gays and lesbians in the society is due to their urge to break away from what is viewed as ‘norms’ in the society as demonstrated by Rockwell. The norms that are held within a society are chains that bond the society members together and breaking of these chains or norms results to alienation from the same community, and one is viewed as an outcast. Work cited Koontz Stephanie, ‘what we really miss about the 1950s,’Harmony at home Rockwell , Norman. ‘A family tree, freedom from want, and freedom from fear,’ Harmony at home. Sullivan Andrew, ‘My big fat straight wedding,’ Harmony at home Read More