Contemporary – Families are the Heart of the Society and are Changing Continuously

"Families are the heart of the society and are changing continuously. There are two types of families; traditional families and the modern family. There are many differences and a few similarities between these two types of families. A major difference is the size of the family. Traditional families are prolonged consisting of uncles, aunts, grandparents, parents, and children however; the modern family is nuclear containing only the parent and the kids. Furthermore, the respect for their parents and grandparents is more common than those in modern families.

Traditional families must follow the rules while in modern families there are rarely any rules. The mother care of affection and warmth in both types of families and the father’s role to protect the family still exists. The following essay will examine issues with contemporary and traditional families; it will also analyze the issue with gender roles, interracial and same sex marriage, furthermore identifying causes and consequences of relevant problems within contemporary families.

The traditional family has always been symbolized as a father, mother and one or more children. The father usually being the breadwinner, in other words, he was the family’s primary source of income. The mother was the caretaker of the household, caring for children, cooking, and cleaning. The traditional family model is often portrayed in older TC shows; for example, “Leave it to Beaver” where Ward Cleaver goes to work every day so he could “bring home the bacon”. This TV show was considered a strong model of family from that time period. The feminist movement, which began in the 50’s, encouraged women away from home and towards careers and jobs. By the year 2000, the husband and wife both had jobs. They had two incomes instead of one single income. Together they helped each other in taking turns in taking care of the kids and cooking and cleaning. The women in traditional families did different kind of housework since they did not have the modern machines that basically do everything for you like women in modern days did by the 2000s. In the 1950s, women would have to purchase food daily to keep the food fresh because they did not have somewhere to put it in in order to keep the food fresh. However, today's world, many people are able to grocery shop from two weeks in advance because we have high technology fridges that keep our food fresh. Women were expected to stay virgins until marriage whereas, today having sex before marriage is very common. Interracial families also play a huge role in modern world compared to 1950’s. Marrying a different race was a crime in many different states in the 1950’s compared to today’s world, there are interracial families all over the world. Homosexuals were seen as perverts and a risk to national security. They faced many injustices such as harassment.

Same sex marriage became legal in 2015 by the U.S Supreme Court and struck down all state bans on same sex marriage and legalized it in all 50 states. Homosexuality has become a popular trend that has been difficult to accept for many people. Homosexuality was seen as a mental illness. Homosexuals are criticized for being different, but they are capable of providing a two-parent home. Children are better with two parents, and a homosexual couple can provide more financial and emotional support for children than a single parent household. Interracial marriage is described marriages that take place between people who are from different races and ethnic groups. In traditional families laws were passed to keep races separate and ban marriages between different races. (Percentage of interracial families in Texas from utrgv article). A social norm in the 1950’s was to marry young, radio, and divorce was uncommon. Whereas, in the 21st century social norms deal mainly with technology to keep everyone connected to each other through social media. In temporary families it was normal for a family size of eight, whereas, now the ideal family size is two. The cost of raising a child has gone up since 1950’s. People don’t have stable jobs and are looking for a career and don’t have enough time to raise a child. (STATISTICAL DATA OF SHIFT IN BIRTH). Modern parenting is also so much different from what it was a decade ago. Mothers are more likely to work and leave their child at daycare almost everyday for another person to basically raise them.

Common problems within diverse family structures are marriage, violence, poverty, and emotional difficulty. Working parents face many issues in contemporary families. Parents play an essential role in influencing the adult lives of their children. The parent’s employments affects both the income coming into the family and the time dedicated in their child’s development. Parents tend to make little time to spend with their children because of their jobs resulting in them feeling neglected. Parental affection helps the child feel safe, confident, supported and loved. Involving their children in extra-curricular activities can have a positive impact. They make friends, create memories, and have the support of their parents at the games and practices. Another issue is to make your child feel like they can trust you. While parents are at work, children have other influences around them that can be good or bad. Having your child’s trust plays an important role. The lack of a having a two-parent household leaves the child feeling uncertain about their future relationships and more likely to develop emotional problems. Males born in a single parent household without a father figure are more likely to become incarcerated. When a girl does not have a father figure at home they spend time trying to seek love and affection they didn’t receive from their father figures resulting in teen pregnancy. Teen pregnancy is connected to single parenthood, and the development in single parent families remains the most significant issue for increased poverty between children. (TEEN PREGNANCY STATISTICAL DATA) Time and guidance is what most single parents lack. Same-sex has become more accepting but still encounter challenges when facing adoption of a child. Difficulties of same sex parenting are discrimination, misconceptions, and the sex talk. Children will most likely face discrimination at school because of the same-sex parents, which can affect the child emotionally. Many individuals suppose that gay parents lack the ability to nurture a child appropriately. As a result, heterosexual parents have difficulties talking to their children about sex.

Conclusion

Families are shifting throughout the world. There has been a lot of transitioning from traditional towards contemporary families. The concept of the word family is different than it was before. Families are about companionship and staying together no matter what. It is very important for family to have equality in order to have a functional family. Family bonds may bring in strength, positivity, and happiness although it can bring tough challenges too. Contemporary families affect society through moral and economic debates. Policies can be made to acknowledge the topics of poverty, violence, marriage, and emotional hardship. An explanation might not always be presented but a profound consideration of the issue and some encouragement may be able to support develop laws. In conclusion, an insinuation can be created so that people, specialists, and individual family members approve on one theory and that is that the traditional structured family isn’t the only family structure that works. Actually it’s not the only family structure in which children obtain cost-effective beneficial care, emotionally, and physically, however it is the best idea."

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