Free Essays on Family

One of the main institutions in society is found within the household and is popularly known as "The Family." It is here, in the family, where the commencement of society takes place. It is amongst this unit that the origin of women's oppression began with the constant power struggle between man and woman. With the "nuclear family" slowly being thrown out the window and the new "dual-earner" family creeping in to takes it's place, it's no wonder that women's positions have changed radically over the past one hundred years. Although their positions in the family and work force are indeed changing, their workload, however, is not. With this radical change many issues can be addressed, particularly, to the women's role and how it has remained fairly constant over the years. A closer examination will look at the development of gender inequality within the family as a result of the ever-changing issue. A second issue that needs to be inspected is that the family roles have changed in regards to family make-up as women have moved into the work force. This growing capital effort to increase standards of living by pushing every family member into the paid labour force has taken a toll on the family unit. The final issue that will be investigated in this report is how the traditional sex roles have remained constant, even with women's ever-changing family position over the years. For decades, commencing back to the time when patriarchy was the "norm" and women were their husband's property, men have oppressed women. This ideology of patriarchy existed way before it was ever examined by sociologists and it was accepted as a natural or biological way of living. It wasn't until the 1960's when feminist groups began to explore patriarchy and at the same time began to exploit it, that patriarchy was established. Feminists at that time, and even still today, believe that patriarchy operates to achieve and maintain gender inequality and ... Free Essays on Family Free Essays on Family What is the term family? What does it mean? The definition of family means a â€Å"set of relations especially parents and children† This might include anyone related to by blood or by adoption such as: step parents, grandparents acting as parents, and even brothers and sisters sometimes sharing the same household. The term family has been believed to coincide with the word â€Å"marriage†. If you were to have a family, you were also thought to have a husband or wife. This was thought to be the norm for many centuries. This was named the â€Å"traditional family†. A transformation has taken place within communities altering the â€Å"traditional† family ways. The system in which one parent worked, while the other parent tended to the children has almost become obsolete. This change triggered the formation of a dysfunctional society where greed motivates both parents in the work force, leaving their children to be raised by institutions sometimes consisting of under-qualified personnel. The traditional nuclear Canadian family is dieing out. Parents are constantly joggling between works, children, and in some cases taking care of elders. Marriage as was previously known has also changed dramatically. Marriage is less valued today than ever before. The fact that the divorce rate has doubled in the last twenty years could lead us to believe that marriage isn’t important to us anymore. Instead of preserving and working out their disputes, people are more frequently choosing to end their relationships. In the past divorce was frowned upon, we were expected to carry on regardless of whether we were happy or not. However, another culprit of breaking marriages is the Divorce Laws of Canada that has made it easier for couples to obtain a divorce. According to statistics Canada, marriage and divorce laws have undergone great changes, in part to accommodate the ever-changing society. It also important to mention the fact that women feel ... Free Essays on Family In this modern day and age, the word â€Å"family† is a very powerful thing. Years and years ago, families used to be networks of togetherness and love. The family went on outings together, ate all their meals together, laughed and played together, and just generally bonded. Today, families seem to be much more meaningless. Minimal time is spent together, family dinners are virtually nonexistent, and the bond and love of years ago just doesn’t seem to be there. I am going to discuss in this essay what the definition of family should be with a quote about family unity, and I will also discuss some definitions of what family is perceived as in the modern world today, by using some quotes about physical distance and emotional distance. These quotes will illustrate exactly how most families operate in our civilization, and it will also talk about how the family would act in an ideal world. Families are said to be â€Å"the root of every living soul†. This tells us that our families are basically what brought us into being, what gave us life, what shaped our values and beliefs, and what ultimately launched us towards our own independence. Family is basically what keeps us on our own two feet; a support system, if you will. Jane Howard puts it best: â€Å"Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.† This quote suggests what a family should be in an ideal world. A support group, a â€Å"clan† of people who are behind you every step of the way, no matter what. This quote also tells us that everybody needs a family, no matter who they are. Everybody needs someone that they can turn to in times of need. That is what a family should be. The scary part is that if we keep this up, in one hundred years or so, we might have descended into complete desolation. There may be abso lutely no socializing with the family, and no bonding whatsoever. We must stop this decline at... Free Essays on Family One of the main institutions in society is found within the household and is popularly known as "The Family." It is here, in the family, where the commencement of society takes place. It is amongst this unit that the origin of women's oppression began with the constant power struggle between man and woman. With the "nuclear family" slowly being thrown out the window and the new "dual-earner" family creeping in to takes it's place, it's no wonder that women's positions have changed radically over the past one hundred years. Although their positions in the family and work force are indeed changing, their workload, however, is not. With this radical change many issues can be addressed, particularly, to the women's role and how it has remained fairly constant over the years. A closer examination will look at the development of gender inequality within the family as a result of the ever-changing issue. A second issue that needs to be inspected is that the family roles have changed in regards to family make-up as women have moved into the work force. This growing capital effort to increase standards of living by pushing every family member into the paid labour force has taken a toll on the family unit. The final issue that will be investigated in this report is how the traditional sex roles have remained constant, even with women's ever-changing family position over the years. For decades, commencing back to the time when patriarchy was the "norm" and women were their husband's property, men have oppressed women. This ideology of patriarchy existed way before it was ever examined by sociologists and it was accepted as a natural or biological way of living. It wasn't until the 1960's when feminist groups began to explore patriarchy and at the same time began to exploit it, that patriarchy was established. Feminists at that time, and even still today, believe that patriarchy operates to achieve and maintain gender inequality and ... Free Essays on Family I have known for quite some time that my mothers’ side of the family was a little bit on the crazy side, but I did not care, they were my family, and I loved all of them, most of the time anyway. About a month ago, I discovered that although my Aunt Elaine and Uncle Dale had been divorced for some ten years, Elaine was trying to sue Dale, for she felt that she deserved a portion of the money that Dale was about to receive from selling their marital home. Even though Dale has only been my Uncle through marriage he will always be family, for he has shown me nothing but love and generosity. I spoke with my parents about the subject and was appalled at how greedy my Aunt was being. She did not deserve a penny of his, and we all knew that. Dale had paid his dues and then some to Elaine over the years; physically, mentally, emotionally and financially. I met my parents at the courthouse, because afterwards, I would be going to my boyfriend, Kyle’s house for dinner. As I stood outside the historic building conversing with my parents, Uncle Dale, his girlfriend Janice, and their lawyer, I spotted the rest of my family arriving, this included Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Eva, Elaine, and her boyfriend Bob, as well as their lawyer. As they approached the courthouse, I could feel the hatred from their eyes burning a hole through my heart, which was extinguished when my Grandfather flashed me a smile and wave. And I could see that even though it had only been two months since I had last seen Elaine that she had put on a considerable amount of weight. To me, this was a sign that she knew what she was doing was wrong, and I knew in my heart, that the judge would be able to see this evil character behind her made up face, just as I could. It seemed like eternity waiting for the case to be called. Dale was concerned that if Elaine had enough witness’ to lie for her that the judge would rule in her favor, though I assured him that... Free Essays on Family Throughout my lifetime, the opinion that I own that defines a typical family unit has varied greatly. As you grow and mature you learn that the structure and characteristics of your family are very different from that of the family unit in other cultures, lifestyles and regions. In the time that we live in today it is not unusual to have a gay brother sister or even father living in the house across the street. As many cultures and families accept this alternative lifestyle, many do not and oppose with strong cultural reasoning behind them. In fear of breaking cultural traditions and norms many gay family members are frowned upon, shunned or just plain left out of the loop of family circles. Their can only be hope that the family members who find themselves in difficult situations as these can look to love and embrace the choice that their family member has made. In The Wedding Banquet, â€Å"Commitments† and â€Å"A Chinese Banquet†, examples of each one of these is sh own through a cultural looking glass and how that affects the given situation. In all three situations, the issue of marriage raised conflict between the speaker and the family members. In The Wedding Banquet, Wai Tung was under the pressure from his parents to follow traditional Chinese culture and marry a woman and eventually have children. He was also under pressure from Wei Wei to marry, specifically her, so that she could gain residency in The U.S. In dealing with this situation we see that Wai Tung creates a false marriage to pacify his parents to succumb to wishes of following their cultural beliefs. In â€Å"Commitments† we see that the speaker in this piece show the expectations of marriage in his family and how he doest include those plans in his personal life plan. Hemphill writes â€Å"my arms are empty, or around the shoulders of unsuspecting aunts, expecting to throw rice at me someday†. Through this we can see the speaker’s awareness of how he is given... Free Essays on Family Family Family is a truly a wonderful thing. You can’t live with ‘em, you can’t live without ‘em. There are many kinds of families in this world, yet it is a privilege to be a part of one, no matter of the type. There is no one set definition for family, and no dictionary, nor I can properly describe the true meaning to each individual person. However, the way I feel, is that family are people that love and respect each other to unparalleled degrees and are with each other, because they choose to be and want to be with each other. Each individual person has their own definition of family, yet to each other it may not seem like much, just as many families themselves. Although, no all may show it, there is always some kind of special bond between family members. First off there are many types of families, yet the typical family has always been the â€Å"traditional family† which was in turn the majority. However in today’s world, the â€Å"traditional family†, which is usually a husband and wife that are married and have a few children, has taken a decline and has now become the minority. Now a days, more and more people choose not to get married, or not to have children. The purposes a family are numerous, yet people choose not to see this. The main purpose or function of a family is to love and support each other through thick and thin, no matter the situation. Of course when there is religion involved, religion usually is the most important thing. To love and serve God’s word takes precedent over anything, and the family supports each other through this. Respecting each other seems folly to even mention, but it must be, since loving and respecting can mean very different things. People often love because they f eel obligated, but when respect is given as well, it goes along with love to show how much all people in the family mean. Even if this means that showing your love to your â€Å"hated† brothers and sisters, it must be... Free Essays on Family Families The traditional family consists of one man and one woman joined in marriage, along with any children they may have. Throughout the history of mankind, family structure, values and qualities were fairly well remained. However, in today’s society, due to lack of religion and morality among other things, the family value system is rapidly failing. Our society must emphasize the good values of the traditional family. With the different variations of the family, which are: both parents working, one biological parent living with the child and friends living together away from home because they can afford it that way. This can cause great problems among children in American Society. Poverty, crime, and declining school performance are three of the greatest concern that can be attributed to children being raised in untraditional families. The crime rate is both increasing rapidly and becoming more violent. Many crimes can be attributed to the rise of non-traditional families. A child needs to have a father not only to enforce positive behavior, but also to punish improper behavior. Also, a child needs a father as a role model. Mothers are equally important to give loving care and provide support. Additionally, untraditional or improper behavior displayed by parent or parents may have long lasting negative effects on children. Despite the fact that children attend school regularly, their decline in performance is on the rise. Though their attendance is required, they often learn little or nothing. Sometimes graduating high school students have difficulties to solve simple math problems. Also one of the biggest problems of reforming the school systems is the fact that the number of children coming from disrupted families is rising. Another reason for the decline in school performance is that coming from broken homes, these children are worried and cannot concentrate in school, because they may need to work to he... Free Essays on Family Out of the Ashes I’ll never forget December 31, 1999. It was the most horrible night of my life. It was the night our house burned down. It was a night of terror that I hope my family and I never have to go through again. We literally escaped with the clothes on our backs. Even though it was the most horrifying thing that ever happened to us, it was also the beginning of many miracles and revelations. I remember arriving home from work that night around 12:30 a.m. and found my two sons waiting up for me. We talked for a while and had a bowl of homemade chicken soup. The kids wanted to stay up late and enjoy their Christmas presents, but I could only think of getting to bed. After throwing a load of clothes in the dryer, I tucked my boys into bed. My oldest son Erick Jr. put up a little bit of a fight about having to go to bed because he wanted to watch his brand new television set. Looking back, it was his small measure of rebelliousness that would eventually save our lives that night. I was awakened at 2:00 a.m. by Erick Jr. telling me that he smelled smoke. I was half awake and without my contact lenses, I had a hard time stumbling out of bed and down the hall. Suddenly, I was pushed aside by my husband, who had heard the word â€Å"smoke† and bolted out of a deep sleep. As we ran to the kitchen, we could see an orange glow at the bottom of the door leading to the garage. My husband opened the door and we could see that the back of the dryer was on fire. My husband tried to douse the flames with a bucket of water, but after seeing that the flames were climbing the wall and going into the rafters, he yelled at me to dial 911. This was obviously not the smartest thing to do, but we were in a panic and not thinking straight. It turned out that the fire had already burned most of the wiring in the house, and the phone was dead. I thought...