Traditional Families In American Culture

Imagine a room full of people wishing for “the good ol’ days” where the fathers worked, the mothers cooked and cleaned, and the kids were well behaved. That vision of the “traditional” nuclear family is deeply embedded in Western Culture-in American culture. It was symbolized in art, television (T.V), advertisements and even “The American Dream”. In the past years that vision has been modernized and in some cases has become more practical over time. You see, the American culture has created a vision of the ideal American nuclear family in which today’s modern family has evolved dramatically in the value and meaning of. The concept of the “traditional” nuclear family is identified as a unit consisting of a married couple living under one roof …show more content…
To be more concise I said variations of the “traditional” nuclear family because over time, the “traditional” structure of a nuclear family has had to adapt to influential changes and has evolved. For example, the stay at home mom,(i.e the housewife) which is part of the nuclear family has changed remarkably. Women are going to work, so now economically there are two-job, two-income having families, not just one from the male figure. The U.S. Current Population Survey showed that “roughly 80% of mothers aged 25 to 54 are in the labor force (Myth of Model Family). Don’t be mistaken a working married mother still takes care of her kids, her house and her husband. There have just been changes in the gender roles. Since women joined the labor force the role of breadwinning father and stay at home mothers have shifted. You see, now a days either both parents are working or not working. Or you see the woman is working and the man is at home. Even the title has switched: The breadwinning mother and the stay at home father takes care of the kids, the house, …show more content…
As time progresses on there have been political changes like the controversial law allowing same-sex marriages to be legalized. In fact as of today There are 19 states who have legalized same-sex marriage (e.g. California, who first banned it and New Mexico, who was silent on the matter) and 30 states banning it and 12 states are under review There have been increased rates in divorces. The U.S. Census Bureau tells Myth of Model Family that experts estimates that 40% to 50% of existing marriages will end in divorces. Even more influential is demographically how nuclear family is modernized. There’s the introduction of single-parent families, non-marital sex and teenage pregnancy, fatherless children, and misbehaving children, etcetera. In Myth of Model Family for non-marital sex Child Trends, reported in the New York Times that more than half the births to American women under age 30 occur outside of marriage . Part of being in a nuclear family is having a family, which includes having children. In a complete turnabout in one of the nuclear family tradition, there is a surprising statistic from U.S. Census Bureau that says nearly 70% of American households are childless(Myth of Model