American Model Family Myth Essay

Unusual But Common The American model family myth has shaped the way people view their own family. The model family myth interprets that a family should have a father figure, a mother figure, two children, a dog, and a beautiful house. Everyone wants their families to imitate the model family. The Mexican American boy in Gary Soto’s article sees the perfect family on television and he wishes his family would be just that. However, in reality the perfect family does not exist. There are always conflicts in a household, no family can live up to the expectations of the model family myth. Also, there are many obstacles, mentioned in the Gerstel and Sarkisian article, that can prevent families from being that “perfect family.” For example, families …show more content…
Even though they do not live up the the expectations of the American model family, each family has their way to come together and support each other. A family does not have to be perfect in order to be called a family. When family members learn how to work together to take care of each other, this is the best example of a family. Jeannette Walls’ The Glass Castle perfectly supports this idea of a family does not need to live in a beautiful house and live a perfect life to be considered a healthy family. Even though they live nomadically most of the time, they are enjoying life and they are happy with living like that. The children, Jeannette, Lori, Brian, and Maureen did not grow up in a stable household, but they learned how to get through rough times and are taught better than most kids.. Jeannette Walls uses her life experience to prove that a family does not need to live in a perfect household to learn how to work together to run a family and that living in a disadvantaged condition can better equip people to find success in the future. I agree with her idea that people should not give up just because they are born with disadvantages. They should use that as a motivation to find their way out …show more content…
No family can be perfect, many factors come into play when preventing people to live like the model family. Jeannette’s experiences prove to us that she lived through a rough childhood, but because of her family she was able to be successful. The challenges and rough times that she learned from motivated her to keeping going. She shares her story so people will understand that hardship does not stop one from growing. It is through hard time and obstacles that one must triumph through to make their dreams come