As a societal unit, the family institution has become more individualized and is negatively impacting societies future. From the 1930’s to now the family has disintegrated into more and more of a single person unit. A family in the 1930’s was envisioned to be a male-breadwinning father, a doting-homemaker wife, and several children. Yet understand while the Great Depression was rolling the family structure did not change. The husband went out and looked for work, while the wife stayed home and kept the children out of trouble.
In Letha Scanzoni’s book Men, Women, and Change: A Sociology of Marriage and Family she observes that a wife’s duty was “to please her husband...to train the children ...view middle of the document...
Looking in on the family structure throughout the decades, one can see a dramatic change in the relationships formed and kept. The “traditional” family defined in Charles B. Nam’s report on The Concept of the Family, is as follows, “two or more persons related by blood, marriage, or adoption, AND living in the same residence”(Nam). This loose definition gives a variety of ways to look at the family. Traditionally, a family lived together under the same roof and included father,mother,children and the occasional elderly grandparent. Sociologists coined the term Nuclear Family to categorize this type of family. Glancing back into the 1950’s, if and when the nuclear family did not work out, extended family stepped in without hesitation and took responsibility of the family(Family Structure Changes). Today, legal boundaries are in effect that obstruct a family from helping out in the case of an accident or any incident that may make the nuclear family unfit. Families are now thinking twice about stretching a hand to their sisters, brothers, cousins, breaking family ties and relationships.
It has been a long time since the television saw a 1940’s style commercial. Today no family is depicted as the traditional family, no wife is greeting her husband at the door with a hot meal. Commercials, ads, television show have all grown away from any sense of family. Samsung a huge electronic producer put into circulation a commercial promoting the Samsung SmartTV. The commercial views a family coming together around a TV, but each family member has something else going on, detaching them from the family unit. The daughter is entranced in her electronic device only speaking when necessary. The son, working the television due to the fact hes always over at Tylers house, “what do you think were doing when I’m over there” (Samsung). Not only has commercials and advertisements changed so has movies and television network shows. Looking at a favorite among many American families the beloved movie A Christmas Story, shows a very different adaptation of the family than modern 2012-2013 movies do. A scene from A Christmas Story (Image A), depicts a young family enjoying dinner together at a common table. In contrast Silver Linings Playbook, a 2012 movie, (Image B) depicts a family who doesn't eat at...
