The American Family Today
Non-Traditional families are the new traditional families
Having a non-traditional family has become the normal family dynamics for the 21st century.
The hit television show Modern Family on ABC, which showcases a non-traditional family, is a phenomenon that some people believe to have, just arrived. The show features a traditional family with; a mother, father, and three children. The mother’s brother is happily married to his husband and the two men adopted a little girl. On the show the mother and brothers dad, married a women from a different country.
A lot has changed in the past 50 years especially if you compare Leave it to Beaver, and Modern
Since it is the 21st centenary, the media should ultimately do away with the preconceived idea of a traditional family and the stereotypes that go along with it. It is only holding back new ideas, and also keeping people away from their full potential.
Definition of a non-traditional family
According to Lovas, “The non-traditional family may consist of an unmarried couple, either homosexual or heterosexual, and wither with or without a minor or adult children of one or both partners. A single parent with minor or adult children; or a step family, with the “parents” either married or unmarried, with minor or adult children from the prior marriages or relationships of one or both “parents,” and possibly with the joint children of the “parents.” The “parents” may have been through a series of marriage divorces, and informal relationships. Within the non-traditional family, the members may be related by blood, marriage, adoption, or mere association.”
Lovas believes that The American family is changing and households are not made up of traditional families anymore like they once where.
Newman and Muzzonigro did research for PsycNET based on twenty seven, seventeen to twenty year old men who were different races such as; African America, Hispanic, Asian, and Caucasian to see the effects of traditional family values on process of coming out gay
- Traditional family values played an immense role in the process of coming out
- Having a family with traditional values made it harder than the color of their skin
- Families with a strong emphasis on traditional values were perceived as less accepting of homosexuality than were the low traditional families.
What can we do to make people see non-traditional families are the norm
- The video shot down preconceived ideas and steryotypes tereotypes
- Wanz, a 52 year old baritone said, “For me, a black man, who has lived and seen a few things, it is encouraging for me to see the country grow on a social level. I've said it for a long time, even before it became popular: Love doesn't know any color, it doesn't know anything. Love is universal and there shouldn't be any parameters.”