The Essay 'Modern Family' By Mona Charon

Is it the wife's job to carry out the daily duties of the house? Is it expected that the wife do all the work around the house? In the article “Why I Want a Wife” by Judy Brady she talks about everything she does as a wife and a mother. She explains the hardships she endures by doing these things everyday. Judy Brady uses the rhetorical techniques such as ethos, logos, and pathos to support her article, along with connecting personally with the reader.

Cherlin’s in his introduction explores the changing dynamics of working class family in America. Ultimately, he concludes that the concept of working-class family in which wife is a homemaker and husband the sole provider for the family no longer exist. He bases his conclusions on the premise that shift in cultural attitudes and lack of livable wages for working class have created alternative forms of cohabitation, where the partners aren’t married and have children out of wed-lock, which have been replacing the standard family unit—although in an unstable manner. I am convinced by his arguments because current ideas of

Berry, in the Feminism, the Body, and the Machine, makes an argument about what he believes the feminist, who are against his paper about not needing a computer, are missing when they discuss marriage: “marriage as a state of mutual help, and the household as an economy.” I agree.

Categorized into three styles called companionship, dependence, and interdependence, married couples can be ‘in love’, individual with their own separate interests, or maintain a healthy balance within their relationship. Marriage is a tricky institution to navigate, and no one person will get it right, but considering the evolutionary changes of society and popular movements in history, these three styles describe the different marriages and gender roles.

Hope Edelman, a writer and mother, discusses her thoughts and experiences of the reality of marriage in, “The Myth of Co-Parenting: How It Was Supposed to Be. How It Was.” Edelman details how at the beginning of her marriage her husband was starting an internet business and had to take long hours causing Hope to cut hers in order to care for their child. Hope describes how she expected marriage to be a place where the spouses split homemaking and breadwinning equally. She quickly realized that that was not the case. Hope details how she became a primary housewife quickly and ended up becoming angry not doing what she wanted to do. Throughout, Hope asserts her anger and the situations she was put in that caused her frustration. By the end of

The American Dream is one that almost every American citizen has dreamt about at some point in their lives, however it is repeatedly destroyed in reaching it by the people who are so often known as the ones created to support them. An example of this is Fences, by August Wilson (1983), as it essentially describes family life, and how the dynamics of each family depends on how they treat each other and the circle of abuse. It is also an example of how the people who are the closest can either encourage their family members to go to their dreams, or completely crush them. They have the ability to do this due to their position, and because their opinion means more to the person whose dreams are in question. “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston supports

While family structure has changed dramatically since the 1950’s, what current changes are we seeing; and how is it affecting the roles to which we play in a compromising world. In the 1950’s families consisted of a head of household (the Father), the house wife (or mother); and their offspring (the children). The father’s duty was to bring home the bacon, while making end meets for his family, while the wife stayed home and cared for the children, the elderly; and took on the household duties. These families usually lived in the suburbs, where they raised their children; while teaching them the proper ways of life. During this time in history, young women were expected to find a mate through persuasion, then get hitched; and eventually produce an offspring. While most of these

The man of the household had always been the one in command of the family, and women had no choice but to obey their husband.“By the law of every state in this Union to-day, North as well as South, the married woman has no right to the custody and control of her person. The wife belongs to her husband; and if she refuses obedience to his will, he may use moderate correction” (Anthony par. 47). Women were expected to follow their husband and obey his command. If they refused to accept their place, the man could correct her. Women essentially had no control over their own will. Sexism was not a new practice and men had always had the upper hand on women. “Sexism is the first, the most ancient, the most pervasive human prejudice.With the establishment of the original patriarchy in the hunter-gatherer is the With first, society the establishment and most down ancient, through of the original the most patriarchal pervasive patriarchy religions human in the Sexism prejudice” (Mankiller par. 33). The patriarchy was handed down from the first societies in the nation. This die hard ideology was one of the ideas that many men and politicians used to defend their refusal to accept women voters. The ideology of women’s inferiority would be a challenge to break, and still has not been eradicated

Women tried to stick up for themselves earlier, but nobody listened. Women could not vote, could not get the jobs or the education they wanted, and they could not earn respect from men. As Martha E. Kendall wrote,“not all women married for love” (24). When women got married, their husbands were basically in control of them,

Mexican-Americans are the largest Hispanic group representing nearly 50 percent of the total Hispanic population and is the largest minority population in the U.S. (comprising 31.8 million). A record 33.7 million Hispanics of Mexican origin resided in the United States in 2012, according to an analysis of Census Bureau data by Pew Research Center. By far the largest segment of the Hispanic population (61.2%) is of Mexican origin and resides primarily in the southwestern states of California, Texas, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. Mexicans are by far the largest Hispanic-origin population in the U.S., accounting for nearly two-thirds (64%) of the U.S. Hispanic population in 2012(Gonzales, Applewhite, & Barrera, 2015).

In the article “How American Family Life Is Different” by Andrew Cherlin, a professor of Sociology at Johns Hopkins University states that people tend to believe that a nation should be “consistent” and “unified.” However, he also states that culture is inconsistent where people can choose between how they would like to see and view life specifically towards how Americans deal with the cultural model of marriage and the cultural model of individualism (Miller-Cochran, Susan, Roy Stamper, and Stacey Cochran. An Insider 's Guide to Academic Writing: A Rhetoric and Reader.). Cherlin uses a metaphor such as a toolkit to describe how people pick and choose how they want their relationship to be and we can identify this with utilitarian individualists, people who choose to advance their self interest with effort within society and expressive individualists, are people are trying to improve themselves as a person in order to be happy ("Individualism and Moral Commitment: Robert Bellah Et Al." Individualism and Moral Commitment:

There are many examples on how gender roles have changed in society dramatically. However, one might imply that women working has a toll on the children at home. According to Source 2, on the bar graphs, 74% of people agree that having a job makes it harder to raise children since their mom is going to be busy most of the time. Regardless, this argument is not correct to make due to the fact that moms are working to provide for

In many societies and depending on their cultures, men and women are seen equally and may share the same roles in the household or even a stay at home father and the mother being the breadwinner. In modern family, Phil and Claire share the responsibilities with both working and both looking after the kids. The gay couple, Mitchell and Cameron who has an adopted daughter, together they learn what roles they should take on but not being gender specific when raising their daughter and the dynamics in the household. In many families today, dual earning families increased and not just the male who goes to work but females as well and follow their dreams like furthering their careers. “In the 21st century within households two pay-checks have become essential for most families to maintain even a modest standard of living in order to provide” (Walsh, 2012:11).

Modern Family is a hilarious sitcom that depicts the diversity of today’s American family and is one of the highest rated comedy shows on TV. The show, which is produced by ABC was a success from the first season with over seven million viewers and grew to more than fourteen million views by season three. The shows underlying message, that there is more than just one kind of family and that we are all crazy is done with a kind humor that is a refreshing change from the modern reality TV we now see on most nights. The comedy combined with diversity and great acting makes this show attracting to a broad range of viewers and proves that everyone loves a good laugh.

: Solutions to a successful marriage and will persuade you to wait until marriage before deciding to live with your partner