Saturday, September 21, 2019
Traditional Values In Now Essay Example for Free
Traditional Values In Now Essay In the 1950’s, the family was portrayed as consisting of a father, a mother and their children who were most preferably boys. Rarely were there any girls in the shows that were brought on television. The men were supposed to work and earn money that would then be used to bring home what was needed in the house for the women to cook in other words the men were seen as bread-winners while the women were the bread makers. There was also a lot of racism and the difference between colored and white people was clear-cut-interracial. Marriages were unheard of and those people who did so were discriminated against and even suffered being labeled as outcasts in the society. There were also areas that were segregated specifically for the different races and they could not mix. One was not allowed to live in such areas unless they belonged to the specific race that was allowed.            One was labeled a social misfit if found to be a gay or a lesbian. The society went out of its way to discourage such behaviors and practices. It was not so much as preventing the occurrence of such behavior but to hide it from the society. There were benefits provided to married people that were denied the unmarried because they wanted to ensure that they avoided having homosexuals in the society. Since it was a form of deviance there was a cure recommended for it and this was marriage and children. If this failed then one had to pretend that it was working (http://www-mcwilliam.com). Due to the huge number of young pregnant girls, there was a lot of adoption happening in the 1950’s. Women were beaten up by their husbands and also sexually mistreated and it was always depicted that it was their faults            In the current practice of non-traditional family values, one finds a lot of single parents and also gay and lesbian marriages in which they adopt to complete the family set-up recommended by the traditional family values. Most of the social problems that are to be found in the current society have been blamed on this breakdown of traditional family values. The presence of families headed by single mothers has been blamed for the increased rate of unemployment, juvenile crime, school dropout and poor health. (http://www.scu.edu). Most families that are led by single women are mostly black families just as was previously during the traditional family value days. They were usually separated from their husbands and it is still happening up to date.            Up to now, the women are still not seen as equals with men although there have been huge strides taken towards this opinion. Women are still discriminated against economically and also in terms of employment. Although there has been an increased awareness of the homosexual marriages, it is still frowned upon by society. This has led to the formation of various protest groups that intend to justify their way of life and demand to be respected regardless of their sexual orientation or gender. However, one finds that these people are still not free to express themselves, as they tend to face violent incidences when come across people who do not conform to the changes taking place.            In America, a huge percentage of black men render themselves unable to perform the traditional male roles in the family and hence become irrelevant. They are usually involved in drug abuse and various forms of violence and more often than not end up being imprisoned thus increasing the number of households headed by black women. The problems that the black community faces are blamed on their departure from the traditional family values but the more they are blamed the more remote their chances for returning to the traditional family values become. Nowadays, there is an increase in the number of single white mothers and there is increased concern over this new phenomenon yet when it was about black mothers not much was done to prevent its increase.            The traditional value of having a nuclear family that includes two parents and children is being exercised even in homosexual unions. They have gone so far as legalizing their unions through marriages and in the recent years they are even wedding in church. Due to the various advances made in the scientific field, these couples can end up having their own children and if this is not desirable or possible for them, they adopt a child from the welfare system (http://bad.eserver.org). In trying to show that homosexuals are not really normal, they are depicted even by the media as people with awkward traits like men who have feminine traits and women who strive to look and behave like men.            Although society is accepting some of the changes taking place in the society, some parts of the society are still very much attached to the values that were to be found in the society are very much attached to the values that were to be found in the traditional families. These are usually those who benefited from the practice of such values. These people include mostly white, married heterosexual men. They are the people who fight most for the reintroduction and reinforcement of the traditional families values. In the traditional family values, men and especially white men were treated differently from other people and also treated other people differently. The traditional values were racist and sexist and favoured the white men who looked down on the white women and other races as being inferior to them (Leed D. H. Schaninger C. M. pg 3-6)            There has been an increase in the number of interracial marriages and they are becoming accepted although some are still staunchly against them. This has affected the family structure in that there is now the introduction of children who are not purely of one race. This then makes them unable to be able to look down on any race, as they do not belong to any specific race. Among these group of people racism is very minimal if any and this is a huge improvement in regards to social cohesion. It has led to the melting pot theory in the United States. The adoptive strategy that was practiced in the traditional family when a girl got pregnant out of wedlock has reduced, as more women prefer to become single parents instead of giving their children up for adoption.            By empowering women financially, it has liberated them to be able to make choices on how to lead their lives. Previously women were supposed to listen to their husband’s wishes and do their best to help them achieve their dreams. This has changed to enabling women to achieve their dreams and to succeed where men had dominated before. It has allowed them to make decisions to live their lives even in the absence of a man in their lives. By incorporating some traditional values in the non-traditional families there is a sense of stability introduced in the society and also liberation of people like marriages. When some disruptive values like racism are abandoned it leads to increased harmony in the society and the issue is striking the right balance between the two ways of life.        Reference: Barlow A. Probert R. 2004 Regulating Marriage and Cohabitations: Changing Family Values and Policies in Europe and North America- An Introductory Critique Law Policy pg 1-11. Lee D.H. Schaninger C.M 2002 Altitudinal and Consumption Differences Among Traditional and Non-traditional Childless Couple Households Henry Stewart Publications New York USA Mc William peter 1996 Ain’t Nobody’s Business If You Do Traditional Family Values Retrieved on 17th October 2007 from http://mcwilliams.com/books/aint/404.htm Perry T.L 2007 Family Values, Race, Feminism and Public Policy Retrieved on 17th October 2007 from http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/other/lawreview/familyvalues.html Sandell J. March 1994 issue 12 The Cultural Necessity of Queer Families To a Certain Extent 1993 really was the year of the queer. http://bad.eserver.org/issues/1994/12/sandell.htm
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