Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Taniuska Tikay
Prof. Huerta
7 November 2017
Imagine an average American family. Do they look like your own? Do you see an image
in black and white? Since the 1950’s the idea of the perfect family and the image upheld by this
belief still exists within our society although it may no longer be relevant. The fact that the
‘average American family is still a nuclear family that does not represent the American
demographic is a problem in modern society. Families today face the harsh realities of
misrepresentation by their elected officials in politics, false societal norms, and lack of
connections within their own communities. These realities leave families feeling isolated and
With this in mind, author Stephanie Coontz pinpoints the origin of the myth of the model
family and why it still prevails in modern times in an excerpt called What we Really Miss About
The 1950s from her work The Way We Really Are: Coming To Terms with America’s Changing
Families (1997). While authors Naomi Gerstel and Natalia Sarkisian demonstrate data in The
Color of Family Ties: Race, Class, Gender, and Extended Family Involvement that present a look
into roles of modern families, primarily white families compared to latino and black families.
Another work that presents data collected from modern families is Mass Deportations Would
Impoverish US Families and Create Immense Social Costs by Robert Warren And Donald
Kerwin from the Center for Migration Studies that focus their data on the impact of
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undocumented people living in the United States. These texts give us the evidence to prove the
myth of the model family as false and show the realities that Americans are facing today.
should look like by representing heteronormative and racist beliefs that were apparent in the
1950s. According to Coontz the 1950s were, “a time when there were fewer complicated choices
for kids or parents to grapple with, when there was more predictability in how people formed and
maintained families, and when there was a coherent ‘moral order’ in their community to serve as
a reference point for family norms” (Coontz 25). Coontz is alluding to the idea that people could
live a middle class lifestyle without having to attend college like they do now, and that people
had clear social and gender norms to conform to. Families were usually younger and they did not
face such a significant financial burden in the 1950s due to the way society was set up to uplift
Later in her work Coontz presents the origin of the “moral order” as the mainstream
media and how the representation of families at the time were optimistic and not realistic. Most
of the media in the 1950s revolved around the concept of family, however it avoided the realities
people were facing as a whole such as: racial tensions, domestic abuse, and the mistreatment of
women. The media of the 1950s encouraged a patriarchal domestic leadership and often
dismissed the role of a woman as miniscule and insignificant. Women were portrayed as
homebodies whose sole purpose in the family was to cook, clean, and care for the children while
the male assumed dominant role in all decision making. Not all women were living this reality
like families today, they are not represented in the media or in society in general including
politics.
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It is important to realize, people living in the United States are often misrepresented in
politics because they lack connections to their elected officials. Usually the people who make
laws in this country are bought out by big corporations who finance elections so it is usually their
beliefs who are represented in our laws. For example, the National Rifle Association finances
many campaigns for senators to be in office so it is implied that if the senator wants to keep
getting endorsements then they will follow what the NRA wants them to do. This is why there
are so many laws making guns accessible to Americans, this is also why so many families are
then it does not matter what the people believe, because the person who they elected to make
decisions for them is not honest. Politicians usually function on their own accord in this country
and it is frustrating for those who feel that their opinions are not being heard. It is also true that
there is a problem with people who do not vote for those who have their best interest, and it’s
often due to hyped up promises by certain politicians or the fact that some people simply do not
vote. People don’t vote because they are under the impression that a single vote won’t matter,
but are then faced with the reality that the new elected official does not represent them. Then
there are people left who are forced to live with the decisions others made for them because they
In addition, the report by Warren and Kerwin, Mass Deportations Would Impoverish US
Families and Create Immense Social Costs, states that, “there were 3.3 million mixed-status
households in the United States in 2014” (Warren, Kerwin 1). This means that there is a margin
of undocumented people that did not vote because they couldn’t and were therefore not
represented in prior elections and in the 2016 election. Thus, those people are living in a
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democratic country that does not reflect their beliefs. This is a reality that families are facing
today, as well as having to keep up with false social norms that are imposed on them.
Not only do people have to face misrepresentation but also the legacy of false societal
norms established in the 1950s that isolate individuals. Some norms that weren’t even norms in
the 1950s are still apparent in our society, such as the concept of the “nuclear” family. The
nuclear family is defined as a white, heterosexual, middle class couple with a couple of children
living in a suburban neighborhood. This concept of family was never inclusive and left “others”
who were often isolated by culture and class. As defined by Coontz, the “others” in the 1950s
were: “Jews, African Americans, Puerto Ricans, the poor, gays or lesbians” (Coontz 32). This
definition of “others” is still true of today’s society because there are still common
misconceptions of these groups of people that are clear themes in the mainstream media.
Correspondingly, authors Gerstel and Sarkisian touch on the subject of class and culture
and that a common misconception people have of Black and Latino ethnic groups is that they
have less “family values” than white individuals. Using data collected from National Survey of
Families and households (1992-1994) they came to the conclusion that, “White, Black, and
Latino/a individuals with the same amount of income and education have similar patterns of
involvement with their extended families” (Gertel, Sarkisian 48). The mainstream media often
portrays Black and Latino/a families as disconnected from their families and show White
families as more unified stereotypically and Gerstel and Sarkisian dismiss this belief with data.
Now, there are shows like Blackish, that are the opposite of 1950s sitcoms, that expose the
reality of being an ethnic middle class family trying to maintain a tie to their culture in modern
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society. Shows like this prove that the norms that people are accustomed to are outdated and that
the lack of connection within communities does not only factor in class, but also culture.
It has been noted that, outside factors have created a loss of identity for those who feel
isolated in a country that misrepresents them politically and socially. This nation is currently
experiencing a wave of White nationalism that has been encouraged by the president in his
political campaign. Unfortunately for those who are not White, the country seems to be turned
against them. In the Latino community there is a constant threat of deportation for those who are
Immense Social Costs there are: “2.9 million undocumented residents [that] were 14 years old or
younger when they were brought to the United States” (Warren, Kerwin 1). Undocumented
individuals who have been in the United States for most of their lives have little to no connection
to their country of origin and this alienation imposed by the president has left them isolated. It is
difficult to identify as “American” when the people of the country elected a man who wants to
deport you. This country was built by the use of immigrants and slaves, yet people are still facing
isolation and a loss of identity in this country because of where they are from.
In essence, the lack of identity that families face today is due the lack of representation
by their elected official and in society, for is a harsh reality that can be fixed. It is easier said than
done, but there is a way to repair the loss of identity and the isolation people are experiencing in
this country. A way to mend the disconnect would be to hold more inclusive voting platforms
and to inform people of the importance of political involvement. Another way would be to
encourage the media to stop portraying stereotypical versions of ethnic groups in their programs
and to promote diversity. Authors: Coontz, Gerstel and Sarkisian, and Kerwin and Warren prove
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that this country is constantly evolving and it is left to the American people to decide in which