Blog 3: All in the Family

  Family structure has changed a lot over the years and now there are a lot more different types of families. In the past it was mainly just the nuclear family, which is the family that consists of a mom, a dad, and kids. It is generally what most people think of when they think of a family, but this has changed as more people get divorced, have children out of marriage, and there are also many same-sex couple families. A lot of those different types of families were not accepted in the past, but as society advances and becomes more accepting of people and their situations the family structure has evolved.
   Within the nuclear family structure, there are gender roles for the mother and the father, but this is also something that has been changing. For the most part the father was the breadwinner of the family and the mother took care of the house and the children. The mother was nurturing while the father was in charge. This has changed as discussed by Sara Eckel in her article "Dad-Mom Role Reversals" on the Working Mother website. This article is about how the recession has forced many families to break the gender roles and have the mother be the breadwinner while the dad is more in charge of the children and the house. It seemed like it was difficult for many families to adjust to this, but it was something that had to be done because many men had lost their jobs. This was difficult for them not only financially but also emotionally, so it took time in order to get used to taking over some of the generally female responsibilities. It was an interesting dynamic to discuss and see that there are some obstacles in this role reversal, but it was great to see that for many families it was successful. This necessary role reversal and also society as a whole being more accepting of working mothers and stay at home dads has changed the way we see nuclear families now.
   Gender roles are different in modern families because there may not be a mother and a father in the house. There may just be a mother or a father who has to take on the responsibilities of both or even other family members or friends that take over certain responsibilities. There are also the same-sex families in which there are two fathers or two mothers, the gender roles in these families are very different and the parents don't have very defined roles. Modern families have much less defined gender roles and often have to adapt to what the situation they are in. With a nuclear family there are years of these gender roles, while the modern family is just becoming more talked about and accepted.