Family (Chapter 7)

"Family: Two or more persons, including the householder, who are related by birth, marriage, or adoption and who live together as one household" (Newman, 207).

        This seems to be a very bland defition, that our government provided. To display the institution that is suppose to be the primary source of providing it's members with warmth, knowledge, intimacy, love, and affection. I would think, that since the United States citizens are the one's who must endure these family ties, that they should also be the one who defines their own relationships to these members. However, that is not the case, because "we don't live our lives by ourselves, and so we don't have complete freedom to define our own families" (Newman, 208). I believe this is a poor excuse for allowing the government to make a restriction on definitions of marriage and family. It's derrived from the pre-recognition of the stereotypical "Leave it to Beaver" household, which is an inadequate and unrealistic standard to set for families to obtain. In fact, holding this false standard of the "ideal family" can be damaging to many members of a family, and could cause potential physical and emotional harm to members of society attempting to achieve that goal. 

         When two people have a child together, but do not marry, under law all of the members in that household are not recognized as being a family. This idea, and the irratical view of the ideal family may lead couples into believing that they are obligated to marry before they're ready. This can not only  lead to future divorce, single parenting, and stepfamilies, but it can also have a much more devastating impact on the family. If one partner in the relationship has shown violence, abuse, or has an addiction, the marriage could potentially lead to family violence, intimate-partner violence, and child abuse. Statistics show that one in every four women have experience abuse in their lifetime ( http://www.dvrc-or.org/domestic/violence/resources/C61/). In fact, when women enter marriages that involve abuse they often feel trapped in their relationship. The best thing to do in a relationship is wait until both partners are completely sure they are ready, but that's not the example the American government is providing. The contemporary family in the United States today is continuously transforming and no longer fits into the late 50's family sterotype. Although, the remains of that stereotype is still prevelant in today's society. We can see this transformation from the vast majority of new television series coming out, such as modern family, and two and a half men. It's clear, that there is a wide definition for family in the United States. We should encourage others and incorporate the uniqueness of contemporary American families into everyday life and not restrict it to a sterotypical definition.