Culture, Gender, and Family Life

1. Culture is what makes up a group of people, like a community. Many people look at their backgrounds and where they grew up as a sort of culture. Cultures are full of traditions and patterns that many can share, too. I think here in America the culture is changing and forming into one that is more and more liberal. Policies and laws are changing the way America is being run. Even though America was to be founded on freedom and getting rid of the forms of class systems, although they are always naturally apart of any culture. In the U.S. there is still forms of lower(poor), middle(makes decent living), and high(rich). People still want the highest class that they can possibly achieve, yet I think that for the lower classes education and the offering of education is extremely lacking.  

2. When asked in class to finish this sentence "Gender is...?" I actually had a many different answers that I didn't even end up picking one. I loved our discussion on distinguishing definitions of gay, same-sex attractions, and homosexual desires. Today, we use these terms too loosely. It was shocking that laws and policies are being created to stop/taking license of therapists who work to help those who do not want to have(or help them learn to control) their same-sex attractions and homosexual desires. I was intrigued by our discussion on what society and the world have distinguished as masculine qualities and feminine qualities. I thought of my siblings and their growing families and how different they take on roles and how we talk about their children. My eldest brother and his wife have kind of switched roles, Chris is acting as Mr. Mom and Taylor is being a working mom. I see that some of the differences that are affecting Lennon, their son. Lennon is missing out on natural mommy time, while Chris tries to be that figure, Chris is not of a gentle type of Mr. Mom. Chris is a rough sort of man, who would be looked at as very masculine. I think that Lennon lacks in this learning of how and when it is appropriate to be gentle and when to be rough. My other brother Cameron, is completely opposite of Chris, and was constantly(and to this day) was made fun of by Chris for being gay, a sissy, and total wuss. Cameron is happily married to a women and has a little baby boy, and I think he is one of the best, most gentleman, and father on this earth. I think open communication about how families and roles is important, that all can share in the same qualities whether considered more masculine or feminine.

The Theories of Family

A theory is completely different than a hypothesis. A theory is an attempt to explain an specific phenomenon. A hypothesis is an educated guess on what you think an outcome will be. Within a families there are four specific types of family theories.

1. Conflict Theory

• power struggles between parents, parents and child, and children
• competition
• over limited resources

2. Symbolic Interaction Theory

• partially situation
• objects, gestures, words, actions
• constantly communicating - but has a great potential for misunderstanding

3. Exchange Theory

• balance - give and take mentalities
• knowing who is benefiting

4. System Theory

• whole > sum of parts
• roles and rules/laws
• homeostatic mechanism
• sub system - parents/siblings 

Families can fall under one or more of these theories. In my family I feel that we struggle within the Conflict theory and symbolic interaction theory. We can sometimes compete with one another for power in certain situations. As well, we try to communicate through gestures and words but most of the time it comes out misunderstood and taken very wrong.