(Article #12- “The Way We Really Are”) The author of this article portrays how the standard of the “traditional family” has changed over the past century. The article emphasizes on how marriages are becoming extinct and families are breaking away from the old fashioned way of raising children. For example, having both a father and a mother in the home full-time use to be the definition of “ the traditional family”. The author seems to believe that the majority of society today is becoming accustomed to single parent homes and women being the major breadwinners in the home, thus making this the new “traditional family” lifestyle.As I was reading the statistics in this article I was very critical in believing the data that was given by the author. There were statistics given about the increase in unwed motherhood, divorce rates falling and rising, how much divorce has increased since the 1950’s and how many people are staying unwed in the later 1900’s. The author gave no indication of where or how she gathered her statistics. I do believe that the divorce rate in America is at an all time high for the start of the new millennium. I believe that Americans are forced to re-evaluate their opinion on what the traditional family is made up of. Children are forced to live with one parent, not having the traditional dream of both a mother and a Father, which is the image of what a real family is portrayed to be in the generation I was brought up with. The traditional lifestyle of a family use to be that the father was the major breadwinner, going out of the home and working long hours of labor for his family living on the wage of just one major breadwinner. The mother was the nurturer, staying home to take care of children and household chores. Because of changes in economical status in the late 1900’s, families were forced to change their opinions on what was once known as tra...
