This article, written by Judy Root Aulette does an excellent job at describing the wide range of family structures in the Untied States. One doesn’t have to look far to find somebody referring to the “diversity” of this county. This country was settled by immigrants, and has long had the reputation as a land of opportunity. This opportunity is a magnet, attracting people from people from all around the world, bringing with them their own cultures, customs, and beliefs.
This article did a good job about articulating the life style of the “upper class”, or as some people would say the “wealthy”. I found it interesting at how closely this lifestyle resembled the lifestyle of royalty. Their children could only associate with other children of their “class”. They were not allowed to choose whom they wanted to marry; they were restricted to those whom their parents approved. Unlike other social classes, the children of the upper class were not allowed to marry for love; they had to marry for status. It didn’t matter where the children wanted to attend school; their parents had already decided which schools were appropriate for them. I dare say, it is almost a tragedy to think about how the children’s lives were / are controlled all in the name of status.
I especially enjoyed reading the about the Middle Class and Working Class Families. While reading through these sections, I was able to draw a lot of parallels with my personal and family life. For example: I have moved across this state three times trying to advance in my line of work. There have been times when my wife and I have had to call on the help of friends and neighbors for assistance. There have been other times and circumstances when we have received assistance from extended family members.
When my wife and I are home, we are home. We don’t believe in “bringing work home with us”. We have set up a family trust naming our children as the beneficiaries. So, as you can see, aspects of both the Middle and Working Class apply to me.
While I haven’t had any experience with an environment such as the “Flats” I was amazed to read about how those people adapted. I enjoyed learning how the people joined together to survive. It was interesting to read about their ability to share everything from food, to money, to clothing for the survival of the group. It was even more interesting to me to learn that this is common way of life for several different cultures.
The traditional family structure of the Vietnamese culture and their family hierarchy was extremely interesting. It isn’t difficult to see why some of the young brides wanted to assimilate into the American culture while those who had been married for a number of years wanted to maintain the traditional values. It must have been difficult for a young Vietnamese bride to accept her low “status” while those around her who was not of the Vietnamese culture appeared to have a higher standing with their families. On the flip side of the issue, those who had “paid the price” you might say and had stayed married and true to the culture, wanted the respect and benefits that came with their higher status in the family.
I felt this was a good insight into the vast and diverse cultures that makes up the American families. This was a very informative, and enlightening article for me to read. In my line of work, I have had the opportunity to associate and deal with people from a wide variety of classes. I have dealt with those who are extremely wealthy and those who you may think are the poorest of the poor. I must say I can draw many similarities between the things I have seen in through the course of my work, and the things I have read in this article. The strange thing is, there are times when I don’t know who has it worse. It doesn’t seem to matter what class people are in, they all seem to want something else.
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