Debunking the Modern Family Myth
According to Stephanie Coontz in “What We Really Miss About The 1950’s”, the 1950’s were symbolic in terms of the nuclear American family. The “typical” nuclear American family structure consisted of an unemployed stay-at-home mom, working dad, a child or two, and a suburban home. In her article, she refers to the 1950’s as being the optimal time period for family’s where the ideology in television shows such as “Father Knows Best” and “Leave It To Beaver” was not just a depiction of how life was supposed to be lived, but an accurate portrayal of how life actually was back then. Today, the once commonly known family structure has been modified and tweaked and the standard image of a modern day family is no …show more content…

As mentioned in “The Modern Family” by Steven Mintz, “Profound changes have reshaped American family life in recent years. In a decade, divorce rates were doubling, tripling, and increasingly growing” (Mintz). With divorce rates so profoundly high and nowhere close to plateauing, the idea of the modern family today being a single mom or single dad taking care of their children isn’t out of the question. Yet, even with such high divorce rates and such torn families, American culture seems to not be able to accept that a homosexual couple could be a functioning family but in reality, in the time that we are living in now, it’s about time to redefine what the “modern” family structure should be.
A shocking reality has hit and there shouldn’t be any question that the once believed in traditional family structure has changed. “Today, the traditional families with a work husband, an unemployed wife, and one or more children make up less than 15 percent of the nation’s households” (Mintz). The idealistic 4 person working class family is no longer what everybody wants anymore, with barely 15 percent of the total nation’s household, it’s obvious that the myth of the modern family has been debunked. Homosexual families and single parents are now the ever so increasing category. One can no longer put a finger on what the modern day family structure should look like anymore, but there still will be many of us who strive for the once conceived