The Way We Never Were By Stephanie Coontz Essay - 953 Words

Stephanie Coontz begins her speech, The Way We Never Were, by debunking common misconceptions about marriage and family life throughout history. She discusses the myth of how single-parent and step families are a new phenomenon introduced only recently into our society.The fact is that early death rates were much higher in history compared to what they are now and, in fact, â€Å"in the beginning of the nineteenth century a majority of marriages were ended by death ten years before the last child was ready to leave home.† Therefore, single-parent families and step-families were fairly typical back in the day. Coontz points out how fairy tales like â€Å"Cinderella† and â€Å"Snow White† actually were incredibly accurate in the portrayals of family dynamics during these early centuries. The institute of marriage, at this time, did not associate its origins with love, but instead power, money, and property. Therefore, when a father remarried, it was the step-mother ’s interest to make sure that his children were gotten rid of, for she wanted her own offspring to acquire his money and land. Coontz also debunks this modern view that divorce rates have never been higher than right now in contemporary society. She explains that throughout history today’s rates are actually pretty similar to those found in ancient Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, as well as among Native Americans. This idea that Christian tradition has always been anti-divorce, mainly enforced due to Jesus’ denouncement of both womenShow MoreRelatedThe Way We Never Were By Stephanie Coontz1135 Words   |  5 PagesStephanie Coontz is a teacher, historian, author and a scholar activist. She has also very indulged in the world of public debate on families, this mostly due possible because of her extensive skills to study modern families as well as historical patterns. In her book The Way We Never Were, Coontz presents a historical look at the family and how it has changed over time. Her interest in the subject comes for her need to understand how families functioned in the past and present, and what lead toRead MoreEssay on Poverty and Child Development1589 Words   |  7 Pagesunderstood life to be a certain way. Life had taken its course and my family, as well as myself, have suffered ups and downs. We’ve been through times w hich were good and which were the worst of the worst – all families do. What I didn’t know is that regardless of the good and the bad, that the life I lived was sheltered to the point where I couldn’t fathom the idea that all people had not lived a life similar to ours. Sure, I understand that some were more fortunate and some were less fortunate, but to whichRead MoreA Modern Twist on a Traditional American Family Ideal from the 1950s1576 Words   |  7 PagesDepictions of families in the 1950s were extreme in a myriad of ways. The notion of a â€Å"nuclear family,† in which a husband, wife and their children were considered the smallest unit of our society, became incredibly popular. Husbands and wives each seemed to have particular roles and duties from which they couldn’t stray. The husband, of course, was a working man responsible for bringing money to the household. His wife worked on something else: their household itself. She cleaned, cook ed, and decoratedRead MoreEssay about American Cultural Myths1219 Words   |  5 PagesThe United States and cultural myths pertaining to this country have been a topic of discussion for many years. Stephanie Coontz’s â€Å"The Way We Wish We Were†, David Brooks’ â€Å"One Nation Slightly Divisible† and Margaret Atwood’s â€Å"A Letter to America† are all essays about different American cultural myths. Each author focuses on a different cultural myth that pertains to the United States. They explain how these myths are thwarting a realistic view of America. As well as changing the perception of theRead MoreThe Love Sick Society1531 Words   |  7 Pages1A 4/07/12 The Love Sick Marriage When we talk about marriage in this time period, we always expect there to be a sense of love behind this status, for the most part. However, where did this concept of â€Å"love† come from? Marriage in the past was very rarely associated with love. Love was seen as detrimental to the concept of marriage. In fact, in Ancient China, love was seen as â€Å"disruptive† and an act of being â€Å"antisocial† (Coontz 378). So the question we ask ourselves is, where did this idea ofRead MoreThe Perfect American Lifestyleof The 1950S. What Is The1489 Words   |  6 Pageswill analyze Stephanie Coontz’s â€Å"What We Really Miss About The 1950s† and the idea of the ideal America Lifestyle. The perfect American lifestyle of the 1950s started with the ability to earn money as Coontz notes â€Å"it’s easy to see why people might look back fondly to a decade when real wages grew more in any single year than in the entire ten years of the 1980s combined† (Coontz). Growing wages allowed for more spending and more spending created for a better economy. However, Coontz says that theRead MoreEssay on Television Today Versus the 1950s1182 Words   |  5 PagesProbably not as many as there were in the 1950s. In Stephanie Coontzs What We Really Miss about the 1950s, she discusses why people feel more nostalgic towards growing up in the 1950s, and how she disagrees that 1950s wasnt the decade that we really should like or remember best. Apart from economic stability, family values played an important part then. Through television sitcoms, such as Leave it to Beaver, Father knows Best, families watched them to make sure they were living correctly. It wasRead MoreMar riage And Family Play Essential Roles1567 Words   |  7 Pagesare convincible some are not. In â€Å"What We Really Miss About the 1950s†, Coontz explained why people have nostalgia for 1950s however not really want to go back. In â€Å"From Marriage Market: How Inequality is Remaking the American Family†, Cahn and Carbone how women in nowadays are more free than those in old days. Present years in facts are not better times for children to grow up in because of lackness of standards, rampant and materialism. In 1950s, there were rules to be followed. Men should makeRead MoreA Little Commonwealth By John Demos1435 Words   |  6 Pagesfamily consisted of a large extended family with several generations under the same roof. However, standard colonial families were actually made up of small nuclear families (Demos, 62). Nuclear families contain a married couple and their children. Their modest homes were simply not large enough to house many generations and censuses show that 4 to 6 family households were very common (Demos, 64). This is very similar to families today with households that contain the nuclear family. However, todayRead MoreThe Myths of Families Essay2209 Words   |  9 PagesQuestion 1: In The Way We Never Were, Stephanie Coontz suggests that society romanticizes past generations of family life and points out that these memories are merely myths that prevent us from â€Å"dealing more effectively with the problems facing today’s families† (Coontz x). Coontz proposes that researchers can take empirical data and create misleading causality for that data, thus feeding cultural myth and/or experience. Coontz believes that â€Å"an overemphasis on personal responsibility for strengthening