Free Critical Thinking On All In The Famly

4. The changes that the author refers to in the quote “and most men have yet to really adapt to the changes in women” center on the different roles that women play in the household nowadays. Women are the breadwinners now just as much as the men are; they have forsaken traditional homemaker roles and have more demanding lives. Thus I think the author is right. Women must balance work and family life so they are more at pressure to meet all of their responsibilities as best they can. Yet a lot of men cannot handle this aspect of marriage because the residue of orthodox gender roles in society and marriage still influences the male ego. Many men cannot accept the fact that their wives work outside the home and the ones that do accept it often have high expectations for their spouses to be a kind of wonder woman. She has to be able to care for the children, maintain the cleanliness of the house, and contribute towards the bills on a consistent basis. What about her personal life? When does she have time for herself? The failure of men to adapt to the changes in women can also be attributed to the reality that corporations don’t support paternity leave, only reinforcing the status quo that men ought to spend considerable time at work while their home life duties are neglected and shoved onto the opposite sex. As Naisbitt pointed out in his book Megatrends, many corporate executives believed that more men feel the need to share the responsibility of parenting yet only a small percentage of them actually offer paternity leave.
2. Drawing on my experience as an observer of the world around me, I do not think that Brady’s picture of a wife’s role is grossly exaggerated. Perhaps when she wrote this article, she alluded to her own life experiences as a spouse whose marriage ended up in divorce. While the satirical nature of the essay may appear hyperbolic, she gives truth to her words in that society places so many pressures on women in the home. They have to be perfect; nothing less than perfection will do, the hardest and foremost critic being the husband. All of his needs and wants must be met as if to reiterate the cliché: “your wish is my command.” He expects his wife to cater to his sexual, physical, intellectual, financial, and social necessities at the expense of her own life and overall welfare. In fact, she has no personal life because she has devoted all of it to her family, almost like a slave rather than an equal and esteemed member of the nuclear family structure. I believe this is the notion that Brady intended to convey in her writing. Even though it was written over four decades ago, much of the prose is fairly accurate. Long-time cultural traditions of gender inequality still hold true today. While progress has occurred towards equal opportunity for women, they still are viewed in a certain manner by their male counterparts who may pride themselves on being superior to women and, therefore, able to demand the special treatment only a wife can give to her husband. In short, there is nothing new under the sun.
1. The complications of the Ono’s family “complicated spiritual life” revolve around the divide between the mother’s Catholic faith and the father’s Buddhist religion. The children were raised to be practicing Buddhists while the mother considered herself a non-devout Catholic. The fact that the daughter wanted to explore her mother’s religion during adolescence made matters worse when the father insisted his dogmatic belief in her remaining true to Buddhism even to the point of not dating someone from a different faith. He demonstrated this fanatical behavior when he explicitly voiced his disappointment toward his daughter for going out with someone who was Irish Catholic (especially when he learned of her attendance at Mass). Ironically, he failed to realize that he dated and married someone from a different spiritual background, divulging the hypocrisy on his part. The hardships that the Ono children faced growing up when their friends and classmates celebrated special rites of passage took a toll on their family as they [the children] tried to figure out who they wanted to be and how they wanted to live. Perhaps the fact that the wife was too nonchalant and the husband too overwrought contributed to their complicated spiritual life. The importance of them letting their children decide how and where they want to worship as adults would make things much simpler for the family. As both spouses find a common ground, they should be able to harmonize their religious roots in a way that is healthy to their union as man and woman.
1. The values my family held when I was a child were similar to that of Sullivan’s childhood in that my parents taught me how to aim high, not to settle for less than by best. We believed in the investment in education, work and family life. Spirituality played an integral part of my upbringing because it helped me to improve the quality of my life in every facet: spiritually, mentally, financially, socially, and physically. My parents led by example and did their very best to ensure I had all that I would need to make a life for myself someday. What mattered most in life to us was family and unity; thus, I learned at an early age that the only reason two people ought to marry one another is because of mutual love. Love is what founded the relationship and love is the same force that will sustain the union. So finding and nourishing love with that special someone would “put everything else into perspective” as the author noted.
3. I think that Schulman is describing a small part of the population in his essay when he discusses parental hovering through their overprotective behavior that doesn’t allow children to think and do for themselves. Children who come from more affluent backgrounds are more likely to encounter such overwrought behavior from their parents because their parents place high expectations on them. They want to prepare them for the future but their good intentions can interfere with the children’s own interests and future goals. These parents have the wherewithal to give their children the best and with that come a responsibility from the child to answer to parents’ every minute question. Conversely, children whose families are low-income often have to fend for themselves and are forced to mature early on in life because they have to take care of the siblings, the household, while managing their own educational workloads. The parents are often busy trying to make a living for the family and don’t have the time or money to provide the ideal life for their offspring, better known as the American Dream. Actually, the majority of Americans are struggling to make ends meet in a world economy where employment is scarce and competition for jobs is high.
1. If I happen to marry someday, I don’t need or want a large wedding because it doesn’t take all of materialistic mania to make it meaningful. Having a prodigious, extravagant wedding doesn’t prove my love for my spouse any more than having a small one does. What really matters is the people who share in our joy on that memorable day: family, friends and colleagues. Such money could be used towards securing homeownership or a romantic honeymoon or could be simply stored as a rainy day fund in these uncertain times. I was slightly surprised to discover that the average wedding amounts to 30 grand. How expensive! Honestly, I don’t think spending this money is well worth it, especially for a husband and wife who make a modest living. Why put unnecessary financial burden on yourself if you don’t have to? It doesn’t make any logical sense to me. As aforementioned this kind of money could be better utilized in more worthwhile investments, thinking about the long-term practicality for the lives of the newlyweds. The couple may desire to have children soon after the wedding and children cost money. Perhaps, money ought to be set aside for this more important endeavor. The intangible quality of conjugal charity will supply all the ambience, spiritual wealth, and romantic bliss that will ultimately make the wedding day beautiful.