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Leslie Gonzalez

Suzie Huerta Q

English 1S

November 7th

Birthing The Myth

The families of the 1950’s gave birth to the widespread myth of a “Modern Family”.

These families were made of identicality, identical in the way that they all felt persuaded to fit

into the societal norms of the 1950’s, these families were also thriving to be picture perfect.

“Model families” were White American, heterosexual and middle-class. Some of the people

raised in the 1950’s claim it was one of the best eras to be a part of, because of the stability it

had. Of course it was only the best era if you were apart of the stereotypical modern family. The

reality that US families face is, if you don't fit the description of a model family you are an

outsider. In this era, US families deal with income inequality, gender and marriage roles, and ties

within the extended family.

The 1950’s created an ideology in which it pressured families to be modern and follow

the influences of sitcoms and the culture in that decade. A “nuclear” family looks like; a white

male breadwinner and a stay-at-home female, have 2 children and own a house. This image is

learned by several sitcoms aired in the 50’s such as; “The Donna Reed Show”, focusing on a

middle-class family point of view, “Leave it to Beaver”, a rebellious son causing trouble within

his family, “Father knows best”, a -when in doubt go to the male figure in the family because

they have more knowledge than the mother- stereotypical show. In the article “What we really

miss about the 1950’s” by Stephanie Coontz, she believes this is the reason why the families

watch the shows, “They watched them to see how families were supposed to live - and also get
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reassurance that they were headed in the right direction” (Coontz 31). The essence of Coontz’s

argument is that families used these tv shows as a guideline as to how to live their lives. Since

the sitcoms did not talk about real world problems, the families watching would be oblivious.

The shows were aimed for viewers who had been dealing with issues related to family, also

viewers who are looking for help and structure in their lives.

Fast forward to the 2000’s and US families are now facing double, if not more, hardships

due to the President of the United States. This year alone families have been dealing with

deportation and migration status, regarding donald trump’s statement recorded in the “Center for

Migration Studies” by Robert Warren and Donald Kerwin, trump vows to deport 11 million

undocumented residents. In making this vow, Trump instills fear into the families of many. Fear

of separation. Families with a mixed-status household, that is- households with at least one

undocumented resident and one US citizen, have truly opened their eyes and have been forced to

live such a heavy weight on their shoulders. Warren and Kerwin have updated their research and

educated crucial facts, “removing the undocumented residents from these households and thus

reducing the median income by 50 percent, could reduce the amount of financial support

available to their US born children remaining in the United States by a total of $118 billion”

(Donald and Kerwin 6). In other words, not only would undocumented families be distraught and

torn apart but so would the rest of US-born children with no financial support. Undocumented

residents have had such a great cooperation to the US income that it is beyond unfair to talk

down about them and vow to deport them, because in reality it would have a colossal negative

impact, $118 billion to be exact.

Migration status and documentation has played a sizeable role by being the defining

factor of obtaining jobs. Undocumented residents, managing to land a job has been exceedingly
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tough because they come into the US and immediately need to support themselves and/or their

families, therefore there is little to no time to go to school and acquire a higher education. My

father himself came to the States with low education, making it hard to sustain a well-paying job.

After realizing no one is willing to pay undocumented residents equally, he was obligated to

create his own job and later a company. Warren and Kerwin talk about how numerous of

families have done so as well, they inform, “Three-quarters of a million undocumented residents

are self-employed, having created their own jobs and in the processes, creating jobs for many

others” (Donald and Kerwin 1). Having the willpower to conquer your goals by creating your

own job and helping your community while doing so is no new objective for undocumented

residents. The process of not being able to secure a job is something that they face at a very early

point in their lives in the US, and will continue to face if income inequality continues. It is

important to consider the benefits of undocumented residents creating jobs because it will surely

lead to the expansion of jobs and opportunity.

Most families have or will experience divorce and separation, 40-50 percent to be exact.

In “The Color of Family Ties” Naomi Gerstel and Natalia Sarkisian discuss how the rates of

divorce are lower in impoverished groups. The rates being lower are not necessarily a positive

aspect, the realities they give behind the low rate is, “not a rejection of family values but a

realistic assessment of how little women (and her children) may be able to depend upon

marriage” (Gerstel and Sarkisian 49). Gerstel and Sarkisian are trying to convey that women,

economically, have less opportunities than men within the impoverished groups. Females

currently are paid less than men and for reasons like these, women and mothers feel trapped in

marriages because there are less options for them. These types of families and marriages create a

sort of gender role where the male should be the breadwinner and the mothers are
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housekeepers/stay-at-home-moms. This is where we look back to the 1950’s and notice how the

“modern family” stereotype gets mixed in with traditional Latino families, mainly within the

impoverished groups. As long as policies continue the same, women in forced marriages and

people of color will continue to be oppressed.

Oppression is a subject nobody is talking about enough, yet it is something so apparent

and so visible in this day and age, that families must confront. In the article “The Color of

Family Ties” by Gerstel and Sarkisian, they also discuss the stereotypes of colored families.

Gerstel and Sarkisian state, “We often hear that Black and Latino/a, especially Puerto Rican,

families are more disorganized than White families (...)” (Gerstel and Sarkisian 45). In making

this comment they are resurfacing the stereotype of families of color being disorganized and

uncovering the belittling to families of color. Disorganization in this context has a negative

connotation, especially when comparing them with White Americans. There are several reasons

as to why these families would be disorganized, some of which relates to the extended family.

Extended family refers to anyone who are not parents and siblings, they are “immediate

family members”. Immediate family gets a lot of exclusivity although extended family such as;

aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins etc. can be just as supportive and emotionally closer than the

immediate family. The article “The color of family ties” Gerstel and Sarkisian further discuss

families of color and their relationship to extended kin (family). They state their research, “we

find that social class rather than culture is the key to understanding the difference in extended

family ties” (Gerstel and Sarkisian 47). White American extended families tend to give more

financial support rather than ethnic families. After the September earthquake in Mexico City, my

extended family needed a vast amount of support. My family could not afford to send financial
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support so we offered emotional support instead. Many ethnic families go through the same

situation because of our social class, not culture.

Recent studies like these shed light on the real life hardships that US families face.

Prolonging the myth of the “modern family” is corrupting our families into thinking they are

outsiders and oppressing impoverished groups. These articles have prime examples in the

realities of our families afflictions. Whether it's based on income inequality, gender and marriage

roles, or even the ties with extended families, US families will continue to be abused and

mistreated if politicians continue on telling families to return to the family forms and values of

the 1950’s instead of offering support.