The American Family is undergoing an evolution that will continue to redefine the way a family is defined and portrayed in the public eyes over the coming years. Due to the high rate of divorce, the choice to live together instead of getting married, unexpected pregnancies resulting in single-parent households, the American family has become a confusing mix of step-parents and step-siblings. Somehow, those children who come from married families end up in a shared custody lifestyle, while those with non committed families seem to have more permanent families to speak of these days. I believe that this trend should be looked into with greater detail in order for us to understand possibly why married families fail and step or nonformal families succeed.
Does a stepfamily become a real family because the “replacement” parent has to work harder in order to be accepted by the child into the family? Is it the way the child feels about his existence in such a setup that will dictate the success or failure of the stepfamily? How do stepfamilies actually work? I hope that researching these questions will present us with an understanding of the early history of stepfamilies and how they successfully evolved into their current incarnation as a modern 21st-century family.
Later on, we should also look at how the other countries deal with any emerging stepfamily trends that they have. How does it affect the children emotionally and mentally? Is there a difference in the way Western children deal with the situation? Are stepfamilies also an ideal way to create a new family in certain countries? Why or why not?
These are just some of the topics that I feel should be discussed in reference to the way families have evolved over time and how society has begun to redefine families because of it. After the discussion, it is my hope that we as a class will finally be able to identify the new dynamics that are necessary for the creation of the 21st-century family and where we all fit into the system regardless of blood ties and relationships. It is already clear that we live in a world where a family is no longer defined by who gave us life but rather by who we create our lives with. With these two lessons in mind, I hope that the class will be able to unravel the mystery of what creates a 21st-century family.