The dynamics of the family unit have evolved over time and each individual unit has adapted to the society in which they live. Although the family unit, at one point in time, was very much an egalitarian relationship with not much of a dominating role, it has come to be that the male in the family is usually the dominating force. Families in the 16th century were mainly egalitarian in that they worked together in the home and on the land in order to survive. It was necessary to work together to get everything done that needed to be done. As the centuries progressed and the country entered into the industrial era, men were forced out into the world of labor while women were expected to stay in the home and provide an emotional support for the family. Wars brought women out of the home and into the work force once the men were all away fighting and although they were expected to reenter the household after wartime, it never really went back to that way. Through this process of industrialization, war and capitalization, societies have developed a common understanding of male dominance and this is where much of our prejudice and sexism stems from. The ideas of the "traditional family" have created expectations for men and women that divide them from each other and cause controversy in today's society.
It is these social expectation within the family that also affect the way that parents choose to raise their children. Many of the customs that have been developed over the years are unintentionally passed on through the child rearing process. In the interview conducted, we discussed whether or not these practices were ones that we plan on using ourselves were we to ever have children. The interviewee replied that she was never intentionally made to follow any customs that made her choose between identifying with male or female expectations. She decided that they way her parents approached raising her was acceptable and she might follow in their footsteps. On one occasion in high school, her mother refused to allow her to wear a tie to school because people might assume she was a lesbian. The interviewee replied that this type of behavior might be the only changes she would make in her raising children. She would not prevent her children from wearing or participating in things that might cause them to identify with one sex or the other. I disagreed in my own interview and discussed how my parents approached the child raising process completely wrong. Although they would try in some aspects to steer my brothers and I in the right direction, they did so by following many of the expectations that society had set for them. My brothers were expected to do boy things while I followed the normal path of a female. They did not pay close attention to our specific likes and needs and I would definitely change that with my own children.
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