The Decline Of Marriage And Family Life - 1347 Words

The concept of a traditional American family has been profoundly changed over the last 100 years. Fewer marriages are forming, divorce rates are higher than ever, and childlessness is much more common. The decline of marriage and family life seems to be the inevitable product of progressive ideas and modern socio-political conditions. Feminist and contemporary liberal critics of marriage and family life appeal to individual rights, liberty, consent, equality, and love as they seek to dismantle and undermine commitment to marriage and family life. However, some scholars would propose that the actions and words of America’s Founders show how to reconcile marriage and family life with the same modern ideas of equality, individual rights, and†¦show more content†¦In West s two books it is very clear that men and woman of the founding era placed family first, the belief [being] that family integrity was indispensable for the public safety and happiness, (Vindicating the Fo unders, pg. 85). Their beliefs were based on the fact that there are differences between the sexes, differences that correspond to the traditional gender roles in the family, (Vindicating the Founders, pg. 85). Today, this claim is easily dismissed by critics of the Founders views. Marriage was defined by the Massachusetts supreme court in 1810 as an engagement, by which a single man and a single woman, of sufficient discretion, take each other for husband and wife, (The Political Theory of the American Founding, pg. 220). For the Founder and people of the time, the right to marry [was] no less fundamental than freedom of religion and of the press, (The Political Theory of the American Founding, pg. 221). Marriage was a natural right practiced by a large majority and considered an important component of human happiness. And, since pursuinift g happiness is a natural right, marriage is therefore a part of that right, (The Political Theory of the American Founding, pg. 221). Better ex pressing this view of the time is Zephaniah Swift, the connection between husband and wife... when founded on a mutual attachment and the ardor of youthful passions, is productive of the purest joys and tenderest transports that gladden the heart, (TheShow MoreRelatedSociological Concepts Of The Family, Marriage, And Intimate Relationships998 Words   |  4 Pagessociological concepts of the family, marriage, and intimate relationships. (Pg. 365) The sociological concept for family is a group of people that are related to by decent, marriage, or adoption. Many sociologist view families as a universal social institution that is central to social life, meaning families play a role of how people learn to be social and how their role in a society. 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