My Family

When people look at my family, we probably look like the "perfect" American family. My parents were high school sweethearts. They met when they were 15 years old and have been in love ever since. To this day they are still happily married. After getting married they waited three years before having me. I am an only child which I guess is a little bit against the norm, but nowadays it is becoming much more common. We live in a very nice house, in a great town. We have the token perfect dog, a golden retriever named Derby. I love my family so much and do realize that things have come easy to me. My parents sometimes worry that I have been a little spoiled. They don't treat me like a spoiled only child, it is just in general how our life has been.

Even though I have what is considered to be a perfect family, my parents have made sure that I have been exposed to lots of different things. My parents are the most open people I know. They hold no prejudices toward anyone, and have made sure to pass that on to me. They have raised me in a house where gender is not an issue. My mom and dad are complete equals in my house. If someone asked me whether my mom or dad was in charge, I could not answer that. They are both in charge. They delegate chores of the house. Yes, my mom does cook dinner much more often than my dad. However, this is because my mom is a gourmet cook and loves to make dinner. My dad offers all the time, but my mom always says that she would prefer to do it. My parents have definitely set an example that men and women in the family should be equal. In regards to issues of race, it was never an issue in my house. Black or white meant nothing in my house. Everyone was the same. Honestly, in regards to social class, I did grow up basically among people of the same social class. This may be the one area in which I have been a bit sheltered, but it was not one purpose. My parents were not consciously like, "We want her only surrounded by people like us." It was just the way things turned out. And while this is the case, my parents made sure that I never got the idea that I was above anyone. The last issue is sexuality. My parents are completely open to homosexuality. True, our family doesn't know many homosexuals, but that doesn't mean that we don't completely accept it. My parents are in favor of gay marriage because they do not believe anyone has the right to say who should or should not be able to get married. I have heard there reasoning and have accepted this as my belief as well.

My ideas about family have really been shaped by my parents. We have the typical family, but I am very aware of the diverse nature of families. Everyone tells me that I am incredibly mature, and that is because I grew up always joining in my parents adult conversations. They liked to involve me in there conversations. Because of this I have learned so much from them. I realize the question is how have race, gender, social class, and sexuality affected my ideas about family. Above I shared my parents ideas about gender, social class, race, and sexuality. Honestly, their views have shaped my ideas about family. I am thankful to them for this. I haven't just complacently taken their views, I just truly agree with them.

The last issue is how I will let race, gender, social class, and sexuality affect my family in the future. I know that I will have to marry someone who is as open as I am. I need to be able to raise a family that is accepting of what is different from what we may be. My husband and I need to be equals. We need to treat each other as equals because that is the way I have seen things growing up. I believe the environment one grows up in definitely impacts the way they view issues of class, gender, race, and sexuality. You may agree with the way you were brought up or disagree and adjust how you do things with your family. I am lucky enough to love the way I grew up and want to pass on the same values I was taught to my own children.

I have realized after writing this how much I respect my parents, and how happy I am with the way I view those who have different families. It always seemed so natural to me but now putting it into words and actually thinking about it, makes it even more clear. This may seem incredibly cliche, but my parents have always told me that different is not wrong. Because what we see as different, someone else sees as normal, and what someone else sees as different, we see as normal. If people just understood this, I feel that race, gender, sexuality, and social class would not be an issue. I realize this is wishful thinking, but I can't help but write it.