The Slow Death of 'Traditional' Families in America

[BoomerLynn]

Aren't the Duggars into Andy Griffith? I thought I had read that somewhere. That's another older show with a non-traditional family, a single father (widower? I was never into that show) raising his son.

[Becket70]

Aren't the Duggars into Andy Griffith? I thought I had read that somewhere. That's another older show with a non-traditional family, a single father (widower? I was never into that show) raising his son.

Let me start out by saying that I am a big Andy Griffith fan. If you haven't seen "A Face in the Crowd", you should rent it. A movie ahead of its time in terms of outing bloviates like Rush Limbaugh. As for the Duggars, if they are not in to Andy Griffith it probably is for political reasons. I don't know if Andy was a registered Democrat but he was very supportive of Democratic positions. For this reason, he fell out of favor with a lot of Conservatives.

Another great show with a non-traditional family is The Rifleman. A widower raising his son on his own, though I could never quite understand why Lucas never remarried. What a catch!

[bea]

"My Two Dads"--mom dies and doesn't know which of the men fathered her daughter, so she lives with both of them. (I believe the girl was played by Rebecca Shaefer, who was very, very tragically murdered. Or maybe that was My Sister Sam.)

I'm pretty sure she was in both.

I got a graduate degree before I got married - and supported my husband for a while while, too, while he studied for the bar.

And then I became a freelancer, got sick, stopped working, then volunteered full time, THEN had two kids and am "staying home" to raise them (while serving as the head of my neighborhood organization, volunteering with my local police department and the criminal court system, and running a small business out of my basement).

But SOOOOOO traditional, because I don't go to work every day somewhere. :cool:

[Hane]

I remember one season of Mary Tyler Moore in which they decided to give her a steady boyfriend and have her parents as recurring characters. It was clunky and didn't go over well. Even though it was nearly 40 years ago, viewers were happier with Mary as a single gal with a work "family" and friends.

[GolightlyGrrl]

I know lots of conservatives look to shows like "Leave it to Beaver" and "The Donna Reed Show" as the types of families we should emulate. Well, Mrs. Cleaver would not be trifled with; she knew Eddie Haskell was full of shit. And I recently saw a rerun of "The Donna Reed Show" where she worked on a political campaign. And I bet she was more of an asset than stupid-ass Josh Duggar.

[scc12]

Oh yes,a lot of ppl hated the late 60's-70's shows where women ruled the networks with shows like That Girl and Mary Tyler Moore,They thought tv had a political agenda in mind,what with all the' independent woman-type' thing going on,women being single and off on their own...not dependent on a man at all.It was much too liberal for a lot of the conservatives likings.

I wonder if that's why later shows like Happy Days came to be ..back to the 50's and the June Cleaver family types ...of course it was followed by Laverne and Shirley later...I'm glad they thought to put in some single girls on their own. :)

That said..I think that's why Jim Bob likes not having a tv...wouldn't want any of the women folk getting any ideas about living without a man...not to mention,recall the shows that were on in the 80's,like Baywatch....I think Jim Bob would have had a fit if Michelle had watched it! I suspect he doesn't like the insecurities that tv brings upon himself.

LOL

[JenniferJuniper]

Oh yes,a lot of ppl hated the late 60's-70's shows where women ruled the networks with shows like That Girl and Mary Tyler Moore,They thought tv had a political agenda in mind,what with all the' independent woman-type' thing going on,women being single and off on their own...not dependent on a man at all.It was much too liberal for a lot of the conservatives likings.

How about the Big Valley? A late sixties Western set in the 1870's in which Miss Barbara Stanwyk - often in trousers - ruled over a ranch full of fine looking menfolk with an iron fist. Including Lee Majors, who played the illegitimate son her late husband begot with his mistress. She made him call her "Mother" and kissed him on the mouth nearly every other episode.

A fundie nightmare of a 60's show. Completely flew in the face of their notion of the "good old days".

[scc12]

How about the Big Valley? A late sixties Western set in the 1870's in which Miss Barbara Stanwyk - often in trousers - ruled over a ranch full of fine looking menfolk with an iron fist. Including Lee Majors, who played the illegitimate son her late husband begot with his mistress. She made him call her "Mother" and kissed him on the mouth nearly every other episode.

A fundie nightmare of a 60's show. Completely flew in the face of their notion of the "good old days".

Yes,that was a good one! lol

[patsymae]

If I remember, a lot of the shows I watched as a kid had either one-parent families (usually a widower, like Andy Griffith and My Three Sons) or no parents at all-Saturday morning shows Like Sky King, where they lived with an uncle, and one on which a kid lived in an army post (can't remember how or why he got there). There was Bachelor Father, The Real McCoys, Nanny and the Professor, To Rome with love. On the Patty Duke show I don't think there was ever an explanation of what happened to Cathy's mother.

[GolightlyGrrl]

And let's not forget "Gilligan's Island." The only related people were the married Howells. And who knows what they were drinking out of those coconut cups.

[roddma]

The term "traditional family" in this context really means white nuclear family, as if nuclear families comprised of other races don't count. A straight, inter-racial marriage is only unusual if you ignore history, as the US was built on interracial co-mingling.

The "Leave it to Beaver" type family - dad as breadwinner, mom stays home, two kids, a house in the suburbs, everyone white - makes a number of assumptions. First, it assumes that the dad has a job that enables the wife to not work. For many wives, both in the 1960s and now, working was a matter of eating or not eating. There was no real "choice" involved. If you look at many old sitcoms, the fact that the woman/wife doesn't work is a point of male pride, that is, "I'm such a he-man that my wife doesn't have to work,"

Lucy and Beaver type shows were made to make housewifery more attractive. During WWII, women had to fill in for the men in factories. After the war, the men returned and the women had to be housewives again which lead to increased anti-depressant use. Women figured they could be much more.

Also, many countries frown on the Western world because we allegedly dump our elders in nursing homes instead of taking them in along with 20 other relatives. These countries often lack the means to deal with things like Alzheimer's and lack safety nets like social security. Especially females are forced to take care of in-laws whether they get along with them or not. None of us were able to care for my late MIL 24/7 in our home because of the risk. Sometimes, keeping them home can be selfish when they need extra care or they can be a danger to themselves. Society does have a way of making you feel guilty about doing what is likely the best thing for them.

[roddma]

"My Two Dads"--mom dies and doesn't know which of the men fathered her daughter, so she lives with both of them. (I believe the girl was played by Rebecca Shaefer, who was very, very tragically murdered. Or maybe that was My Sister Sam.)

In real life, I have a grandfather on my dad's side who is unknown and a great-grandfather on my mom's side (maternal) who is unknown. My grandmother never knew her parents. This affects my life in no way whatsoever.

No she is played by Stacey Keanan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Two_Dads

[FloraKitty35]

Let me start out by saying that I am a big Andy Griffith fan. If you haven't seen "A Face in the Crowd", you should rent it. A movie ahead of its time in terms of outing bloviates like Rush Limbaugh. As for the Duggars, if they are not in to Andy Griffith it probably is for political reasons. I don't know if Andy was a registered Democrat but he was very supportive of Democratic positions. For this reason, he fell out of favor with a lot of Conservatives.

Another great show with a non-traditional family is The Rifleman. A widower raising his son on his own, though I could never quite understand why Lucas never remarried. What a catch!

Keith Olbermann used to call Glenn Beck "Lonesome Rhodes". Andy Griffith was a Democrat.

[Arete]

My grandmother was born in 1889. She went to college and later, her mother said to her "We sent you to college and here you are with 5 children!" My grandmother ended up with 6 (dad was a surprise) but clearly her mother had not expected her daughter to have that many children!

The Christian radio stations where I first heard about quiverful were up front about needing to create more Christians via birth to keep up with changing global demographics.

"How could you be so careless!"

Said my great-grandmother to my grandmother after grandma could no longer hide that she and gramps were expecting an "oops" baby. :naughty:

[salex]

"How could you be so careless!"

Said my great-grandmother to my grandmother after grandma could no longer hide that she and gramps were expecting an "oops" baby. :naughty:

Which is why quiverfull is such a load of crap--- to paraphrase an old joke... it is good to remember that there has always been about a 50/50 chance that the news of your impending birth was met with "oh shit" and that was in the traditional families!

[DuggarsTheEndIsNear]

Don't forget Happy Days. I believe Cachie's (sp) and Fonzie's mothers were single. Then on The Waltons, Mary Ellen and Erin worked outside the home, and on Little House on the Prairie Laura taught school, was married and had a family at the same time.

Not to mention that Fonzie dated a divorced woman at one point.

[FloraKitty35]

Not to mention that Fonzie dated a divorced woman at one point.

Also, I Dream of Jeannie where Jeannie lived with Major Nelson in her bottle. Larry Hagman was really good looking.

[FloraKitty35]

Except for the witchcraft aspect of the show Bewitched was a traditional family. How I wish I could I wiggle my nose and change things to them go the way I would like them to be.

[scc12]

yes and I'm not sure where the term 'old maid school teacher' came from.Laura Ingalls certainly was neither.

yes Fonzie dated a divorced woman, w a child,at that.

[JenniferJuniper]

"Happy Days" was filmed in the '70's, at which point all hope had been lost for America.

[scc12]

"Happy Days" was filmed in the '70's, at which point all hope had been lost for America.

yeah,I wonder if they were trying to bring back baseball and apple pie w that show.

[Hane]

yes and I'm not sure where the term 'old maid school teacher' came from.Laura Ingalls certainly was neither.

Some local school boards, as recently as the 1930s, had rules against married female teachers. There were various reasons: fear that Innocent Children might see a pregnant woman and be "confused"; wanting to reserve jobs for men, who were presumed to need a job in order to provide for a family, real or anticipated.

[YPestis]

Some local school boards, as recently as the 1930s, had rules against married female teachers. There were various reasons: fear that Innocent Children might see a pregnant woman and be "confused"; wanting to reserve jobs for men, who were presumed to need a job in order to provide for a family, real or anticipated.

I don't think it was only teaching where married women were not allowed to work in. I seem to remember many occupations where the woman had to be single (and, goes without saying, no children). Again, similar reasons. A married woman should be tending to her husband and/or children. She will be a poor worker since she also cooks and cleans ('cause you can't expect a married man to worry about these things...). And of course, it's taking a job away from a man who have 'real' need for a job. I guess these attitudes may only refer to jobs that pay better. I don't remember if domestic service was that picky. In fact, I think black women have always worked and many would find positions in housekeeping and as nannies---jobs where men and middle class white women would probably turn their noses up at......

[Avalondaughter]

Some local school boards, as recently as the 1930s, had rules against married female teachers. There were various reasons: fear that Innocent Children might see a pregnant woman and be "confused"; wanting to reserve jobs for men, who were presumed to need a job in order to provide for a family, real or anticipated.

We could fill an entire thread with all of the ways LHOP was historically inaccurate.

I remember watching a "Laugh In" rerun where one of the sketches dealt with the fact that so many parents on TV were widowed. The sketch took place in a special area of Heaven where the departed spouses resided. The hosts spotted among the crowd the mother of My Three Sons and "The Ghost of Mr Muir". They ended up interviewing Andy Taylor's first wife, who was a bit miffed to be referred to as such.

[Hane]

I remember watching a "Laugh In" rerun where one of the sketches dealt with the fact that so many parents on TV were widowed. The sketch took place in a special area of Heaven where the departed spouses resided. The hosts spotted among the crowd the mother of My Three Sons and "The Ghost of Mr Muir". They ended up interviewing Andy Taylor's first wife, who was a bit miffed to be referred to as such.

HOW DID I MISS THIS? When I was a grind in high school, Laugh-In was one of the three hours of TV I allowed myself the time to watch each week. (The other two were Star Trek and The Smothers Brothers.) Even as a kid, I thought that the widowed parent trope was too facile, as I knew only one kid with a parent who had died.