Madi on Family

  Not many of us think of our families when we consider culture. We think of our ethnicity, heritage, class, religion, geographical region, and community over all. But families have strong and distinct cultures, just like any of those previously mentioned, that are in some ways more influential on society and individuals. For most our families are our first experience with socialization and culture. We learn how to navigate life within our homes long before we learn how to do that in the world outside. Within our families we learn many traditions that become so ingrained into who we are that we often do not recognize them.             You can begin to see this when you think of a time you spent with a friend’s family, even one living only a few houses down from your own. There may be topics that they do or don’t talk about that you could never imagine in your own. They may not say grace over their food when they sit down for ...

Marriage is a touchy subject these days with so many differing and sometimes contradictory views of what a family is. The traditional marriage has been under an attack in the US and much of the western world. Seen by many as repressive, antiquated, and unnecessary, there has been a huge cultural shift in the way that we view and acquire families. More and more couples are choosing to forgo marriage and simply cohabitate instead. Isn’t that easier? Doesn’t that relieve the weight of a traditional – and legally binding – marriage? Anyone can see how the public opinion and perception of marriage has changed in the media within just the past 20 years. We are much more hesitant to be married and those who do take that leap are doing it much later than we have seen in the past. According to the United States Census, our marriage rate is at an all-time low. Although Divorce numbers are dropping, and that may sound like a comforting statistic, until you realize that fewer marriages will ce...

Thank you for visiting my blog! My name is Madison and I will be publishing short posts about families; their nature, purpose, etc. These will be inspired by topics discussed in my Family Relations course at BYU-Idaho. I hope some of the things I share will bless you and prompt you to think about families in a deeper way that you may not have considered before! Please feel free to leave comments, I would love to know what you have to say about some of the things that I may post about.