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The American Family

             Barbara Deckard is the author of, "The Myth of the American family." The author says if you ask anyone on the street they will tell you that the typical American family consists of a husband, a wife and a child as though it is a fact. These popular stereotypes should not be considered scientific knowledge. The husband supports the family financially and the wife is the housekeeper, mother and nurturer. The author believes instead of asking if this is functional for society, we should ask if it is functional for the family.
             The young woman often expects to fulfill her true nature as a loving wife and mother. This is supposed to bring complete happiness to her life. After marriage she will become pregnant. This is suppose to make her happy by being a wife, mother and housemaker. This is the image of the American dream for a woman.
             In reality the author says life is a lot different. The middle-class woman is likely to work until she is pregnant. Whether she works or not the first part of the myth crumbles. Men believe that women do not need anything but a good provider and healthy children to make her happy. .
             The traditional American family structure is not good for the wife and can be hard the husband. A study by the Department of Health, say that the figures on women's mental health were disturbing. Women are psychologically less stable than women. The data suggest that marriage is good for men but bad for women. Men tend to marry women who they feel superior to and women marry men they can look up to. The selective process does not explain the poor mental health of wives.
             The author says that a critique of the nuclear family is useful only if a better alternative can be found. If both partners have careers the competition between them may become disruptive. Data has shown that the nuclear family consisting of man, woman and child is far from universal.
            


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