Riesenfeld Michelle Professor Felix Elwert Sociology 120 TA: Yun Cho October 27, 2011 News Reflection #2 "In Strangers' Glances at Family, Tensions Linger" By: Susan Saulny October 12, 2011 The New York Times The Greenwood family encompasses what it means to truly be a multi-racial family-- members of their family find it difficult to trace their roots, as a plethora of adoptions and marriages have made the family tree complicated. This article depicts the victimization that the Greenwoods have experienced, as they are constantly stared at and targets of harsh comments, yet they find strength in knowing that their interracial family shares the same love and support as any other household. "Modifying a Definition of Modernity" By: Anand Giridharadas October 21, 2011 The New York Times Although the term "modernity" often solely refers to the "fairer and freer, less violent and more rational" Western-style world that encourages change and acceptance, the traditional societies now remaking themselves are also replicating the worst parts of modernity. The loss of ancestry and sense of community provides a challenge to modernizers, for even though a free, unanchored and self-making world presents many opportunities, it also can lead individuals to a feeling of loneliness.
"Adoptions spiked among gay couples in past decade" By: Associated Press
October 20, 2011 The Wall Street Journal Despite the fact that in the past, only wealthy gay families could afford to adopt internationally or pay a surrogate, in today's world, more gay families are given the opportunity, as they are able to adopt from foster care, which ensures health care and college payments. Since many homosexuals are choosing to be open about their sexuality earlier in life, they are less likely to have biological with children a partner of the opposite sex and more likely to turn to adoption to start a family with a partner of the same-sex.
These three articles all demonstrate the ever-changing definition of family that has evolved in the modern world. As discussed in lecture, anti-miscegenation laws, throughout the late 1800's to the mid 1900's, placed strict limitations on interracial
marriage for decades. Since 1970, there has been a rapid increase in interracial marriage for all races, yet it is still at low levels. Today, there are more familial and perhaps unconventional opportunities provided for both interracial and same-sex families. The article, "Adoptions spiked among gay couples in past decade," depicts same-sex couples having fewer biological children with partners of the opposite-sex and instead turning to adoption with their partners. Although homosexuals have recently been given the opportunity to create families of their own, for years they had been denied by adoption agencies and were deemed unsuitable for parenthood. However, homosexuals are not alone in the familial struggles they face. Even biological families, who appear physically different from one another, like interracial families, are facing scrutiny, as outlined in the article, "In Strangers' Glances at Family, Tensions Linger." Challenges exist for heterosexual multi-racial families, despite living in what the article, "Modifying a Definition of Modernity," calls a "fairer and freer, less violent and more rational" world. There are no legal restrictions that currently exist in the modern world, yet multi-racial families are still stigmatized by the fact that their family lacks physical resemblance. Comparing these three articles shows how difficult it is to define what it means to be a true family.