(cousins at a family dinner!)
I am so lucky to have so much diversity within my own family! We differ in so many ways, including; personality, traditions, social classes, education, race, age, problems, and so much more. All these differences is what makes my family so awesome and fun to be around!
One thing we talked about in class that i want to focus on is class vs culture and how they influence family. Class can be defined as many things like social class, appearance, profession, and manners/ mannerisms. Culture is made up of things like values/ beliefs, religion, tradition, and perceptions. All of these factors can definitely influence the family whether for good or for bad. One way it can influence family is in who we marry and how well we can bring the two different class and cultures together. A question was brought up in class, "can people marry different social classes?" The more things you have in common with your future spouse the easier and more successful the marriage is most likely to be. The thought was mentioned that a woman can marry a man in a higher social class but a man should not marry up, because it was imagined that the woman would never be satisfied and the man would never feel adequate. This is a very likely possibility, but hopefully people aren't that shallow.
I am not really sure what social class i grew up in, probably middle to lower middle class and i wouldn't trade it for anything. As a child i never felt like i didn't have anything i needed (obviously i wanted more like all kids do) and i was able to learn the value of hard work. When i'm older and settled down, I, like most people, want to be well off so i don't have to worry about my needs. With that being said I do not want to have extravagant things and i do not want my children to know if we are wealthy. I want them to learn hard work and to not judge others based on social class and material possessions. No class or culture is better than another, we all need to be willing to step outside our comfort zones and bring others into our lives. We can all benefit from learning from one another.
I love this, and wish the world would all read and use the information here. I grew up in a lower middle class family, and now I look back and think it was the best. However, I did, as a young person believe that people who were wealthy we're better people. I was intimidated by them. I have since learned that a person is a person, we are all the same on the inside. There are some really humble wealth people,and some real jerks. There are some rally humble poor people and some real jerks. The same goes for race , education, etc.
ReplyDeleteI am grateful for what I have, and I think it is true the more you have in common with your spouse the easier your marriage will be. However, I do think when we expand our horizons we can become more accepting of others, in all circumstances. Sometimes you have to walk in another's shoes before you can appreciate there situation.