First Show
Second Show
The show above, The kids are alright, is set in the 1970s with a family of 10. The show displays a republican family with catholic values and their lives. The family has all boys, one semi-working mom and housewife, and a working father. The show below, Last Man Standing, is set in modern times with a family of 5 at the beginning that soon grows into a cluster family. Both television series show a white middle class family that have strong familial values and are a product of their theoretical time. The highlighting difference between these shows are the set time. It shows how the world was by interpretation of modern society and how it has changed. The population is different in terms of the family size. The kids are alright shows a family of 10 which would be normal for a catholic family because of the lack of the use of contraceptives. Last man standing shows a family of 5 that is christian with some open mindedness towards the creation of families. The oldest daughter of The Last Man Standing had a son as a teenager and later married her husband. The youngest daughter decided on a path of service, while the second daughter decided to start a business while going to school. All of this is very contrasting when compared to the first show. The oldest son joins the seminary and later drops out, the second oldest does not take into consideration his life after high-school, and the middle children are all revolved in their childhood. The wife in the first show is a stay at home mother that takes care of home duties and attends to her sons. The second show displays a mother that is a scientist and works full time.
These videos serve as evidence supporting the video of suburban neighborhoods and how they were created. We see that both families live in suburban areas in different points in time however they both show one diverse neighbor while the rest of the community is White/ Caucasian. The laws prohibiting minorities to buy homes in safer and mainly white communities is echoed here. The diverse characters the first show displays are not of the same neighborhood but from the same job. The diverse characters from the second show are one and new to the neighborhood.
Fertility rates in the 1900s grew after the World Wars while it has decreased in modern times. The shows display a 50% decrease in family size while the mortality rate is relatively the same. Both families have grandparents that have lived into retirement age. Anti Malthusian theory is supported. Modern times push for the use of contraceptives to be a regular part of life and it is seen in the oldest daughter’s life in the second show as she is a working mother with no time to be raising a second son. Her husband is also unemployed from time to time and he takes on house roles. The change in roles and the evening of responsibilities may account for the lowered fertility rates in today’s society and why although the population of the world may be increasing the population in the united states has remained steady.
While these shows only display the lives of white middle class families it still shows great change that has occurred over time. It also leads me to think that the population and environment of the white middle class suburban families will change in term of size. Laws and protest are going into changing racist regulations against minorities and the decrease in population may lead to minorities living in once all white areas. In my opinion if minorities continue on to higher education and the white population of the United states continues to decrease as these shows portray then minorities will make up a great deal of the middle class.
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