Brynlee Cook

This week in class we talked about gender and sexuality. I remember talking about the same thing in High School and reading articles about the Toys R’ Us gender aisle debate. You also see video’s floating around the internet about a boy picking a Barbie or dancing to ‘Frozen’. There is nothing inherently bad about those things but we as a society tend to attach unneeded sexuality onto those actions. Just because a boy chooses to play with a Barbie instead of kicking a ball around doesn’t necessarily mean that they are sexually attracted to males. This is the kind of thinking that is going on in our society. It is weird to me that based on the simple decision on what to play with we (as a society) can then decide who they will grow up to be and who they will eventually date for them. As soon as we label something and put our opinion out there then that person, most likely child, will then have the opportunity to blindly believe that they are those things. Example, you tell a kid that ...

This week in class we discussed social class and cultural diversity. I really enjoyed the discussion we had in class on Thursday, we talked about the article, ‘The Costs of Getting Ahead’. In this article it discussed some of the sacrifices and hardships that immigrant (specifically Mexican) families endure in order to provide a better life and opportunities for their children. I wasn’t and still am not the most educated on this topic, so this discussion sparked a question in my mind. The question being, what is so great about America that these families are risking EVERYTHING to come? I understand that we have more freedoms and a less corrupt government but most of the time when these families get to America, they have less opportunities and more negative effects (usually caused by the environments they are forced to live in). These families are being separated due to the inability to take the trip to the United States, this forces the rest of the family to shift the dynamic of ...

What is theory and how in the world does it relate to family systems? We, as human beings, are constantly making theories. Imagine being in a situation where you are in the middle of a conversation with someone and they let a deep breathe out. You start to create reasons as to why they did that. "He is annoyed with what I just said", "He is bored with this conversation", or maybe "I said something triggering to him". Those are all theories. But how do theories play a role in Family Systems? There are four theories that play a major role in relationships and family dynamic. The Systems Theory, this theory is an attempt to explain how the system works as a whole. It is not looking at the family as a group of individuals but instead as the system that those individuals work together to create. In a family of three or more individuals subsystems may arise. Family subsystems may include the parents, a parent and a child, the children, and there are many mor...

The family has changed through time, even within the past couple of years. Marriage ages are going up, divorce rates are going up, birth rates are going down, and the number of people getting married are going down. So what? What effects do these changes have on the world? All of these changes are going to have an effect on children. We are already starting to feel the effects of the decrease in children. We are struggling to find replacements for some very important jobs because of a lack of people. There are also some negative financial effects associated with these changes. Disclaimer: I do not believe that people should be having kids because of these financial effects. With that said a significant effect includes our government running out of social security. We all have been paying into social security, that will not stop anytime soon. We as a nation are not having enough children to pay for us to receive social security when it comes time for us to receive it. A lot of child...