Introduction The essay Family values (pdf)
Added on 2021-04-24
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Languages and Culture
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Student name: Student last name: Professor name:Student Id:11. IntroductionThe essay Family values (1982) by Robert Rodriguez encapsulate and address thetheme of homosexuality. It argues that homosexuality is in consonance with family values asagainst the established notion of homosexuality posing a threat to family values. The essayreflects a potent influence of post-modernist philosophy that thrusts upon personal feelingsand introspection (Doll and William p. 32-74). The essay effectively tries to argue howfamily values are redefined, reimagined and reinterpreted in the light of Rodriguez’sconfession about his homosexuality to his parents.2. DiscussionRodriguez has been greatly influenced by James Baldwin, also known as JimmyBaldwin (Michael). His literary elegance especially the aplomb with which he described theJim Crow America made a mark with the writer. Another author whose work has a struck achord with the author is the writer of ‘Animal Farm’ George Orwell. From Orwell, Rodriguezimbibed the idea that style of narrative needs to be in accord with the essay and investigatethe journey of an idea. The writer has employed the short devices by Orwell in articulatinghis stories. The gay consciousness of the late 1970s and early 1980s has also inspired hiswork. The author employs lived experiences and emotional appeals; he is successful in thisattempt to appeal to the readers. It is important to note that the author could languidly discuss on the theme ofhomosexuality because of the socio-political climate where gay rights movement wasbecoming visible. Hence, there is an unequivocal discussion about homosexuality in thetwentieth century which is otherwise a topic of taboo. If the author would have lived a decade
Student name: Student last name: Professor name:Student Id:2prior to the essay, such conversations on homosexuality would have turned out to be a careersuicide. The late 1970s America is defined by a series of landmark events that becameinstrumental in the history of the rights and liberation of homosexuality. October 14, 1979witnessed one of the largest political mobilizations, the National March on Washington forLesbian and Gay Rights organized by the homosexual community known in Washington DC(Encarnación, pp. 90-104). In 1978, Harvey Milk was elected as the first gay man to thepublic office in the United States. This socio-political climate was fertile and influential inpaving the path for the essay.Rodriguez uses his opinions to create stereotypes of both the American society as wellas the cultures of the immigrants. His is not concerned with a particular individual orcollective body but pontificates against a national culture of America. The author hascondemned the family value upheld by the American society. This can be understood as thepathos It is characterized by the departure of children from their parent’s home, living ontheir own and carving an identity of one’s own which is different from that of their parents(Haley). Hence, he emphasizes that the family values of an individual is contingent upon thecountry of origin of the individual. The disposition of American family life can be attributedto the American worldview that is it necessary to challenge the authority and the philosophythat who you are where you came from (Gash and Priscilla, pp. 146-164). The author arguesthat the American values are evocative of masculine principles that valorize autonomy andstrength. Despite, the rise of feminism, women are expected to fulfil the nurturing duties offamily. Similarly, the homosexual members in a family are imagined as excessivelyemotional beings and hence, along with women they are also believed to be compatible fornurturing roles. However, it is the homosexuals who are actually more emancipated as they
Student name: Student last name: Professor name:Student Id:3are unshaken by the societal expectations of sexual division of labour in the family. At thesame time, they engage in relationships without the confines of heteronormative marriage. Contrary to other cultures, the American culture is one that creates a distance betweenthe parents and the children (Kagitcibasi, Cigdem and Bilge, pp. 374-292). He juxtaposes theAsian cultural values with that of America. On the positive front of Asian culture, the authorargues that appreciates the close-knit nature of the Asian social fabric where they are orientedtowards the collective, the family as against the individual. On the negative side, there isrepression of individual expressions as there is an expected commitment towards the family.This is illustrated through the story of his friend of Asian origin who was a closet homosexualand was anxious about in what ways he would reveal to his family. This underscores on theambivalence of the Asian family values that is replete with both advantages anddisadvantages. Isabelle Allende, a Chilean American author opines that Latin American ismore tribe oriented with clans and extended family members being predominant (AmericanFamily Values? Think Immigrant Women Leaders). Allende is also critical about theAmerican family values of the scenario where children go to college and only visit homeduring thanksgiving. She exhorted the immigrants in USA to retain their distinctive culturalvalues and not compromise them in the ebb of acculturation and assimilation.Throughout the text, the author’s polemical account of the American society is salient.The author’s biography as a Mexican immigrant in San Francisco acted as a fodder to hiswork. As an immigrant with his distinctive cultural values, the author provides a bottom-upview of the American society through an examination of its values. Rodriguez has been vocalabout the vernacular language as it creates a sense of intimacy and the segregation thatlanguage creates from the white English-speaking people is natural to him. The family
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