The Family Meal

Author(s):  
Amy L. Best

This chapter explores food and family life, focusing on changes to modern families as expressed in the interviews and narratives about family meals as a form of private food provisioning that is increasingly shaped by tensions between commodified social relations on the one hand, and food as object of care, tied to a gift exchange between parents and children, on the other. Drawing on 260 written narratives about family and food by young adults between the ages of eighteen and twenty-three, collected between 2007 and 2012, the chapter reveals a marked tension between the precariousness of family life, arising in large part from the economic imperatives of work, and the symbolic work of family members, old and young, to maintain family bonds through family food rituals.

Religions ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 261
Author(s):  
Chenxing Han

This paper engages the perspectives of thirty young adult Asian American Buddhists (YAAABs) raised in non-Buddhist households. Grounded in semi-structured, one-on-one in-person and email interviews, my research reveals the family tensions and challenges of belonging faced by a group straddling multiple religious and cultural worlds. These young adults articulate their alienation from both predominantly white and predominantly Asian Buddhist communities in America. On the one hand, they express ambivalence over adopting the label of “convert” because of its Christian connotations as well as its associations with whiteness in the American Buddhist context. On the other hand, they lack the familiarity with Asian Buddhist cultures experienced by second- or multi-generation YAAABs who grew up in Buddhist families. In their nuanced responses to arguments that (1) American convert Buddhism is a non-Asian phenomenon, and (2) Asians in the West can only “revert” to Buddhism, these young adults assert the plurality and hybridity of their lived experiences as representative of all American Buddhists, rather than incidental characteristics of a fringe group within a white-dominated category.


2008 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 371-383 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Rousseau ◽  
Jean-Pierre Lavoie ◽  
Nancy Guberman ◽  
Michel Fournier ◽  
François Béland ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTThis study compares the normative expectations of 1315 Québécois survey-takers about the responsibilities of spouses and ex-spouses, on the one hand, and adult children and stepchildren, on the other hand, regarding the support they are to offer an elderly family member with incapacities. The comments of survey-takers in relation to fictional yet concrete scenario descriptions provided a basis with which to identify respondents' expectations along with the social factors surrounding these expectations. The results of this survey suggest that the nature and scale of support-related expectations vary according to the family tie with elderly relative. Expectations toward spouses are high and unmitigated, whereas expectations toward ex-spouses and adult stepchildren appear to be limited. Expectations toward adult children are more pronounced than those exhibited toward stepchildren. Where offspring are specifically concerned, expectations are strongly influenced by the given context; for this category of survey-taker, the demands of support should not interfere with their family life and career.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1977 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-91
Author(s):  
T. E. C.

Almost a century ago editorials such as the one below expressed the fear that the American family was in serious trouble. We do not like to be doleful, but it is impossible to ignore some of the facts that have been presented with the last year or two [1882] by Dr. Goodell, Dr. Nathan Allen, and others. These facts relate to...the decadence of family life among Americans. Dr. Allen, who has been studying this subject for many years, presents the case very directly in an article entitled "The New England Family" (The New Englander). It is asserted that the objects of the institution of the family are three: the propagation of children, the preservation of chastity, mutual help and company. In each of these respects the American family, especially the New England family, shows a marked and progressive deterioration, since one hundred years ago. As regards the propagation of children, it is shown that the average native New England family is very much less productive than formerly.... The birthrate in New England families has been steadily declining until now it is lower than that of any European country except France. One additional element in this, no doubt, is the habit of delaying marriages-a habit made almost necessary by the more expensive style of living which is demanded, and by what some consider the selfishness of young men who prefer not to sacrifice their liberty to the responsibility and expense of domestic life. Another indication of family deterioration is the increase of divorces.


2014 ◽  
Vol 758 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Karimpour Ghannadi ◽  
Vincent H. Chu

AbstractNumerical simulations of the transverse dam-break waves (TDWs) produced by the sudden removal of a gate on the side of a waterway are conducted based on the shallow-water equations to find solutions to a family of water-diversion problems. The Froude numbers in the main flow identify the members of the family. The depth and discharge profiles are analysed in terms of Ritter’s similarity variable. For subcritical main flow, the waves are comprised of a supercritical flow expansion followed by a subcritical outflow. For supercritical main flow, on the other hand, the waves are analogous to the Prandtl–Meyer expansion in gas dynamics. The diversion flow rate of two-dimensional TDWs on a flat bed is 55 % greater than the one-dimensional flow rate of Ritter in the limiting case of zero main flow, and approaches the rate of Ritter in the other limit when the value of the Froude number in the main flow approaches infinity. The diversion flow rate over a weir is generally higher than the rate over a flat bed depending on the Froude number of the main flow. These numerical simulation results are consistent with laboratory observations.


1966 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 74-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert M. Spector

On his mother's side, W. Cameron Forbes was the grandson of Ralph Waldo Emerson, and on his father's, the grandson of John Murray Forbes, who made his fortune in the China clipper trade. He carried in his heredity the shrewd business ability of the one and the liberalism of the other. In Hofstadter's turn of phrase, he was the patrician as liberal. His wealth, his education — the best available (Milton Academy, Hopkinson School, Harvard) — would have entitled him to admittance to the innermost recesses of post-Civil War Republicanism. Yet he remained at best only affiliated with that party, and at heart an outspoken Independent. In 1892, on graduation from Harvard, he joined Stone and Webster, later gained experience in business as officer and director of several Boston banks, and then, just before the turn of the century, joined the family firm of J. M. Forbes and Co., Merchants.


1966 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 132-139
Author(s):  
Donald J. Mcculloch

There is no convincing evidence to support the view that antisocial behaviour can be accounted for by reference to concepts such as learning defect, immaturity or lack of moral fibre. The criminal displays behaviour towards authorities identical to that displayed by a patriot in an occupied country towards the enemy. This identical behaviour, it is asserted by some, shows in the one case instability, cowardice, lack of resolve and in the other case, stability, courage, resolve and strength of will. These statements reveal the attitudes and bias of the observer without illuminating the situation of the observed. It is more relevant to examine what the psychopath has learned and the conditions in which his learning took place than to pursue enquiries aimed at demonstrating a learning defect. The human being is born without the attitudes, beliefs and sentiments towards e.g. property, sexual object etc., which are necessary for his successful incorporation into his ongoing social group. It is the intention of society's socializing agents, the family and the school, to inculcate in the developing human being these necessary attitudes, sentiments and beliefs. Psychopathic personalities are the consequence of the socializing process gone wrong. This paper describes the types of psychopath together with the learning situations which brought them about. The implications for treatment programs are examined.


2020 ◽  
pp. 255-269
Author(s):  
Pablo Ferrando-García

We present an analysis of the filmic representation of Funny Games to highlight its playful structure as a game of games. Through a series of narrative efforts, a double operation is carried out, aimed at a specular relationship with the viewer. On the one hand, Michael Haneke’s film offers a series of expressive mechanisms that are aimed at shifting the objective gaze to subjective in order to transfer the perception of the subject presented to the viewer. On the other, it presents a brutal clash between the registers of comedy and tragedy through the young psychopaths, Peter and Paul, who emerge as contemporary clowns, in the figures of Pierrot and Harlequin, whose negative resonances lead to the incarnation of absolute EVil. In turn, the family are the victims, and this is presented as the prototype of the family institution while Peter and Paul are mere archetypes. In this way, the cinematographic screen is turned into a device for interrogating its modes of representation and, in turn, offers a solid moral dimension. The ultimate objective of the Hanekian story is to cover it with “a pedagogical function: to familiarize the cinema, to bring it closer to a daily life so that it speaks from you to you to the experience –to the conscience– of the viewer” (Font, 2002, p. 16). Resumen Nuestra propuesta trata de desarrollar un análisis de la representación fílmica con el propósito de poner de relieve la estructura lúdica de Funny Games como juego de juegos. A través de toda una serie de gestiones narrativas se efectúa una doble operación dirigidas a una relación especular con el espectador. Por un lado, la película de Michael Haneke ofrece una serie de mecanismos expresivos que van encaminados al desplazamiento de la mirada objetiva en subjetiva con el fin de trasladar la percepción del sujeto de la enunciación al narratario/espectador. Por otro, presenta un brutal choque entre el registro de la comedia con la tragedia a través de los jóvenes psicópatas, Peter y Paul, que se erigen en los payasos contemporáneos, en las figuras de Pierrot y Arlequín, cuyas resonancias negativas conducen a la encarnación del Mal absoluto. A su vez, George y Anne Schöber son las víctimas y estos son expuestos como el prototipo de la institución familiar mientras Peter y Paul son meros arquetipos narrativos. De este modo, la pantalla cinematográfica se convierte en un dispositivo de interrogación sobre sus modos de representación y, a su vez, ofrece una sólida dimensión moral. El objetivo último del relato hanekiano es revestirlo de “una función pedagógica: familiarizar el cine, acercarlo a una cotidianidad para que hable de tú a tú a la experiencia –a la conciencia– del espectador” (Font, 2002: 16).


Africa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 88 (S1) ◽  
pp. S51-S71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexis Malefakis

AbstractFor a group of Wayao street vendors in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, kinship relations were simultaneously an advantage and a hindrance. Their migration to the city and entry into the urban economy had occurred along ethnic and kinship lines. But, as they perceived the socially heterogeneous environment of the city that potentially offered them opportunities to cooperate with people from different social or ethnic backgrounds, they experienced their continuing dependency on their relatives as a form of confinement. Against the backdrop of the city, the Wayao perceived their social relations as being burdened with an inescapable sameness that made it impossible to trust one another. Mistrust, contempt and mutual suspicion were the flip side of close social relations and culminated in accusations ofuchawi(Swahili: witchcraft). However, these accusations did not have a disintegrative effect; paradoxically, their impact on social relations among the vendors was integrative. On the one hand,uchawiallegations expressed the claustrophobic feeling of stifling relations; on the other, they compelled the accused to adhere to a shared morality of egalitarian relations and exposed the feeling that the accused individual was worthy of scrutiny, indicating that relationships with him were of particular importance to others.


2021 ◽  
pp. 331-354
Author(s):  
Lambrianos Nikiforidis

This chapter examines paternal relationships with sons and daughters. Identity drives investment (and parental investment in particular), because people invest in that which aligns with their identity. And biological sex drives identity. These two ideas combined imply that a parent-offspring match in biological sex can influence parental favoritism in a systematic manner, an idea supported by recent empirical studies. This parental bias of concordant-sex favoritism can have broad implications, outside the context of the traditional family structure. In single parent or same-sex parent households, the consequences of this bias can be even stronger, because there would not be an opposite-direction bias from the other parent to even things out. This favoritism could have even broader ramifications, entirely outside the context of the family. On the one hand, whenever social norms dictate that men should control a family’s financial decisions, then sons may systematically receive more resources than daughters. This asymmetry in investment would then result in ever-increasing advantages that persist over time. On the other hand, if women are a family’s primary shoppers, this can manifest in subtle but chronic favoritism for daughters.


2019 ◽  
pp. 81-93
Author(s):  
Jürgen Martschukat

The fifth chapter depicts the conflicting demands addressed to young men as family fathers on the one hand and as citizen-soldiers on the other hand. It discusses the Civil War and its effects on fathers, mothers, and family life through close readings of the diary and letters of Confederate soldier John C. West, who saw himself as fighting this war for his family and his country. While West was scared to death by the bloody battles and the fierce fighting of the Civil War, he nevertheless romanticized the war as a struggle for southern family life and patriarchal masculinity in his diary and letters. He portrayed his service in the Confederate Army as fulfilment of his masculinity in the name of white womanhood, southern culture, and family life, a message he sought to send to his wife and, in particular, to his four-year-old son back home.


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