Step Aside Nuclear Family

I've always found it difficult to watch shows such as "The Brady Bunch", "Leave it to Beaver", and "The Andy Griffith Show". While many viewers consider these to be good and wholesome entertainment, I personally found these shows as very unrealistic and closed minded. It was hard for me to accept the family dynamics of these shows, because these “nuclear families” excluded or simply ignored so many different types of family structures. Non-whites, impoverished, single parent families or homosexual families went unacknowledged in these shows. Women were only portrayed as dutiful wives and mothers, while the men were shown as strict but wise fathers. The children were often ornery and misbehaving but at the end of the episode were magically taught a valuable lesson.  The only problem with this is that the shows were only directed toward a specific audience, one who shared experiences and values with this nuclear family. This target audience was sometimes only a small portion of the population. Now, especially in the media, there is a new movement to expose different kinds of families. Shows such as the New Normal, bring to light other perspectives. The New Normal focuses on a couple, David and Bryan, who are trying to raise a family. Since the couple is homosexual, these two men depend on a surrogate, Goldie, who is a single mother, to carry their child. This fluid and modern family would never have been recognized in a show like "The Brady Bunch”. This is quite a shame, because there are some really touching and insightful moments that expose the hatred directed to homosexual couples, and demonstrates that sometimes the people that have the most love are the families that step away from the traditional familial structure. Being homosexual and a single parents did not stop this unconventional family from feeling a strong bond for each other. These characters may be from a fictional television show, but I feel that they can teach a great deal of lessons to real families.