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| Varied Perspectives on the Family | |
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| The American Family | |
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| Life , November 1999 Many assumptions exist about the family as it existed in the past | |
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| Coontz, a family historian, discusses the fallacy of many of our beliefs about families in the “good old days.” | |
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| American Families Are Drifting Apart | |
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| USA Today Magazine (Society for the Advancement of Education) , September 2001 | |
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| Social scientists are examining the decline of the American family. From mobile family members living far from their relatives to those engaged in out and out family conflict, fewer American families remain intact | |
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| This article provides both anecdotal and statistical evidence to explore this issue and its myriad causes | |
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| Exploring and Establishing Relationships | |
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| Gender and Our View of the World | |
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| Are Boys the Weaker Sex | |
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| U.S. News & World Report , July 30, 2001 | |
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| Scientists say the evidence exists that boys are the weaker sex and that real biological differences and weaknesses underlie the problems of today’s boys and young men | |
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| From impulsivity, substance abuse, and criminality, to learning problems, aggression, and emotional vulnerability without management skills—the boys next door are in trouble | |
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| Sexual Stereotypes | |
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| Bateman’s principle, which states that males are promiscuous and females are choosy, has long been the basis for evolutionary theory and human sexual stereotypes | |
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| However, sociobiologists are finding increasing examples of role reversals involving female promiscuity in the animal world that contradict this traditional dichotomy | |
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| In Praise of Nurturing Men | |
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| Parents , March 2002 This plea for gender equity confronts the double standard that celebrates women who are doctors, firefighters, and engineers but denigrates men who are elementary-school teachers, nurses, or similar caregivers | |
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| Emotions and Relating | |
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| Can Men and Women Be Friends | |
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| Psychology Today , September/October 2001 | |
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| Contrary to the common belief that men and women cannot be real friends, this author argues that sexual tensions are not a given and that male-female relationships are not inevitably romantic | |
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| Love Is Not All You Need | |
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| Psychology Today , May/June 2002 | |
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| Although the title of this article contradicts the romantic version of the needed ingredients for a successful relationship, it is in line with the real-life experiences of the six couples described and the expert advice of its well-known author | |
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| They come up with six additional desirable qualities | |
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| Mate Selection | |
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| Go Ahead, Kiss Your Cousin | |
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| Her if You Want To | |
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| Contrary to common belief, one of the most common sources of a spouse has traditionally been cousins , even first-cousins | |
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| Shared values and proximity make such unions attractive | |
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| One fear, risk to offspring, may be less serious than commonly thought | |
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| Children produced from these unions are only at a slightly higher genetic risk than the general population | |
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| Interracial Intimacy | |
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| The Atlantic Monthly , December 2002 | |
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| Increasing numbers of people are choosing to date and marry persons of a race different from their own | |
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| The development of this trend is being met with resistance—more often by African Americans than others | |
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| Some see this as a racial betrayal , others view it as an individual choice , and a third, smaller group, sees it as a positive step | |
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| Sexuality | |
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| Sexual Satisfaction in Premarital Relationships: Associations With Satisfaction, Love, Commitment, and Stability, Susan Sprecher, The Journal of Sex Research , August 2002 | |
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| This study reports that sexual satisfaction is associated with relationship quality and stability in premarital relationships | |
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| Throughout the existence of premarital relationships, sexual satisfaction is significantly related to relationship satisfaction , love , and commitment | |
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| Evidence also exists for a relationship between sexual satisfaction and relationship stability | |
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| Sex for Grown-Ups | |
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| Ladies’ Home Journal , March 1999 Although TV and other media and even most people’s fantasies seem to suggest that sex is for the young, the experts in this article explain that lovemaking, like fine wine, gets better with age | |
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| Greater self-acceptance and awareness, increased male-female biological similarities, and long-term relationships actually intensify and enrich lovemaking | |
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| What Turns You On? (Hint: It’s Not Work!) | |
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| My Generation , July/August 2002 This summary of the findings on over 2,000 Americans before and 1,000 after the events of September 11 has interesting, sexy, and fun findings about boomers 45–54 years old | |
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| Rather than midlife being a crisis, mid seems to be a great place to be | |
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| Conception and Pregnancy | |
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| The Abortion Wars: 30 Years After | |
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| The Christian Science Monitor , January 22, 2003 | |
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| Abortion, although legal in the United States, is highly controversial. With increasingly conservative legislatures, those who hope to make abortion illegal see new possibilities for that to happen | |
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| Others who believe the choice of abortion should remain legal think that physicians should be trained in the procedure to facilitate that | |
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| Brave New Babies | |
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| Newsweek , January 26, 2004 Advances in fertility technology are giving couples the power to choose the sex of their baby | |
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| Making Time for a Baby | |
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| Time , April 15, 2002 | |
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| Advances in fertility technology are giving couples the chance to have children at later ages | |
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| Nancy Gibbs discusses the increased risk of problems such as miscarriage and chromosomal abnormalities of late-in-life babies | |
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| Barren, Deborah | |
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| Psychotherapy Networker , July/August 2002 | |
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| This first-person account of the heartbreak of infertility covers the lovemaking-to-making-babies transition, miscarriages, medical treatments, struggles with choices and options, and the effects on both partners and their relationship | |
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| The ending is not a storybook one, but it is a realistic resolution | |
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| The Next Generation | |