"It's All in the Family: Intersections of Gender, Race, and Nation"

 

• Collins writes: "Just as the traditional family ideals provide a rich site for understanding intersectional inequalities, reclaiming notions of family that reject hierarchical thinking may provide an intriguing and important cite of resistance." In light of the arguments that Collins makes about gender and race in the context of what she calls the "logic of the traditional family ideal", what could resistance of this sort look like? How effective do you think that sort of resistance would be, as compared to the efforts of other strategies political movements use in an attempt to bring about change?

    Resistance to what is the "traditional family ideal" can look like so many things. First, I think it would be important to recognize what that traditional family ideal. To me, that is the family who benefits from our society the most and has the most privilege. To me, it would be a white family. White privilege is alive and real in our society. The traditional family ideal is also a heterosexual couple. The children they would have together would be their own biological children. To me, when I think of what the traditional family ideal of America is, it is a white, straight couple who make good money and live in a development. 

    Resistance to this would be families who oppose that traditional family ideal and hierarchy. Perhaps a multi-racial family, a homosexual couple, a single mother, a family where the mother is the bread-winner rather than the father. These are families that challenge those traditional ideals. They challenge traditional hierarchies. It is resisting the traditional hierarchies and working to establish something else. I think this sort of resistance is powerful and effective. I think a lot of what we learn starts at home. If children are able to see these different types of families with different structures, they can see and learn that no one group is better than the other. Seeing a mom who works while a dad stays at home could help a child understand that both men and women can be caregivers or work in an office. It could help with gender roles and abolishing them. Multi-racial families can help get rid of white privilege and perhaps help with race relations. They show people that race should not matter. There should be a celebration of difference rather than hatred. When a kid sees their friend has a white parent and a Black parent they will see a normal family. These families that challenge and resist the traditional hierarchies are effective and helpful in teaching others that there is no right way a family should look. People are different, families are different. That does not mean one is better than the other. Of course, there are certain political movements that help in bringing about change. But, I think that people allowing to choose their families or being with those that they want to be with is great resistance to the traditional hierarchies we face. It normalizes the "abnormal" and works to get rid of the forced traditional hierarchy.