I would say in general I come from a fairly open-minded and accepting family in terms of race, gender, class and sexuality. In terms of race, my parents sometimes say racist comments, which although unacceptable, i belief to be simply due to their generation, because in practice they are completely accepting of all races. They had no problem when I dated an African American in high school, and are good friends with individuals from many different backgrounds.
In terms of gender, my mom is the dominant one in the family when it comes to making decisions and organizing our lives, and definitely does not take a submissive role to my father. Though my father respects my mother infinitely and is aware that she holds much responsibility in the family, he still holds outdated views on gender, such as that women should cook and clean and always be there to serve and care for their husbands. I think due to how much his mother spoiled him and his brothers, as well as the strictly stereotypical housewife role she led, my father in some way expects, or maybe even wishes for, my mother to lead a similar role. For this reason he always expects the house to be clean and for dinner to be ready and served to him when he comes home from work. This often causes tension in our home as my mother is very strong and independent and sees her role in the family as far from just cooking and cleaning.
Social class and sexuality show a less prominent impression on my family life as they are equally greatly respected. My parents have instilled in us a respect for individuals of every social class as well as a responsibility to help those who are less fortunate. My family is definitely well off however not overly wealthy, so we have a hard work ethic and an appreciation for hard earned money. Sexuality is definitely a highly respected and conservative notion in my family as well. My father is very aware of being respectful to women, and very against degrading and inappropriate comments or actions toward women. This definitely impacted his strictness on us girls dating and his fatherly-figure over-protectiveness.
In general the views that my family has on these issues seem favorable and honorable to me, and in that sense they seem like the ideal family values and thus have shaped my ideas on families in that way. Any negative views on these issues, including racism, stereotyping, ignorance and degradation, would cause tension in the family and have a negative impact on children and their views. I definitely think that the messages that parents send via their views on such issues shape their children's attitudes and actions.
Accordingly, this will affect my future family life by making sure that my husband and I send open, accepting messages about different classes and genders to our children. I think that even regardless of the views we hold, it is imperative to convey an open-minded attitude to our children. I feel that it is important to avoid creating tension in the home based on these important social issues in order to be sure to maintain openness toward diversity.