- Identify your chosen focus for the Paradigm Shift project. Indicate the boundaries of your intended focus as clearly as possible. What is the story that you seek to tell? As you now envision it, how long of a time period is covered by the expected focus – several centuries, just the last decade? Remember that the story should end in the present day.
I am going to focus my Paradigm Shift project on the transformation of the typical American family. I plan to focus on the time period covering the past 50 years. In the past, TV shows like I Love Lucy portray the ideal American family where Lucy tends to her husband’s needs while he provides. Along with the distinct gender roles, these American families were also conventional in their marriage status and amount of children. Overtime, the idea of the “American Dream” family has shifted to present families taking various other forms. I seek to explain how society’s views of gender roles and an appropriate family dynamic has shifted.
- Why is this specific shift significant enough to merit your close investigation and the attention of your audiences? Why does this shift need to be explored and understood?
This is an extremely vital shift in our society, as we are now more inclusive and accepting of families that come in many different forms. Because of this paradigm shift, it is more common to see women entering the workforce and interracial families. Furthermore, it is more common for a family to be altered by divorce, to have less children, or to have children outside of marriage. This shift has taken away the societal pressure to be a perfect American family.