Are Families Dangerous?

The modern day family lives behind a dark cloak made up of secrets and lies. There is the wife left with physical and mental bruises inflicted upon her by a “loving” husband. Next door, there is a child hiding in the closet, avoiding their parents emotionally charged civil war. Across the street, the family of three is sitting at the dinner table with a plate meant for a mother who left ages ago. A few blocks down, there is a young man lying on his bed, contemplating weather his parents would notice him missing. Then there is an empty house, filled with only memories of a family torn apart by hate. Each household has different scars but the same cover up story. The wife telling her neighbors that she tripped and fell; and the child laughing with their friend, talking about how great life is. Even the empty house tells the future buyers that it is a place to raise a family. They are all lies. Every single person in a family lies to make it seem like they are living the American dream. “Are Families Dangerous?” by Barbara Ehrenreich describes perfectly why families are the biggest threat to the human race. Our society’s desire for a need to have perfect families is overshadowing the truth

My immediate and extended family members are pressured by society to throw holiday parties. The problem with my family is that we all hold grudges against one another. “We live in a culture that fetishes the family… the perfect container for our lust and loves” (Ehrenreich 2). Our culture make it a need to have the picture perfect family. In the case of my family, we oppress our emotions for two nights of the year and then ignore each other for 363 days. This only teaches the future generations that it is more important to pretend. It puts more pressure on the children to make sure their families are flawless rather than healthy. Our culture makes burying our true feelings accessible causing more