ABSTRACT
Parenthood is viewed as a crisis and normal development stage. Powerful messages to women such as the motherhood mandate and momism (selfless devotion to children) can divide employed and stay-at-home mothers. Feminism and motherhood are not incompatible. Fatherhood is imaged as being a good provider, posing a dilemma for dads wanting more work–family balance and involvement with their children. Dual-earning parents are the norm. Child care does not harm children and parents spend more, not less, time with their children. Helicopter parents, especially mothers, can harm autonomy development in their college age children. Distinctive gendered cultural patterns in America’s multicultural families are examined. African American women’s employment is normative and strengthens family resilience and stability. Gender roles in Latino families are tied to the influence of the Church and economic well-being. Puerto Rican families are the poorest Latino cohort. Couples in consensual unions, recognized as informal marriages, are normative but families are fragile with frequent migration from Puerto Rico to the mainland for employment. Education strengthens options for employment for young women. Mexican American women confront patriarchy but familism offers ethnic pride and challenges the machismo–marianismo divide. Cuban Americans have the smallest families and highest income of Latinos. Higher education for women is expected and egalitarianism in work and family roles is increasing. Asian and Pacific Island Americans, the most diverse and fastest growing of all racial and ethnic groups, emphasize subordination of males and all females to the oldest males in a patriarchal family structure. Young Asian Americans are circumventing cultural barriers, such as arranged marriages, that reinforce traditional gender roles. Native American families headed by single-parent women are likely to be in poverty. A return to cultural traditions with women in esteemed roles offers a sense of empowerment. Consequences of divorce (child custody, finances, emotional well-being of parents) are different for men and women. Women are often propelled into poverty after divorce. Joint custody is normativlee and keeps fathers more involved with their children. Single-parent households headed by African American mothers and grandmothers and Latinas are likely to be in poverty. Same-sex couples with children are rapidly increasing in number. Their families are child-focused with relatively high levels of egalitarianism. Positive media portrayals continue to increase social approval of LGBTQ families.
