Family values

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This article discusses family values as a political concept in the U.S.A For the rock music tour, see Family Values Tour.

Family values is a political and social concept or term that has been used in various nations across the world to describe a set of moral beliefs in society specifically in response to the perception by social or religious conservatives of declining morality within that nation itself. The term is vague in its precise definition as many different groups have claimed that it means different things. As such, "family values" has been descibed as a politcal buzzword.

Definition

The concept of "family values" is rooted in each individual culture thus making the values different for different societies. In addition, cultures change over time in response to economic, political, and cultural developments. Therefore, "family values" vary from houshold to household, from country to country, and from generation to generation.

Conservative and liberal perspectives

Social and religious conservatives often use the term "family values" to promote Christian values. American Christians often see their religion as the source of morality and consider the nuclear family to be an essential element in society. These groups variously oppose abortion, pornography, pre-marital sex, homosexuality, some aspects of feminism [1] , cohabitation, and depictions of sexuality, in the media. Some conservative family values advocates believe the government should endorse Christian morality, for example by displaying the Ten Commandments or allowing teachers to conduct prayers in public schools. Religious conservatives often view of the United States as a "Christian nation". [2]

The term is often used to suggest a conservative ideology that supports traditional Christian morality or values. For example, the American Family Association, says "The American Family Association exists to motivate and equip citizens to change the culture to reflect Biblical truth and traditional family values."[3]

In contrast to the view of family values held by the Christian right, liberal groups such as People For the American Way, Planned Parenthood, and Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays have attempted to define the concept in a way that promotes, for example, the normalization of single-parent families, the acceptance of same-sex monogamous relationships and marriage. This understanding of family values does not promote conservative morality, instead focusing on encouraging and supporting alternative family structures, access to contraception, abortion, sex education, childcare, and parent-friendly employment laws, which provide for maternity leave and leave for medical emergencies involving children.[4]

Because everyone is in favor of some form of family values, the phrase has also been used by liberals to suggest such values as family planning, affordable child care, and maternity leave.

Political application

The use of family values as a political term became widespread after a 1992 speech by Vice President Dan Quayle that attributed the Los Angeles riots to a breakdown of family values. Quayle specifically blamed the violence in L.A. as stemming from a decay of moral values and family structure in American society. In an aside, he cited the fictional title character in the television program Murphy Brown as an example of how popular culture contributes to this "poverty of values", saying: "[i]t doesn't help matters when primetime TV has Murphy Brown—a character who supposedly epitomizes today's intelligent, highly paid, professional woman—mocking the importance of fathers, by bearing a child alone, and calling it just another 'lifestyle choice'". Quayle drew a firestorm of criticism from feminist and liberal organizations and was widely ridiculed by late night talk show hosts for this remark. The "Murphy Brown speech" and the resulting media coverage damaged the Republican ticket in the 1992 presidential election and became one of the most memorable incidents of the 1992 campaign. Long after the outcry had ended, the comment continued to have an effect on US politics. Stephanie Coontz, a professor of family history and the author of several books and essays about the history of marriage, says that this brief remark by Quayle about Murphy Brown "kicked off more than a decade of outcries against the 'collapse of the family'".[5]

Others have used the phrase in such slogans as: Hate is not a family value. Jim Walls, at the Sojourners Call for Renewal in 2006, titled his speech "Poverty is not a family value." [6] Many Americans believe that access to health care and to education, and freedom from violence, are important family values.

Media application

Typically, the term is used by the media to refer to Christian values, but in a New York Times survey, "Five percent of the women and one percent of the men defined family values as being connected to religion or the Bible. Nine out of ten women defined family values as loving, taking care of and supporting each other, knowing right from wrong and having good values."

Family values in U.S. politics

Republican party

Since 1980, the Republican party has used the issue of family values to attract socially conservative voters. While family values remains a rather vague concept, social conservatives usually understand the term to include some combination of the following principles (also referenced in the 2004 Republican Party platform [7]):

  • Support of marriage and for children to be raised in family consisting of a man and a woman
  • Support of traditional education and parental involvement in that education
  • Support of policies that encourage "adoption over abortion" [8]
  • Support of behavior identified as traditional or moral

Democratic party

Although the term "Family values" remains a core issue for the Republican party, in recent years the Democratic party has also tried to use the term family values.

The values listed in the 2004 Democratic party platform [9]include:

  • The value of a woman's right to choose whether or not to bear a child
  • The value of schools free from drugs and violence
  • The value of education
  • The value of the family

References

  1. ^ http://www.thenation.com/doc/20050530/mcgarvey
  2. ^ Family Values, Race, Feminism and Public Policy
  3. ^ American Family Association
  4. ^ People for the American Way
  5. ^ "For Better, For Worse". The Washington Post. 2005-05-01. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)]
  6. ^ http://independentchristianvoice.com/2006/06/30/poverty-is-not-a-family-value-2/
  7. ^ http://www.gop.com/media/2004platform.pdf
  8. ^ http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0694516430/102-0802738-8766535?v=glance&n=283155
  9. ^ http://www.democrats.org/pdfs/2004platform.pdf

See also

Organizations that promote conservative family values

Books

  • Bennett, William J., ed. The Book of Virtues: A Treasury of Great Moral Stories. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993. ISBN 0671683063.
  • Coontz, Stephanie. "The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap". New York: Basic Books, 1992. ISBN 0465090974.
  • Coontz, Stephanie. "The Way We Really Are: Coming to Terms with America's Changing Families". Basic Books, 1998. ISBN 0465090923.
  • Coontz, Stephanie., ed. "American Families; A Multicultural Reader". London: Routledge, 1999. ISBN 0415915740.
  • Coontz, Stephanie. "Marriage, A History: From Obedience to Intimacy, or How Love Conquered Marriage". New York: Viking Press, 2005. ISBN 067003407X.
  • Shapiro, Ben. Porn Generation: How Social Liberalism Is Corrupting Our Future (ISBN 0895260166), Regnery, 2005.
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