Assignment Paper: The Picture Perfect American Family (Essay Sample)

The Picture Perfect American Family
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The Picture Perfect American Family
In the article, The Picture Perfect American Family: this Days it Does Not Exist, Andrew Cherlin brings to light ways in which presidential campaigns have changed over the years. In particular, I find Cherlin’s article useful since it presents a more acceptable approach towards presidential campaigns. For instance, the families of the presidential candidates presented in the text do not conform to the typical American family but represent the 21st- century American family CITATION The \p 498 \l 1033 (Cherlin, 2008, p. 498). As opposed to previous campaigns where people would be concerned about whether a candidate is divorced or not, the 2008 campaign focused on the emotional support that a candidate derives from his or her family. That among the candidates’ family members was a pregnant teenager, a divorced candidate, and a lesbian daughter was a non-issue.
The candidates were welcomed warmly by the American populace for their ability to identify with their families and prove to them that every family has its challenges. For instance, they demonstrated that what really matters in a family is not the amount of money that parents make, but the support that the members provide for each other in times of need. In that sense, the traditional belief that ...