America Verse Korea in Family Traditions
...embers and this unit is called the “Ch’on.” This literally means a unit of length in Chinese ideographs. As modern society continues to lose its humane character, there is a renewed desire to restore what remains of precious values once prevalent in the traditional family system. Every Korean has a bit of misgiving about the possible termination of Korean tradition amid the massive influx of foreign cultures. (“Family Structures and Relatives”…Blood Jan. 20, 2005 < www.ktnet.co.kr/enghome/culture/family.html)
When a man and woman get married in a Korean traditional society, The celebration is not about the joining of two people due to love, it is about how well the female can give birth to baby boys. Boys are a guaranteed the continuance pf the family line and ancestor worship rituals. Women who were not able to give birth to boys or who were barren lived miserable lives. Very often, these women resorted to invoking the benevolence of Divine Nature. (“Family Structures and Relatives”…Blood Jan. 20, 2005 < www.ktnet.co.kr/enghome/culture/family.html)
Within the Korean culture, when a woman got pregnant, she was expected to observe certain taboos. She was advised to be especially careful lest she commits licentious. Adulterous or ill – intended behaviors, for fear that failure to do so would invite misfortunes on the child. As the woman was expecting a baby, a sanitary room was arranged for the delivery of a child. A sacred straw rope was hung over the gate posts when the child was born. If the child was a boy, some pieces of charcoal and red peppers were fastened to the straw rope. If the child was a girl, pieces of charcoal and green pines were fastened instead. This taboo rope symbolized protection against evils, illness, and visitors were not permitted to enter houses with this straw rope for at least 21 days. (“Family Structures and Relatives”…Blood Jan. 20, 2005 < www.ktnet.co.kr/enghome/culture/family.html)
America is made up of many different beliefs. According to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) a family is the body of persons who live in one house or under one head, including parents, children, servants, etc. Two people living under the same roof, how does that make a family? My belief is that a family consists of people who love each other and take good care of each other. In America families are the primary source of a child’s economic and emotional resources, and the adults with whom children live are their earliest role models. The time and economic resources associated with raising children may be less for a single parent, especially if he or she is the only breadwinner. (Ariel Halpem, Leticia Frenandez and Rebecca Clark Families Wroldwide