Don't Judge the Culture: Response to Emily's Prompt

Coming from a big family, the three different types of culture have definitely played a role in shaping my family and my personal views on family. I would have to say that they all tie into each other when it comes to how we interact.Popular culture and co-culture have affected my family because my family is not one that is typically portrayed in the media. Most families have 2-3 kids, and a mix of sons and daughters. My family has 5 kids who are all girls. I was always a little embarrassed to talk about coming from such a big family. The response I usually get from others when I tell them I have 4 sisters is ‘What? Oh my god!, 5 girls?, No boys?, Your poor dad!, Your parents are saints!’ Let me address each of these individually:

• ‘What? Oh my god!’: I get my family is big, and probably very different from yours, why are you so surprised, big families used to be a really big thing, both my parents came from big families and wanted big families of their own.

• ‘5 girls?’: Yes I’m pretty sure I know who my siblings are, and I’m pretty sure we are all girls

• ‘No boys?’: Again, yes I’m pretty sure I know who my siblings are, and no I did not miss anyone. Also, shocking that there is a possibility to have only daughters.

• ‘Your poor dad!’: Why? He’s actually very happy with his family, loves us unconditionally, supports us no matter what. He got us into sports, but fun fact girls can play sports just as well as boys can. Men do not need sons to live a complete life, they can live a complete life with daughters. Yes, we drive him crazy but he would not want it any other way (I think).

• ‘Your parents are saints!’: Yes, yes they are.

It has always annoyed by these responses because I just do not get why my family being a little different is so surprising to some. To me, it is my family and it’s totally normal. But as I have grown up I have realized that popular culture does not display my family type, and I’ve learned to accept that. My family is just as unique as the next one, and that is what I want people to know.So because of these responses, and the way my family has been structured, our relational culture is one that is very close. My sisters and I bond over the annoyance of the comments about our family size. My parents have always been okay with having a large family, and have done a really good job at make sure that the children are close and realize that there is no ideal family size or makeup.It has been very interesting to watch how my family has been resilient to these outside factors and be able to take them and make our relational culture stronger.