Have you ever wondered what families are like? Or do you, like many other of our compatriots, also think that this question does not deserve special attention and that even a high school student can formulate an answer to it?
If so, we hasten to assure you that you are actually mistaken, because even modern experts with an excellent reputation and vast experience behind their backs say that defining this concept is not as easy as it might seem at first glance.
This article is just aimed at telling about what families are, how they differ and how much traditions and religious principles influence their formation. In addition, the reader will receive a lot of useful information about the unusual culture and life of the inhabitants of other parts of the world.
What are families like?
What is a family? First of all, it should be noted that this term is commonly understood as a kind of association of people based on blood relationship and (or) marriage and mutual moral responsibility and jointhousekeeping.
Depending on the composition, such a society is primarily divided into simple and complex, and in turn has several subcategories. For example, a simple family can be called elementary if it consists of three members: father, mother and child. If one of the parents is missing, it becomes incomplete. If there are several children in a family, such a community can be called a composite community.
Complex or patriarchal families, as a rule, consist of several generations. In this case, grandparents, uncles and aunts, brothers-in-law and brothers-in-law, daughters-in-law and sisters-in-law, brothers and sisters can live together.
Based on location
It is unlikely that anyone seriously thought about what families are like depending on their place of residence, but meanwhile such a difference also exists.
For Russia, the presence of matrilocal and patrilocal communities is more characteristic. In the first case, the young family lives with the wife's parents, in the second - with the husband's parents. In the event that you are lucky enough to move into your own home immediately after the wedding, you can be called a neo-local unit.
What is Swedish relations? Their characteristic features
In search of an answer to the question of what families are, many of us recall the existence of Swedish relationships.
Why this union received such a name is not known for certain. It most likely happenedby chance. In the days of the USSR, there was a very erroneous, as practice showed, opinion that very liberated people live in Europe, who are happy to experiment in everything, including married life. But why in this case the choice fell on this northern country, which has very conservative views, is a mystery.
So, what are the traditions in the family in this case? Three people of both sexes live under one roof at once. It is interesting to note that such relationships do not at all imply group sex. Between members of this unit of society, both neutral and platonic ties are possible. True, rivals are also far from uncommon.
What is the status of a family in Russia?
In principle, the families of our country are more or less similar, and most citizens divide them easily and simply: into happy and unhappy.
What is the secret of a successful relationship? Modern psychologists say that the basis of a happy family should be shared meals (lunches and dinners), various kinds of leisure, holidays, secrets and mysteries. With the first point, everything is relatively clear. For many of us, gatherings on New Year's Eve, Christmas and Easter have long become the norm. It is customary for most Russians to celebrate these holidays in a close family circle.
Answering the question of what families are like in terms of pastime is easy enough. Active, striving to spend as much time as possible in the open air, fishing, boating, ridingcycling and ball games, and passive, addicted to reading, watching TV and needlework. In Russia, despite being very busy, parents usually prefer to spend their free time with their children and other relatives.
The fact that we are not accustomed to resorting to the services of psychologists is perhaps already a generally accepted fact. To whom do we trust our sorrows and joys? Well, of course, family and friends. This is also one of our established traditions.
What is worth borrowing from Europe?
The crime rate in Denmark is so low that local mothers are not at all afraid to leave their child on the street, doing shopping or relaxing with friends over a cup of coffee. The women of this country are sure that the baby has nothing to do in a stuffy store, let him breathe fresh air while staying in the stroller at the entrance.
It is not customary in the UK to give birth early. Married couples believe that the optimal age for the birth of the first child is 38-39 years old, and sometimes even 40. Why? The thing is that the British are sure that a good upbringing of a son or daughter can only be done by someone who himself stands firmly on his feet in terms of financial situation and career.
The wedding night in Albania can last three days. All this time, the bride should not succumb to any persuasion of her soulmate. Only in this case, further married life will be happy and cloudless.
Unusual family traditions of the planet: Asia and Africa
Every family is special. Why? The thing is that each so-called cell of society is left its mark by local traditions, culture and upbringing.
That's why it's so hard for us sometimes to understand the Japanese, the Chinese or, say, the inhabitants of African countries. In principle, you can talk for hours about various relationships in the family, what are the features and why these people behave the way they do. Let's give some examples.
Not everyone knows that in Kenya mothers rarely look their children in the eye. It is believed that the gaze is able to enslave the will of the baby, and the avoidance of eye contact is able to bring up a strong and independent personality. By the way, in the same Kenya, a whole month after the wedding, the husband must wear his wife's clothes. Why? It is believed that the only way he will be able to realize how difficult the lot of women in this country.
In a Korean family, it is customary to slurp loudly during a family dinner. Locals believe that this is how you can let the hostess know that you like her cooking.
