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Families Are Not Dangerous

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February 25th, 2013
Families Are Not Dangerous Barbara Ehrenreich in her article titled Are Families Dangerous?, tries to argue that the family institution is the root cause of much violence in the world. Ehrenreich brings up many infamous cases of murder and violence, ones that the general public knows about due to the seemingly endless media coverage covering these violent acts, in essence glorifying the individuals charged and accused of their heinous crimes. The article discusses that the main threat to any individual, especially one that is weak, remains with ones family. Ehrenreich uses no statistics to back up her claim, making it hard for anyone to take her serious with her assertions. Ehrenreich is wrong in most of her article, she falls for what she claims happens with the general public, and Ehrenreich becomes fascinated with these famous cases, in which she uses these cases to present her own case against family. A majority of families do not present an unhealthy living environment for those living within it, celebrity cases should not be used as an argument against a majority of families, and the argument of gender inequality within our culture is incorrect, most of what Ehrenreich has presented is incorrect, the one thing Ehrenreich is correct on is the outside guidance for many that need it. A family still remains a safe haven for most individuals. Ehrenreich makes it sound like, by using scare tactics that most families are in danger from someone within the family. While domestic violence and spousal abuse does happen, much of the warnings signs are there before an official family happens. An example of this would be a boyfriend getting easily agitated with his girlfriend, instead of talking about any problems yelling or even light pushing may ensue. If this girl goes on to marry the boyfriend, she has to know that this behavior is not going to just disappear and go away, it will continuously be there. Most of

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