Film Analysis: The African Aussie Dads

Through the sociological theory of cultural variation, the differences in social behaviors that prevail within cultures justify the differences in one's perception of the ideals in terms of family and gender roles.For what one may consider the perfect functional family system may not grasp another cultures familial system.Different cultures share different perceptions of family such as;Siberia’s ideal kinship involving polygamy,meaning a man having more than one wife at a time.Aswell as India’s expectation that the extended family lives under one household. With these cultural differences of perceptions of the ideal family comes to the core the family, gender roles. Gender roles within cultures vary significantly, with the expectations of
what a man or women should be explored through cultural variation.By extracting examples of the ideals in different cultures such as Sweden and Korea.With Australia a widely multicultural,home to a significant variation of ethnics challenges these cultural variations of functional ideals.However through the theory of cultural variation explores how Australian families,especially those coming from a non western background adjust to the Australian circumstances of living. Examples of this include studies of African families living in Australia, including how they have changed their traditional ways.

Whilst there is no official definition of family in sociology, cross cultural perceptions of family vary throughout each culture.With family viewed one of the most crucial components of the socialization process , shared beliefs,customs and religions between different ethnic, racial show the variation between ways of living between cultures.In industrialized western country such as contemporary Australia the preferred family style of family is the nuclear family.That emerged after world war II however has since dropped due to increase in other minority family styles such as;single parent families,reconstituted families and such.The reason why nuclear family is still viewed as the ideal are for various reasons such as they operate to privilege the men as we live in a patriotic society as some may view.With western family life typically associated with monogamy other cultures such as the Koryak women of Siberia believe in polygamy.The theory of cultural variation supports this as polygamy fits into their ideal system,with benefits including a reduction of work load for the wife and provides more company.Cultures in which polygamy is seen as the ideal may not grasp the western standard of women restricting their spouse to a singular wife.Whereas countries such as India that but a great emphasis on family loyalty,unity and integrity. In which meaning that the extended kin take part of import life decisions such as career choice,mate selection and marriage.As India’s family system does not acknowledge the nuclear family as part of their traditions cultural variation shows India’s collectivsm pricipals throughout the ideal family, hence becoming interdepent amongst the extended family.

In each culture conjugal gender roles vary between men and women, reflecting on the cultural expectations presented.Meaning these gender roles are a representation of the respective cultures expectations of the specific gender. For example in Sweden, to encourage paternal involved all working parents have the right to take sixteen months leave with pay, per child.With a minimum of two months mandatory to be used but the minority parent which in this case is usually the father .This can be seen as an attempt to promote equality within gender in terms of child rearing. However in countries such as Korea. traditionally the role of a women was of submissiveness and still is to a degree to date.With the expectation for the women to sacrifice herself for her family,the role of women is to ensure harmony throughout the household with the primary goal to be a good daughter,wife and mother,with the expectation to sacrifice herself for her family.However in contemporary Korea due to the economic boom the women of Korea are steering away from the traditional ways of the past, seeking careers instead of being housebound.Typically when married the wife would accompany her husband's family,spending a large majority of her life dedicated to caring for in-laws and husbands needs.However in contemporary Korea due to the recent economic boom, the women of Korea are steering away from the traditional ways of the past, seeking careers in the competitive workforce instead of being housebound.

Australia home to a kaleidoscope of cultures with a range of families from different ethnic origins shows the different minorities of family structures where the nuclear family no longer makes up for the majority.The societal implications of multicultural Australia expressed through the documentary of “How African dads in Australia are coping with the challenges of a life in a new land where age-old cultural expectations may no longer apply” (Aussie African Dads).The Africa Aussie Dads express the middle ground that many foreigners seek when bringing up their family in contemporary Australia.
In this documentary one cultural difference is that between Africa and Australia traditionally in Africa the women of the community all share the care of the children however is Australia the mother and father each share the role of child rearing. The dads find this concept confusing, however a camp set up in Australia aims to connect the fathers and the children together in order to help African families adapt to fit their family life to the Australian circumstances whilst still maintaining traditional ties. As culture ‘is not an external passive influence on the families but families themselves serve as the primary agent for transferring these cultural values to their members ‘ (Chadda and Deb) . The implications based of the African Aussie Dads are that multicultural families try to adapt their family life to fit Australian circumstances but at the same time maintaining various traditional customs and beliefs,in which minorities such a subcultures
coexist.