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The analysis of the changing American family life brings me back to analyzing this social construct from a Marxist point of view, as demonstrated in my Socialism class last semester.  A Marxist would argue that the shifting structure and function of the family is a result of advancing social interactions among individuals and those from outside cultures.  The increasing progression of man's ability to communicate with his family and with the rest of society necessitates new technology and modes of production that advance a capitalistic society. The realities of the family unit exist as expressions of society's grander values, morals, ideals, as well as political and economic institutions.  Through constant and advancing social interactions on a small-scale level and abroad, man is in fact the creator of his own social, political, and economic institutions that influence the form of the existing family paradigm.  As we progress from a society that rests great importance on the collectivity of the family and the adherence to traditional gender roles, to one that embraces the individual's pursuit of autonomy from his caregivers, a multitude of socially acceptable family forms arise.  Today, Americans embrace the allowance of continual divergences from a traditional family structure.  However, society continues to search for a model upon which we can rely to demonstrate proper roles for individual family members.  In our current society, is it possible to establish such a paradigm for the family that dictates the pursuits of individual family members, while we continue to stress the importance of incorporating divergences from a general model for the "ideal" family?