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Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law

SOCIOLOGY

LIBERAL FAMILY vs. THE CONSERVATIVE ONES

Submitted To- Submitted By-

Mr. Sanjay Singh Amita Chaudhary

Assistant Professor 1st Semester; B.A.LL.B (Hons.)

RMLNLU Section- A; Roll No- 23

INTRODUCTION:

The main purpose of this project was to find out what are the major differences between the
views of a conservative family and that of a liberal family and the reason behind this vision.
The difference comes in their respective mindset and the way they react to some situations in
their day to day life.

The mindset of liberals is differentiated in terms of political, social, economic, and personal
responsibilities. The way they perceive the thoughts of society and abide by them is different.

Conservative families are very much concerned about their image in the society and the way
other people look at them. On the other hand liberals are as their name suggests are very
much free in their thinking and their views depends on the happiness of their children.

Here presents a survey which shows the views of liberal families and conservative families
respectively on issues like rights and liberties differences given to a girl and a boy, love
marriage vs. arranged marriage, marrying someone from the other caste or religion,
discussing problems faced by adolescents or child being friendly with the opposite sex.

ANSWERS TO THE SURVEY CONDUCTED:

I conducted a survey and asked the same questions to a conservative family and a liberal
family, the answer to which are as follows:

a. Are there any differences in the rights and liberties that you give to your son and
your daughter?

Liberal Family: No, we treat both our son and our daughter equally. There is hardly any
difference in the liberties that we give to the two of them. Only when it concerns our
daughter’s safety, are we a little biased. But, when it comes to her freedom and
independence, we let her enjoy all of it. Rather, we sometimes believe, that since our
daughter is more mature than our son, we must let her guide her brother. Even while
taking any decision regarding our family, we let them both have an equal say.
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Conservative Family: Yes, no matter how much the world modernizes, there always lies
a thin line of difference between a girl and a boy and we believe that one must try to
maintain it. Since a girl’s mind can be moulded very easily. Therefore, letting her interact
with the society can be fatal for her. Hence, we do not give our daughter a lot of freedom
and independence. The boys in fact are quite the opposite. Therefore, we give our son
more liberty.

b. Are you comfortable discussing the problems faced by an adolescent, with your
child?

Liberal Family: We believe that parents are the first friends of their children. Therefore,
we must be the first ones to address their problems. We are very open about discussing
the problems that our children face during adolescence. And we try to build an
environment which can help them respond comfortably. There are certain details that
need a microscopic view that can only be, advised on, by the parents.

Conservative Family: No, keeping in mind the enormous generation gap we find it
almost impossible to get into details of such problems. And since we never had an
interaction with our parents regarding these problems, therefore we do not find the need
to discuss the same with our children. Rather it is very embarrassing for us to share the
same room with our children while the commercials on such problems are been telecasted
in the television.

c. Are you comfortable with your child being friendly with the opposite sex?

Liberal Family: No, certainly not in order to build a healthy social life there should be an
interaction with the person of the opposite sex. Only when there is an interaction with the
person of the opposite sex, can there be an understanding for the future. Hence, such
interactions are a vital component of building a prosperous mindset.

Conservative Family: Yes, we believe that such heights of modernization can be

d. Would you allow your child to pursue the profession he/she wants?

Liberal Family: Yes, it is very important for the child to grow in the field he/she is
interested in. Unless and until the child has an inclination in the subject he/she is
studying, only then can there be significant progress. It is totally up to the child’s
discretion to choose the profession he/she wants to pursue. Though, we guide our children
and let them know the pros and cons of their choice, in the end, they are the creators of
their destiny.

Conservative Family: No, the mind of a child is innocent and fragile and it needs to be
prevented from wandering and day-dreaming. The child needs to have a concrete career
in order to live a satisfactory life. His/her decision at such a delicate phase of life can be a
pathway of creation of failure; therefore, we need to choose the best for them, so that they
have a peaceful life. They cannot be the sole decision makers of the profession they
choose to chase and the parents are absolutely an essential part of this decision making.

e. What is your take on sending your child, especially the daughter to some other
city/country for higher studies?

Liberal Family: Yes, we very much approve the decision of our child even if she is a girl
to go out of the city/country for higher studies. According to us our daughter should be
given enough freedom to decide for her future and choose her career. For that even if she
has to go away from us and live alone in a different place we wouldn’t be having any
problem. And we also believe, that in order to be independent in her life, she should go
out n the world, and explore, otherwise she will never grow out of the shell we have
created for her.

Conservative Family: No, sending our daughter away from us to a different city/country
for her higher studies makes us feel little insecure about her well being. We would not
approve her decision of moving away from us as we believe that she would not be able to
take care of herself. We think that moving away from us and studying in a different place
with a different environment would further ruin her studies to a great extent as she would
not be able to tackle all the problems she would face.
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f. If your son/daughter wants to marry someone belonging to another caste or

Liberal Family: Yes, we would readily allow our children to marry someone from any
caste or religion, but the only condition we would put forth them is that there should be a
frequency in our lifestyles and the parents of the partner they have chosen, should also be
ready for the marriage. The only thing we want is that our son/daughter should be happy
living with that person throughout his/her life. Marrying someone from other
caste/religion would not be such a big issue for us as the only thing that matters to us
would be that they should get a good life partner who can keep him/her happy.

Conservative Family: If any day my daughter/son comes and tells me that they want to
marry someone from the other caste/religion that would not be acceptable by me or any
other member of the family as we think that if our children go against the specific norms
set by out caste we wouldn’t be able to face the society. If my son gets married to a girl
from another caste/religion she wouldn’t be able to adapt and understand our culture,
rituals to the fullest.

g. What are your views on love marriage and arrange marriage?

Liberal Family: Both are quite acceptable to a great extent. We don’t care about society
views on these matters the only thing that matters to us is the happiness of our children.
The society may think different things about love marriage and some people may be
against it. But the thing that matters the most and should matter to everyone to a great
extent is the happiness and a good life partner for our children.

Conservative Family: We only prefer arrange marriages as we think that they are more
successful and our children would be happiest in this case only, when we select the right
person for them. If any day my daughter or my son comes and wants my approval for
love marriage I wouldn’t agree to this because I am very much concerned about the
societal views on it. I don’t want any future malign on my family because of this
decision. I would never want to go against the societal norms and their way of thinking
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CONCLUSION:

It can thus be concluded that there is a vast difference in the way that these two families
think. The response to the questions asked were quite obvious. The conservative family has a
mindset that is too stringent and narrow, which I believe, needs to be changed. In this ever
growing world, with the change in technology and change in the beliefs of people, everybody
needs to change and cope with the altered environment. What the liberal family think and
follow, should be the way to move ahead. If one sticks to the stereotyped principles of life, it
would be very difficult for them to survive. Going in the path of their culture is right
undoubtedly, but moulding their lifestyle is also necessary. Thus, the gap between how the
conservative family prefers to live and how the liberal family prefers to live, should lessen in
the time to come, for the benefit of the children and the society.